Patrick Magee

Patrick Magee (31 March 1922 – 14 August 1982) was an Irish actor and director known for his collaborations with Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, as well as creating the role of the Marquis DeSade in the original stage and screen productions of Marat/Sade and his appearances in horror films and in two Stanley Kubrick films, A Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon.

Early life

He was born Patrick George McGee in Armagh, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Born into a middle-class family, McGee was the first born of five children and was educated at St. Patrick's Grammar School, Armagh.

Stage career

McGee changed his name to Magee for the stage, but not legally. His first stage experience in Ireland was with Anew McMaster's touring company, performing the works of Shakespeare. It was here that he first worked with Pinter. He was then brought to London by Tyrone Guthrie for a series of Irish plays. In 1957 he met Beckett and recorded some of his prose for BBC radio. Beckett was so excited with his voice that he wrote Krapp's Last Tape especially for him (it was broadcast by BBC2 in 1972). Beckett's biographer Anthony Cronin wrote that "there was a sense in which, as an actor, he had been waiting for Beckett as Beckett had been waiting for him."

In 1964, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, after Pinter, directing his own play The Birthday Party, specifically requested him for the role of McCann, and stated he was the strongest in the cast. In 1965 he appeared in Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade, and when the play transferred to Broadway he won a Tony Award. He also appeared in the 1966 RSC production of Staircase opposite Paul Scofield.

Film career

Early film roles included Joseph Losey's The Criminal (1960) and The Servant (1963), the latter an adaptation scripted by Pinter. He also appeared as Surgeon-Major Reynolds in Zulu (1964), Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964), Anzio (1968), and in the film versions of Marat/Sade (1967; as de Sade) and The Birthday Party (1968). But he is perhaps best known for his role as the victimised writer Frank Alexander, who tortures Alex DeLarge with Beethoven's music, in Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange (1971). His other role for Kubrick was as Chevalier de Balibari in Barry Lyndon (1975).

Magee also appeared in Young Winston (1972), The Final Programme (1973), Galileo (1975), Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (1980), The Monster Club and Chariots of Fire (1981), but was most often seen in horror films. These included Roger Corman's The Masque of Red Death (1964), and the Boris Karloff vehicle Die, Monster, Die! (1965) for AIP; The Skull (1965), Tales from the Crypt (1972), Asylum (1972), and And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973) for Amicus Productions; and Demons of the Mind (1972) for Hammer Film Productions.

Personal life

Magee married Belle Sherry, also a native of County Armagh in 1958. In February 1961, their twins, Mark and Caroline McGee, were born in London.

Death

Magee died in his London flat on 14 August 1982.

Filmography

• The Criminal (1960)
• Rag Doll (1961)
• Never Back Losers (1961)
• The Boys (1962)
• A Prize of Arms (1962)
• The Young Racers (1963)
• The Very Edge (1963)
• Dementia 13 (1963)
• The Servant (1963)
• Zulu (1964)
• Séance on a Wet Afternoon (1964)
• The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
• The Skull (1965)
• Die, Monster, Die! (1965)
• Marat/Sade (1967)
• Anzio (1968)
• The Birthday Party (1968)
• Hard Contract (1969)
• Cromwell (1970)
• You Can't Win 'Em All (1970)
• King Lear (1971)
• The Trojan Women (1971)
• A Clockwork Orange (1971)

• The Fiend aka Beware My Brethren (1971)
• Tales from the Crypt (1972)
• Young Winston (1972)
• Asylum (1972)
• Pope Joan (1972)
• Demons of the Mind (1972)
• And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973)
• Lady Ice (1973)
• The Final Programme (1975)
• Galileo (1975)
• Barry Lyndon (1975)
• Telefon (1977)
• The Bronte Sisters (1979)
• The Monster Club (1980)
• Hawk the Slayer (1980)
• Rough Cut (1980)
• Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (1980)
• The Flipside of Dominick Hide (1980)
• Chariots of Fire (1981)
• The Black Cat (1981)
• Blood of Dr. Jekyll (1981)
• The Sleep of Death (1981)
• Another Flip for Dominick (1982)