American actor (1914-2010). He was born in Seattle, Washington, and both of his parents died in the 1918 flu epidemic. He and his siblings spent five miserable years with relatives in Minneapolis before the children were separated. Kevin graduated from Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and attended the University of Minnesota, where he discovered his love of acting.
During his service in the United States Army Air Force during World War II, he appeared in a number of training films and was later a founding member of the Actors Studio.
He had his debut on film in the 1951 adaptation of "Death of a Salesman," where he played Biff Loman -- he won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year, which is a nice way to start out.
McCarthy is still best known for playing the lead role of Dr. Miles Bennell in the 1956 sci-fi classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." From that point on, he worked fairly steadily in films, television, theater, and even video games -- rarely as the star, sometimes as a villain, sometimes as a supporting character. But even as a character actor, he was a recognizable and often beloved presence for fans of his work.
McCarthy worked almost up to his death of pneumonia on September 11, 2010 at Cape Cod Hospital in Massachusetts.
McCarthy's films included "Nightmare," "Diamond Safari," "The Misfits," "A Gathering of Eagles," "A Big Hand for the Little Lady," "Hotel," "The Hell with Heroes," "Ace High," "Piranha," "The Howling," "Twilight Zone: The Movie," "Innerspace," "UHF," "Eve of Destruction," "The Distinguished Gentleman," "Matinee," "Just Cause," "Looney Tunes: Back in Action," and "Slipstream."