Патрик Маги: Актер и его время

Northern Irish actor (1922–1982)

Patrick George Magee (né McGee, 31 March 1922 – 14 August 1982) was a Northern Irish actor. He was noted for his collaborations with playwrights Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter, sometimes called "Beckett's favourite actor," as well as creating the role of the Marquis de Sade in the original stage and screen productions of Marat/Sade. Known for his distinctive voice, he also appeared in numerous horror films and in two Stanley Kubrick films – A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Barry Lyndon (1975) – and three Joseph Losey films – The Criminal (1960), The Servant (1963) and Galileo (1975). He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1964 to 1970. Critic Antonia Quirke posthumously described him as "a presence so full of strangeness and charisma and difference and power," while scholar Conor Carville wrote that Magee was an "avant garde bad boy" and "very important and unjustly forgotten figure who represents an important aspect of the cultural ferment of the 1960s and 1970s in Britain."

McGee (he changed the spelling of his surname to Magee when he began performing, most likely to avoid confusion with another actor) was born into a middle class Catholic family at 2 Edward Street, Armagh, County Armagh. The eldest of five children, he was educated at St. Patrick's Grammar School.

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. He met Beckett in 1957 and soon recorded passages from the novel, Molloy, and the short story, From an Abandoned Work, for BBC radio. Impressed by "the cracked quality of Magee's distinctly Irish voice," Beckett requested copies of the tapes and wrote Krapp's Last Tape especially for the actor. First produced at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 28 October 1958, the play starred Magee directed by Donald McWhinnie. A televised version with Magee directed by McWhinnie was later broadcast by BBC2 on 29 November 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 portrayed the Marquis de Sade in Peter Brook's production of Peter Weiss' Marat/Sade, and when the play transferred to Broadway he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

A heavy drinker, Magee died from a heart attack at his flat in Fulham, southwest London, on 14 August 1982, at the age of 60, according to obituaries in The Glasgow Herald and The New York Times.

Year Title RoleDirectorOriginal venue NotesRef.1948Mountain PostMatonR. H. MacCandlessUlster Group Theatre, Belfast1949Bannister's CafeWalter BannisterHimselfAlso director1950The Square PegReverend Alexander McCreaHimself 1951 The Passing Day HindTyrone GuthrieAmbassadors Theatre, LondonCredited as 'Pat Magee'1955 56The Queen and the RebelsPeasantFrank HauserTheatre Royal Haymarket, London1956The Shadow of a GunmanAdolphus GregsonJohn GibsonNew Lindsey Theatre Club, London1958Krapp's Last TapeKrappDonald McWhinnieRoyal Court Theatre, London1959The BuskersMaxToby RobertsonArts Theatre, London1959 60RosmersholmGeorge DevineRoyal Court Theatre, London1961Progress to the ParkMr. LaughlinTed KotcheffGrand Theatre, BlackpoolA Whistle in the DarkMichael Carney Sr. Edward BurnhamTheatre Royal Stratford East, LondonFor Theatre Workshop1964The Birthday PartyMcCannHarold PinterAldwych Theatre, LondonFor Royal Shakespeare CompanyAfore Night ComeRocheClifford WilliamsEndgameHammDonald McWhinnieMarat/SadeMarquis de SadePeter Brook1965Mr Puntila and his Man MattiMatti AltonenMichel Saint DenisHamletGhost of Old DenmarkPeter HallRoyal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon AvonMarat/SadeMarquis de SadePeter BrookAldwych Theatre, London1965 66Martin Beck Theatre, New York CityWon Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play1966The MeteorWolfgang SchwitterClifford WilliamsAldwych Theatre, LondonFor Royal Shakespeare CompanyStaircaseHarry LeedsPeter HallTheatre Royal, BrightonAldwych Theatre, London1967Keep It in the FamilyFrank BradyAllan DavisPlymouth Theatre, Broadway1969Dutch UncleInspector HawkinsPeter HallTheatre Royal, BrightonFor Royal Shakespeare CompanyAldwych Theatre, London1971ScratchDaniel WebsterPeter HuntSt. James Theatre, Broadway1974The Master BuilderHalvard SolnessHimselfThorndike Theatre, LeatherheadAlso director1976That TimeDonald McWhinnieRoyal Court Theatre, London1980Doctor FaustusMephistophelesChristopher FettesLyric Hammersmith Theatre, LondonFortune Theatre, London

Year Title Role Notes 1960 The Criminal Barrows aka Concrete Jungle 1961 Rag Doll Flynn aka Young, Willing and Eager Never Back Losers Ben Black 1962 The Boys Mr Lee A Prize of Arms RSM Hicks 1963 Ricochet Inspector Cummins The Young Racers Sir William Dragonet The Very Edge Simmonds The Servant Bishop Dementia 13 Justin Caleb Operacija Ticijan Dr. Morisijus aka Operation Titian 1964 Zulu Surgeon James Henry Reynolds Séance on a Wet Afternoon Walsh The Masque of the Red Death Alfredo 1965 The Skull Police Surgeon Die, Monster, Die! Dr Henderson Alternative title: Monster of Terror Portrait in Terror Mauricio Zaroni 1967 Marat/Sade Marquis de Sade 1968 Anzio General Starkey Decline and Fall of a Birdwatcher Maniac The Birthday Party Shamus McCann 1969 Hard Contract Alexi 1970 Cromwell Hugh Peters You Can't Win 'Em All The General – Atatürk 1971 King Lear Cornwall The Trojan Women Menelaus A Clockwork Orange Mr Alexander 1972 Tales from the Crypt George Carter (segment 5 "Blind Alleys") The Fiend Minister aka Beware My Brethren Asylum Dr Rutherford (segment: "Mannikins of Horror") Young Winston General Bindon Blood Pope Joan Elder monk Demons of the Mind Falkenberg 1973 And Now the Screaming Starts! Dr Whittle Lady Ice Paul BoothThe Final Programme Dr Baxter aka The Last Days of Man on Earth 1974 Luther Hans Simona Le père 1975 Galileo Cardinal Bellarmin Barry Lyndon The Chevalier du Balibari 1977 Telefon General Strelsky 1979 The Brontë Sisters Reverend Bronte 1980 Rough Cut Ernst Mueller The Sleep of Death Marquis Hawk the Slayer Priest Sir Henry at Rawlinson End Reverend Slodden 1981 Chariots of Fire Lord Cadogan The Monster Club Innkeeper – Luna's Father The Black Cat Professor Robert Miles Blood of Dr. Jekyll General William Danvers Carew aka The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Miss Osbourne

From an Abandoned Work (radio play by Samuel Beckett) Monologue first broadcast in 1957 by the BBC. Hordes of the Things (radio series) 1980 as The Narrator.