Malachy McCourt dead at 92: Irish-American actor and author has passed away

Irish-American actor and author Malachy McCourt has passed away at 92. He died on March 11, 2024 in Manhattan. Malachy was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1931, but moved to Ireland at the age of three. After seeking work in England, he returned to New York when he was 20 after Malachy’s older brother Frank, sent him the fare. Frank, who was working as a school teacher at the time, passed away in July 2009. He was an Irish-American teacher and writer who won a Pulitzer Prize for his book Angela’s Ashes, which has been described as a “tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood.”

When his older brother Frank passed away, Malachy confirmed on Facebook that he had passed away while taking an afternoon nap. He also said at the time of his death that “We have no celebration of his life or the books yet but we won’t let him go gentle into the good or bad night.”

Malachy spoke about his childhood in Limerick in an interview with The New York Times. He said that “I had a murderous rage in my heart of Limerick, the humiliation of coming out of the slums.” He also revealed that “It made you feel like nothing and there was no place to go but down. It was assumed we’d be low-class the rest of our lives. But who can you blame? Governments and churches that are gone now? It’s useless. Let those things live rent-free in your head and you’ll be a lunatic. Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

As well as having film credits in ‘Bonfire of the Vanities,’The ‘Other Guys' and ‘Reversal of Fortune.’ Malachy had a recurring role as a bartender in the show ‘Ryan’s Hope,’ which ran from 1975 to 1989, it was about an Irish American family who lived in Washington Heights. Variety reported that Malachy’s “pursuits expanded beyond the world of media as well; in 2006 he ran for governor of New York representing the Green Party losing to Eliot Spitzer. He is also known for opening the bar Malachy’s in Manhattan’s Upper East Side which was credited as the borough’s first singles bar.”

Malachy McCourt, who reportedly lived in the same apartment in New York for 59 years, was first married to Linda Wachsman. After divorcing her, he wed Diana Huchthausen Galin in 1965, the couple had two sons, Conor and Cormac. He also had two children from his first marriage, a daughter, Siobhan McCourt and a son, Malachy Jr. Malacny McCourt also had one step-daughter, Nina Galin, and had nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Malachy McCourt’’s wife Diana informed The New York Times of her husband’s passing, Variety also reported that “He told the newspaper last year that he dealt with a myriad of ailments, including a heart condition, multiple forms of cancer and muscular degeneration.