NEW YORK — Malachy McCourt, an Irish American author who also appeared on television for more than a decade as a bartender in the soap opera “Ryan’s Hope,” died Monday. He was 92.
McCourt died in a New York City hospital, his wife, Diana McCourt, told The New York Times. Diana McCourt told the newspaper last year that her husband had a heart condition, multiple types of cancer and muscular degeneration.
McCourt’s son, Conor McCourt, confirmed the death but did not provide a cause, according to The Washington Post. He said that his father was listening to a recording of “Will Ye Go Lassie Go” by the Chieftains, a traditional Irish folk band, when he died, the newspaper reported.
McCourt appeared in 217 episodes as bartender Kevin MacGuinness from 1975 to 1989 in “Ryan’s Hope,” according to IMDb.com.
His film credits include “Reversal of Fortune,” “Bonfire of Vanities,” “The Other Guys,” “After Life,” “The Devil’s Own” and “Q: The Winged Serpent,” Variety reported.
Malachy McCourt was born in Brooklyn, New York to Irish parents on Sept. 20, 1931, according to the entertainment news website. His parents moved the family to Limerick, Ireland. He returned to New York in 1952 and was reunited with his older brother, Frank, according to the Times.
Frank McCourt, also an author, would win a Pulitzer Prize for his 1996 autobiographical work, “Angela’s Ashes.”
During the 1950s, Malachy McCourt opened what was considered Manhattan’s original singles bar: Malachy’s, on the Upper East Side, the Times reported.
In 1958, he made the first of many appearances on “The Tonight Show,” according to the Post.
The Times reported that a drunken Malachy McCourt told host Jack Paar that he avoided paying electricity bills by mailing them back with the word “deceased” written on them.
He would appear in commercials for Imperial Margarine and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, according to the Post.
As an author, McCourt published a best-seller, “A Monk Swimming,” in 1998, and 2000′s “Singing Him My Song,” the Times reported.
“I was blamed for not being my brother,” he lamented, adding, “I now pledge to all those naysayers that someday I will write ‘Angela’s Ashes’ and change my name to Frank McCourt.”
Malachy McCourt’s other adventures included smuggling gold bars from Switzerland to India; auditioning cold for an Off-Broadway production, which led to his first stage role, in “The Tinker’s Wedding”; and being cast in “Reversal of Fortune,” “Bonfire of the Vanities” and other movies, the Times reported.