When James Martin was born, his parents were told he would probably never speak. He has now made Oscars history
The once plump and cheerful New York storyteller is now gaunt and cheerful. He explains he had a heart condition, skin and prostate cancer, and muscular degeneration. “I was doing okay at first,” McCourt says, “before I slipped and broke my leg on my way to bed.” Years later, on a rare sunny day in Limerick in 1952, Malachy, then 20, kissed his mother goodbye. Frank had returned to the US first and sent his brother the $200 liner fare. Malachy expected to see him when he arrived at the docks, but Frank had already joined the US army and been shipped to Germany. A friend Malachy met on the boat helped him get a job on Welfare Island as a dishwasher and cleaner for $35 a week.
In the 1970s, Malachy McCourt gained new fame playing the role of Kevin the bartender on the ABC soap opera Ryan’s Hope. Photograph: ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images The twins died and my father deserted us in Limerick. So when Frank got accolades and celebrity treatment, I felt like he earned it allMcCourt had been making occasional TV appearances, and he jumped at the chance to host a talkshow, Sound Off With Malachy McCourt, on Channel 9 in New York. His first show, on September 9th, 1968, featured actors Richard Harris and Sean Connery.
Malachy McCourt's copy of Angela's Ashes, the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir written by his brother Frank. Photograph: Haruka Sakaguchi/The New York Times