One of the legion of unknown, unremembered and unnamed supporting actors that littered films of all shades up until the world went mad in the mid-80s, the biggest problem for chaps like McCarthy was that even when he they were named no one had the faintest idea who they were. But a quick precis of his film career sees that unfair legacy right as he notched up appearances as Lennie, the rag and bone man who forces a big funeral do on Albert & Son in Steptoe and Son Ride Again, the definitive Maid Marian in Time Bandits and especially as Calibos, the weirdly Gareth Hunt looking demonic son of Maggie Smith in Clash of the Titans. Big and silly, McCarthy could flesh out the smallest of characters with the biggest of frowns. He even made a few minutes of The Cracksman watchable.
FINEST HOUR: “He says he’s very sorry sir, but it is.”
