Malachy Gerard McCourt (born September 20, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York) is an Irish-American actor, writer and politician. He was the 2006 Green party candidate for governor in New York State, losing to the Democratic candidate Eliot Spitzer. He is the younger brother of Frank McCourt.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, McCourt was raised in Limerick, Ireland. He returned to the United States in 1952. He has four children: Siobhan, Malachy Jr., Conor (a New York City police officer and documentary maker), and Cormac, the latter two by his second wife Diana. He also has a stepdaughter, Nina.
McCourt at home
He has acted on stage, on television and in several movies, including The Molly Maguires. He has appeared on three New York City-based soap operas: Ryan's Hope, Search for Tomorrow, and One Life to Live. He is also known for his annual Christmas-time appearances on All My Children as Father Clarence, a priest who shows up to give inspirational advice to Pine Valley citizens.
In the 1970s he had a talk show on WMCA
In recent years he has occasionally appeared on various programs on New York City's political radio station, WBAI. Among the shows on which he has appeared has been Radio Free Éireann. Currently, Malachy has been hosting a call-in radio forum on WBAI, airing on Sunday mornings at 11 am. He also had a short lived role on the critically acclaimed HBO prison drama Oz.
Malachy McCourt also wrote two memoirs titled A Monk Swimming and Singing my Him Song, detailing his life in Ireland and later return to the United States where despite limited education he operated a successful Manhattan tavern frequented by entertainment celebrities. He also authored a book on the history of the much loved Irish ballad Danny Boy.
On Tuesday, 18 April 2006, McCourt announced that he would seek to become governor of New York in the November 2006 election as a Green Party candidate. Running under the slogan "Don't waste your vote, give it to me", McCourt promised to recall the New York National Guard from Iraq, to make public education free through college, and to institute a statewide comprehensive "sickness care" system. McCourt polled at 5% in an October 10th Zogby poll, versus 25% for Republican John Faso and 63% for Democrat Eliot Spitzer. McCourt was endorsed by Cindy Sheehan, mother of a fallen soldier in the Iraq War. The League of Women Voters excluded him from candidate debates.
