Veteran genre TV star and legendary video game voice actor James McCaffrey has passed away at the age of 65 according to a report from TMZ. An Actor’s Studio alumnus with over 30 years of experience on the large and small screens, and more on the live stage, McCaffrey starred in various television procedurals throughout the 1990s.
Fans of the genre from that era will remember him as Joe Astor (aka Michael Payton) on “Viper” and Captain Arthur O’Byrne on “New York Undercover.” From 2004 to 2011, he starred in the FX firefighter series “Rescue Me” as Jimmy Keefe. His other credits include “Blue Bloods,” “Suits,” and “Jessica Jones.” But despite all those impressive roles, McCaffrey is perhaps best remembered as the voice of Max Payne, the noir-talking, self-narrating protagonist of the eponymous video game series from Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Games. In an era when most video game characters lacked actual personalities, McCaffrey imbued the New York detective with charisma and intrigue, contributing significantly to the games’ massive success and influence. He continued to work with Remedy throughout his career, most recently voicing Zachariah Trench in “Control” and Detective Alex Casey in this year’s “Alan Wake 2.”
According to the TMZ report, McCaffrey died of multiple myeloma, a form of plasma cell cancer, on Sunday, December 17. A representative for the late actor told the outlet that he passed away surrounded by loved ones.
Friends and fans celebrate James McCaffrey’s amazing career
In the wake of the news that James McCaffrey passed away, friends and fans took to social media to pay tribute. “James McCaffrey we were lucky to have known you,” “Entourage” star Kevin Dillon wrote on Instagram alongside a picture of him with the late “Max Payne” actor, adding, “my best friend you will be missed.”
On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, fans of McCaffrey’s voice-acting work rallied to celebrate his contributions to the medium. X user @BGarcN2 wrote, “rest in peace to james mccaffrey. your incredible performances will always be the best part of these games and the unforgettable characters you played. may you live on forever in these stories [sic].” McCaffrey’s work and influence will undoubtedly live on, his impact felt on virtually every medium an actor can touch these days. User @DerekBrocks echoed the sentiment, writing, “RIP to the legend, James McCaffrey, gone too soon but leaving us with one of the most iconic characters in not just video games but crime fiction in general.”