The news was first announced on Instagram by James McCaffrey’s close friend, actor Kevin Dillon, who publicly paid tribute to him. However, in a terrible coincidence of timing, the veracity of this announcement was initially called into question by the death of a namesake in Ireland, a young football player in the Portadown U14 team. An official representative of James McCaffrey confirmed to the tabloid TMZ that the actor died last Sunday from multiple myeloma. He was 65 years old.
In the video game, James McCaffrey was particularly close to Remedy, providing voice acting for Max Payne during the first three episodes. He also lent his features to Max Payne 3. Once the trilogy was completed, McCaffrey continued to collaborate with Sam Lake by playing the role of Director Zachariah Trench in Control, and most recently of Detective Alex Casey in Alan Wake 2. The role was a strong metatextual nod to their first collaboration. The Finnish studio also greeted it with a tweet. We don’t yet know if the remake of Max Payne 1 and 2 will have to find a successor. Less known, James McCaffrey also played Edward Carnby in Alone in the Dark (2008).
Before playing Max Payne, James McCaffrey made himself known with the leading role of Viper, American series broadcast between 1994 and 1999 following a special intervention force in the fictional city of Metro City. He then appeared in several American series (Sex and the City, Law and Order…) before finding a major role in the dramatic comedy Rescue Me. The series focused on a New York firefighter. McCaffrey played his cousin, who died during the September 11 attacks, regularly haunting the protagonist’s dreams. He had a cameo as an FBI agent in the – forgettable and forgotten, not through his fault – adaptation of Max Payne.
James McCaffrey leaves behind his wife Rochelle Bostrom and his daughter Tiernan. He was 65 years old.