James McCaffrey, who portrayed “Max Payne” in the popular video game series and also starred in television series such as “Rescue Me,” has died, according to his agent. He was 65.
McCaffrey's talent agent David Elliot confirmed Monday that the New York native died Sunday surrounded by family and friends.
According to Variety and Fox News Digital, McCaffrey's cause of death was cancer. and Fox report that the actor has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of cancer that affects the bone marrow.
“I lay next to him and held his hand as he took his last breath, for which I will forever be grateful,” the actor's wife, Rochelle Boström, told Fox News Digital. “His death is devastating for so many.”
Kevin Dillon, an actor from the series “Entourage,” paid tribute to McCaffrey on Instagram on Sunday.
“James McCaffrey, we were lucky to have known you,” Dillon wrote along with a photo of the actors together. “My best friend, we will miss you.”
McCaffrey had a 35-year career in television and film. Throughout his career, he appeared in several popular television shows, including “Sex and the City”, “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”, “As the World Turns”, “White Collar”, “The Following”, “Madam Secretary” , “Suits,” “Jessica Jones” and “Blue Bloods.”
In the FX drama series “Rescue Me,” he portrayed a New York firefighter killed on 9/11 who appears as Denis Leary's main character, also a firefighter, throughout the show's seven seasons, which ended in 2011.
Video game fans knew him because he played the title role in the video game series “Max Payne”. McCaffrey also voiced FBI Agent Alex Casey in the 2010 video game “Alan Wake” and in this year's sequel “Alan Wake 2.” He voiced other characters in “Control” (2019) and “Alone in the Dark” (2008).
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In 2020, McCaffrey told Saratoga Living that his favorite role was as Jimmy Keefe on the television series “Rescue Me,” which he starred in from 2004 to 2011.
He also shared that despite voicing Max Payne, he isn't much of a gamer himself.
“I’m not a big fan of video games,” he said. “When I first shot Max Payne I spent about six hours a day in a sound booth and it was about 400 pages of script. But I've never seen it, I've never played it, I have.” I don't feel like it. I lack a proper appreciation for video games.”
McCaffrey is survived by his wife and daughter Tiernan McCaffrey.
Contribution: The Associated Press
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