James McCaffrey, renowned for lending his voice to the iconic Max Payne in the beloved video game series and more recently portraying Alex Casey in “Alan Wake 2,” passed away on Sunday following a valiant battle with cancer, as confirmed by Variety through communication with his manager. He was 65. TMZ, which initially reported the news, stated that McCaffrey had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.
Prior to his illustrious career in video game voice acting, spanning the Max Payne series and “Alan Wake 2,” McCaffrey enjoyed a prolific career in film and television spanning over three decades. His early roles in the late ’80s and early ’90s included a breakout performance in Fox’s police drama “New York Undercover,” where he played the recurring role of Captain Arthur O’Byrne in Season 3. McCaffrey starred in the NBC action series “Viper” during its initial run in 1994 and returned for Season 4 when the show was revived.
McCaffrey’s significant role came in 2004 on FX’s “Rescue Me,” where he portrayed firefighter James Xavier “Jimmy” Keefe, a character who tragically perished on September 11 and was a close friend and cousin to Denis Leary’s main character, Tommy Gavin. He played a prominent role in the first three seasons and continued as a recurring character in the final four seasons.
McCaffrey’s versatile career also included appearances on shows such as “Sex and the City,” “Suits,” “Blue Bloods,” “As the World Turns,” “Beautiful People,” “She’s Gotta Have It,” “Jessica Jones,” as well as roles in films like “The Orphan Killer,” “Camp Hope,” and “Excuse Me for Living.”
In the gaming world, McCaffrey’s distinctive voice became synonymous with Max Payne, the gritty antihero from the acclaimed third-person shooter series. He voiced Max in all of the character’s games, including the original 2001 release, its sequel “Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne” (2003), and the final installment “Max Payne 3” (2012), where McCaffrey also contributed to the motion capture.
The series, developed by Remedy Entertainment, gained fame for its innovative “bullet time” sequences and cinematic, slow-motion shootouts. McCaffrey made a cameo appearance in the 2008 film adaptation starring Mark Wahlberg.
Additionally, McCaffrey voiced FBI agent Alex Casey in the original “Alan Wake” game in 2010 and reprised the role in the sequel “Alan Wake 2,” which recently earned accolades for best narrative, art direction and game direction at this month’s Game Awards. McCaffrey also had roles in other notable games such as “Control” (2019) and “Alone in the Dark” (2008).
James McCaffrey is survived by his wife Rochelle Bostrom and daughter Tiernan McCaffrey.
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