James McCaffrey (actor)

For those of a similar name, see James McCaffrey.

James Perry McCaffrey (March 27, 1958 – December 17, 2023) was an American actor best known for his voice role as Max Payne in the Max Payne video game series, Jimmy Keefe on Rescue Me (2004–2011), and Captain Arthur O'Breun in New York Undercover (1994–1997). He also had main roles and recurring roles in a number of television series as well as appearing in feature films.

James McCaffrey
McCaffrey in 2004 as Jimmy Keefe on Rescue Me
Born	(1958-03-27)March 27, 1958 Albany, New York, U.S.
Died	December 17, 2023(2023-12-17) (aged 65) Larchmont, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, voice actor
Years active	1987–2023
Notable work	Rescue Me Max Payne Alan Wake Control
Spouse	Rochelle Boström
Children	1

Career

McCaffrey's first role was as a mentally challenged teen in Bill II: on His Own: The Bill Sackter Story. He played the lead in the first and last seasons of the series Viper, and the short-lived series Swift Justice, and has appeared on As the World Turns and Sex and the City. Additionally, McCaffrey is known for playing deceased New York City firefighter Jimmy Keefe on Rescue Me, as well as Ryan Huntley on Revenge.^[1][2]

McCaffrey was most known for his performance as the title character in the Max Payne trilogy of games; he appeared in a cameo role in the film adaptation of the video game, playing an FBI agent brought in to assist in the capture of Payne.^[3] McCaffrey was also the voice of both Thomas Zane and Alex Casey in the Alan Wake games, and starred as Edward Carnby in the 2008 reboot of Alone in the Dark. He also starred as Father Thomas in the mystery thriller film A Cry from Within.^[4]

Personal life and death

McCaffrey was born in Albany, New York, in 1958.^[5][6] He was married to Rochelle Boström, and had a daughter.^[7]

McCaffrey died from multiple myeloma at his home in Larchmont, New York, on December 17, 2023, at the age of 65.^[8][7]

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1988	New York's Finest	Maitre d'	Direct-to-video
1990	Bail Jumper	National Guard	Credited as Jim McCaffrey
1993	Telling Secrets	Jackson Merrick	Television film
1994	Schemes	Paul Stewart	Direct-to-video
1995	Burnzy's Last Call	Sal
1996	The Truth About Cats & Dogs	Roy		[9]
1997	Nick and Jane	Nick		[10]
1997	Shanghai 1937	Frank Taylor	Television film	[11]
1999	The Tic Code	Michael
1999	Coming Soon	Dante
1999	The Florentine	Jack Ryan
1999	Switched at Birth	Darryl
2003	American Splendor	Fred
2003	Distress	Jack Douglas
2004	She Hate Me	Bob
2004	Fresh Cut Grass	Sam
2005	Hide and Seek	Charlie	Uncredited
2005	Jokebitch	Killer	Short film
2007	Broken English	Perry
2007	Feel the Noise	Jeffrey Skylar
2008	Max Payne	FBI Special Agent Jack Taliente	Uncredited cameo
2008	Last Call	Steven
2009	Sordid Things	Jagger Manchester
2010	The Pregnancy Pact	Michael Dougan	Television film
2010	Nonames	Mr. Williams
2010	Meskada	Billy Burns
2010	Camp Hope	Dr. John
2011	Busted Walk	Mr. Turner	Short film
2011	One Fall	Werber Bond
2011	The Orphan Killer	Detective Jones
2011	Montauk	Roger	Short film
2012	Compliance	Detective Neals
2012	To Redemption	Nick Reed
2012	Excuse Me for Living	Barry
2013	The Suspect	Polaski Sheriff
2013	Stain Removal	Jules
2014	A Cry from Within	Father Thomas
2014	Gun Hill	Alex Web	Television film
2014	Betrayed	Sully	Television film
2014	Like Sunday, Like Rain	Dale
2015	Sam	Seymour
2015	Coach of the Year	Fred Call
2015	I Dream Too Much	Nikki
2016	Confidence Game	David
2016	Blind	Howard
2018	The Big Take	Douglas Brown

Television series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1992	Civil Wars	Terence Flanagan	4 episodes
1994–1997	New York Undercover	Captain Arthur O'Byrne / Jack Dale	7 episodes
1994, 1996–1999	Viper	Joe Astor / Michael Payton	34 episodes
1996	Swift Justice	Mac Swift	13 episodes
1997	The Big Easy	Dominick	Episode: "The Gospel According to McSwain"
1998	Sex and the City	Max	Episode: "The Monogamists"
2000	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Jesse Hansen	Episode: "Bad Blood"
2001	The Job	Jeff Larsen	Episode: "Foot"
2001	Sex and the City	Paul Denai	Episode: "The Real Me"
2003	Queens Supreme	Johnny Garrett	Episode: "The House Next Door"
2003	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Daniel Croydon	2 episodes
2003	As the World Turns	Charley Spangler	11 episodes
2003	Hack	Coslow	Episode: "See No Evil"
2003	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Peter Forbes	Episode: "Coerced"
2004–2011	Rescue Me	Jimmy Keefe	Main role 55 episodes
2005–2006	Beautiful People	Julian Fiske	12 episodes
2006	3 lbs	Eric Linden	Episode: "The God Spot"
2008	Canterbury's Law	Frank Angstrom	4 episodes
2011	Blue Bloods	Detective William Carter	Episode: "Little Fish"
2011	The Glades	Frank Ford	Episode: "'shine"
2011	A Gifted Man	Milt Sandreski	Episode: "Pilot"
2011–2012	Revenge	Ryan Huntley	4 episodes
2013–2018	Suits	Gordon Specter	3 episodes
2013	White Collar	Lieutenant Gannon	Episode: "At What Price"
2014	The Following	David	2 episodes
2014	Forever	Professor James Browning	S1/E2: "Look Before You Leap"
2017	Bull	Thornton Grey	Episode: "Make Me"
2017	Madam Secretary	Rex Mayfield	Episode: "The Detour"
2017–2019	She's Gotta Have It	Danton Phillips	5 episodes
2018	Jessica Jones	Maximillian 'Max' Tatum	2 episodes
2019	Bluff City Law	Tucker Goodman	Episode: "You Don't Need a Weatherman"
2022	Blue Bloods	Sergeant Kevin Coolidge	Episode: "Old Friends"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2001	Max Payne	Max Payne
2003	Max Payne 2	Max Payne
2005	Area 51	Additional Voices
2008	Alone in the Dark	Edward Carnby
2010	Alan Wake	Thomas Zane, Alex Casey
2012	Max Payne 3	Max Payne	Voice and motion capture	[12]
2019	Control	Zachariah Trench		[13]
2023	Alan Wake 2	Alex Casey		[14]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2004	7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards	Outstanding Character Performance - Male	Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne	Nominated	[15]
2024	20th British Academy Games Awards	Performer in a Supporting Role	Alan Wake II	Longlisted	[16]