Frank McCourt

Frank McCourt

Born: August 19, 1930
Died: July 19, 2009
in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Francis McCourt was an Irish-American teacher and writer. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his book Angela's Ashes, a tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood. In October 1949, at the age of 19, McCourt left Ireland. He had saved money from various jobs including as a telegram delivery boy and stolen from one of his employers, a moneylender, after her death. He took a boat from Cork to New York City. A priest he had met on the ship got him a room to stay in and his job at New York City's Biltmore Hotel. He earned about $26 a week and sent $10 of it to his mother in Limerick. Brothers Malachy and Michael followed him to New York and so, later, did their mother Angela. In 1951, McCourt was drafted during the Korean War and sent to Bavaria for two years initially training dogs, then as a clerk. Upon his discharge from the US Army, he returned to New York City, where he held a series of jobs on docks, in warehouses, and in banks.

Using his GI Bill education benefits, McCourt talked his way into New York University by claiming he was intelligent and read a great deal; they admitted him on one year's probation provided he maintained a B average. He graduated in 1957 from New York University with a bachelor's degree in English. He taught at six New York schools, including McKee Vocational and Technical High School, Ralph R. McKee CTE High School in Staten Island, New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn, Stuyvesant High School, Seward Park High School, Washington Irving High School, and the High School of Fashion Industries, all in Manhattan. In 1967, he earned a master's degree at Brooklyn College, and in the late 1960s he spent 18 months at Trinity College in Dublin, failing to earn his PhD before returning to New York City.

In a 1997 New York Times essay, McCourt wrote about his experiences teaching immigrant mothers at New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn.

McCourt won the annual Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography and one of the annual National Book Critics Circle Awards for his bestselling 1996 memoir, Angela's Ashes, which details his impoverished childhood from Brooklyn to Limerick. Three years later, a movie version of Angela's Ashes opened to mixed reviews. Northern Irish actor Michael Legge played McCourt as a teenager. McCourt also authored 'Tis , which continues the narrative of his life, picking up from the end of Angela's Ashes and focusing on his life after he returned to New York. He subsequently wrote Teacher Man which detailed his teaching experiences and the challenges of being a teacher.

McCourt was accused of greatly exaggerating his family's impoverished upbringing by many Limerick natives, including Richard Harris. McCourt's own mother had denied the accuracy of his stories shortly before her death in 1981, shouting from the audience during a stage performance of his recollections that it was "all a pack of lies." However, at the very least, many of his Stuyvesant High School students remembered quite clearly the mordant childhood anecdotes that he continually told during sessions of his senior-level Creative Writing elective.

McCourt wrote the book for a 1997 musical entitled The Irish… and How They Got That Way, which featured an eclectic mix of Irish music; everything from the traditional "Danny Boy" to U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."

Movies for Frank McCourt...

Historic Pubs of Dublin
Title: Historic Pubs of Dublin
Character: Himself/Presenter
Released: June 21, 2008
Type: Movie
Frank McCourt takes you on an intimate tour of Dublin's most famous brew pubs and offers a bit of history about the Emerald Isle. Dublin is a great place to quench your thirst for history, beautiful sights, warm and wonderful people, and, of course, a good pint! Join Frank McCourt, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Angela's Ashes as he tells the story of Dublin through its most historic pubs, dating back hundreds of years. In addition to the legendary drinking establishments, viewers will learn more about must-see attractions, the city's beautiful parks, and more!
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Home
Title: Home
Released: October 26, 2006
Type: Movie
Young Irish immigrant, Alan Cooke contemplates the great metropolis New York City, and the very meaning of home itself. A vivid moving and poetic portrayal of life in contemporary New York featuring a host of celebrities, native New Yorkers and immigrants via candid interviews.
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King Leopold's Ghost
Title: King Leopold's Ghost
Released: May 28, 2006
Type: Movie
The modern history of the Congo, the heart of Africa, is a terrifying tale of appalling brutality: how the greedy and incredibly ruthless King Leopold II of Belgium (1935-1909) turned a vast country into his private estate (1885-1908) and how he plundered the land and raped the bodies and souls of its defenceless inhabitants, causing countless victims; and what exactly is the true impact of this often forgotten story of crime and horror today.
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Title: The Colbert Report
Character: Self
Released: October 17, 2005
Type: TV
The Colbert Report is an American satirical late night television program that airs Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. It stars political humorist Stephen Colbert, a former correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Colbert Report is a spin-off from and counterpart to The Daily Show that comments on politics and the media in a similar way. It satirizes conservative personality-driven political pundit programs, particularly Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor. The show focuses on a fictional anchorman character named Stephen Colbert, played by his real-life namesake. The character, described by Colbert as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed, high-status idiot", is a caricature of televised political pundits. The Colbert Report has been nominated for seven Primetime Emmy Awards each in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, two Television Critics Association Awards Awards, and two Satellite Awards. In 2013, it won two Emmys. It has been presented as non-satirical journalism in several instances, including by the Tom DeLay Legal Defense Trust and by Robert Wexler following his interview on the program. The Report received considerable media coverage following its debut on October 17, 2005, for Colbert's coining of the term "truthiness", which dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster named its 2006 Word of the Year.
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Beautiful Kid
Title: Beautiful Kid
Character: Mr. Lennihan
Released: March 22, 2003
Type: Movie
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Title: Charlie Rose
Character: Self (Charlie Rose archive footage 12/30/97)
Released: September 30, 1991
Type: TV
Charlie Rose is an American television interview show, with Charlie Rose as executive producer, executive editor, and host. The show is syndicated on PBS and is owned by Charlie Rose, LLC. Rose interviews thinkers, writers, politicians, athletes, entertainers, businesspersons, leaders, scientists, and other newsmakers. The show premiered on September 30, 1991. It is presented by WNET, where it first aired as a local program. Funding for the show is primarily provided by donations from various corporations and charitable foundations. The show has been criticized for not disclosing the list of donors even if the show is considered "public" broadcasting. In 2007, the video archive of past interviews was added to the website for free viewing. In a partnership with Google, nearly 4000 hours of video was added to Google Video including complete hour-long episodes as they originally aired. The videos are now unavailable after Google Video shut down.