A CONVERSATION WITH ELLEN MCCOURT AND MALACHY MCCOURT
Irish Rep looks back on the life and work of the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Angela’s Ashes and ‘Tis, the late Frank McCourt. McCourt was an Irish Repertory Theatre actor and playwright (The Irish…and How They Got That Way), since the company’s founding. In this special Meet the Makers episode, Ellen McCourt and Malachy McCourt, Frank McCourt’s widow and brother, respectively, remember Frank in advance of Irish Rep’s digital fundraiser, The Irish (Rep)…and How We Got That Way.
Frank McCourt (August 19, 1930 – July 19, 2009) was an Irish-American teacher and writer, best known for Angela’s Ashes, his 1996 Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir about his childhood in Brooklyn and Limerick, Ireland. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize, Angela’s Ashes won the National Book Critics Circle Award and Boeke Prize, and subsequently was made into a major motion picture, directed by Alan Parker. His other memoirs include ’Tis (1999), which chronicled his life in America as a new immigrant; and Teacher Man (2005) about his experiences as a public-school teacher.
A graduate of New York University and beloved teacher for nearly 30 years, he taught in several New York schools, including McKee High School, McKee Technical and Vocational High School, and Stuyvesant High School. Mr. McCourt also taught in the English department of New York City Technical College of the City University of New York. He and his brothers were featured in two television documentaries, “The McCourts of Limerick” and “The McCourts of New York.”