Born in Armagh, Northern Ireland, Patrick Magee is a classic example of how certain actors rate the stage far more highly than the screen. Magee was well aware that the vast majority of the films that he appeared in were dreadful (he mostly played sinister villains in horror films), but the money came in very handy in financing his distinguished stage work (he was a favourite actor of Samuel Beckett one of whose greatest plays, 'Krapp's Last Tape', was written specifically for him). However, he did do some outstanding work on film, most notably in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange as the crippled writer Mr.Alexander, and also in Joseph Losey's The Servant, Peter Brook's Marat/Sade and William Friedkin's The Birthday Party. He also appeared in films by such cult directors as Roger Corman, Lucio Fulci and Walerian Borowczyk.