Matthew McConaughey has shared new details about his father, James McConaughey's, death. The actor recalled the day his dad died in 1992 of a heart attack after having sex with Matthew's mother, Mary Kathleen 'Kay' McConaughey, in a new interview. While the Oscar winner revealed how his dad died in his 2020 memoir Greenlights, speaking to The Guardian this week, he confessed that his mom wanted her husband to remain in his "birthday suit" as paramedics retrieved his body because his dad wouldn't have wanted him to "cover up" the way he died.
He shared: "They hauled him out on the gurney, and they tried to cover him up, and my mom's in the driveway, and she pulled the sheet off him. It was 7:30 am. My understanding is that they made love that morning about 6:30 am, and as soon as they finished having sex, he had a heart attack."
Quoting his mom, Matthew continued: "That's Big Jim, he's gonna go out how he went. Don't be trying to cover up how he went out. He's in his birthday suit, and he's right there. Don't be covering that man up!'"
Recalling how he found out his dad died, he added: "When I got that call it was a Monday afternoon, and I was in Austin, and they were in Houston. Mom said, 'Your dad has moved on,' but she didn't tell me on the initial call how. When I got back, she told me." In his memoir, Matthew discussed his dad's death, writing: "He had a heart attack when he climaxed."
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© FilmMagicMatthew's mom and dad had a tumultuous relationship and married three times and divorced twice during their on-and-off 24-year relationship. Describing his dad in his memoir, Matthew said he was "the abominable snowman, the immovable force, a bear of a man, with the immune system of a Viking and the strength of a bull" that "nobody or no thing could kill. Except Mom."
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© Getty ImagesJames was 62 when he died, and Matthew called the loss of his father "the biggest moment of becoming a man." Speaking to Interview in April, the actor added: "Because dads are, like, they're above the law... I remember, though, gaining a lot of courage. There were things I was doing that he had taught me how to do, but I was kind of half-assing them, because I felt like, 'Well, the real dude's right behind me.' His moving on kind of gave me a kick in the caboose to have courage."
