Long-time Limelight critic James McCarthy has died of cancer at the age of 81.

Limelight critic James McCarthy (1939–2021)

Born in Tamworth in 1939, McCarthy worked as a production assistant at Film Australia from 1959 to 1964, before taking up the role of Director of Music at Film Australia from 1964 to 1986, producing 200 documentary film scores. In 1986 he was appointed Sydney Manager of the National Film and Sound Archive, a post he held until 1996.

In a 2013 oral history interview with Graham Shirley, he recounts his work for these organisations, as well as the sound recording organisations, International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives and Australasian Sound Recordings Association, while McCarthy himself interviewed numerous film composers and film makers for the NFSA.

McCarthy was also a programmer and presenter for classical music station Fine Music Sydney (formerly known as 2MBS FM), contributing to Fine Music Magazine, and wrote for publications including Soundscapes, the International Record Guide and Opera-Opera.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, he was also Musical Director for several opera and musical societies in Sydney and Canberra.

McCarthy wrote reviews for Limelight across several decades. “James was one of the most affable...