Born in Richmond, VA. Graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, class of 1933. He was a brigadier general who served as an aide to Gen. George C. Marshall during World War II. When McCarthy retired, he became the head of public relations for the Fox film studio, and was the in-house morals watchdog for films before they were passed on for Production Code approval. He worked for nearly 20 years toward producing a film biography of Gen. George S. Patton, As the producer of PATTON (1970), he accepted George C. Scott's Oscar® for the film at the awards ceremony, but returned it to the Academy the next day in keeping with Scott's refusal to accept the award. Other non-nominated film producing credits (alone or in collaboration) include SINGLE-HANDED (1953), A GUIDE FOR THE MARRIED MAN (1967) and MacARTHUR (1977).

Nominated for Best Picture 1951: DECISION BEFORE DAWN - Producer at 20th Century-Fox (w. Anatole Litvak)  Best Picture 1970: PATTON - Producer at 20th Century-Fox 2 nominations, 1 Award