Matthew McConaughey’s mum refused to cover dad’s ‘huge’ manhood when he died during sex
None of us have a clue about how or when we will eventually leave this world - but Matthew McConaughey’s dad hazarded a decent guess.
The late James McConaughey - affectionately known as 'Big Jim' to his loved ones - died in 1992 in Houston, Texas. And according to his famous son, he had always planned to go out with a bang... and that's exactly what he did.
McConaughey previously opened up about his father's passing in his 2020 memoir titled Greenlights, which was inspired by his teenage diary entries.
The Interstellar star, 55, described the book as a collection of 'stories, prayers, poems, people and places and a whole bunch of bumper stickers' - with a good helping of family drama thrown in.
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In Greenlights, he reflected on the turbulent relationship that his mother Mary Kathleen, who goes by the nickname 'Kay', had with his dad James.
The couple, who shared three children, got married three different times and divorced twice - hence why McConaughey described his parents 'like the Pacific Ocean in a storm'.
Although there were more than enough fraught and fiery moments in the McConaughey household while growing up, the actor said his mum and dad's rough patches were 'superseded by love and humanity'.
James' shock death came shortly after his A-list son got his first big break in the coming-of-age comedy film Dazed and Confused, which was released in 1993.
McConaughey previously told how he was just five days into filming the flick when he received a call from his mother explaining that his dad had died of a heart attack.
He explained that James, who ran an oil pipe supply business, had always told him and his two brothers - Michael and Patrick - that he would meet his maker while 'making love' to his beloved wife Kay.
"I got a call from my mum: 'Your dad died'," McConaughey wrote in Greenlights. "My knees buckled. I couldn’t believe it. He was my dad. Nobody or nothing could kill him. Except mum.
"He’d always told me and my brothers, 'Boys, when I go, I’m gonna be makin' love to your mother.' And that’s what happened. He had a heart attack when he climaxed."
Although these circumstances are pretty wacky as it is, things somehow got even more surreal when James' body was being taken out of the house.
"There’s other parts of the story that aren’t even in the book," McConaughey admitted during an appearance on the WTF with Marc Maron podcast. "I found out later that when the ambulance came to get him at the house, obviously all the neighbours came out on the street.
"And they came and told me later that my mum, in her negligee nightie that she had woke up in, wouldn’t let the paramedics cover him.
"She kept ripping the sheet off going: 'Uh-uh, I want the world to see why his nickname was Big Jim, don’t you cover him!'"
McConaughey offered a few more comical details when recounting the story to The Guardian last month.
"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," the actor said.
"It was 7.30am. My understanding is that they made love that morning about 6.30am and as soon as they finished having sex, he had a heart attack."
Explaining why Kay was so adamant that the sheet covering Jim's modesty was removed, he continued: "My mom wasn’t into standing on ceremony. ‘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'!"
Kay also discussed the explicit nature of her husband's death during a 2020 episode of the Red Table Talk, as she said: "My husband died making love to me, and I remember saying when he fell back, I said, 'What's the matter, big boy? I wear you out?' And he's [giving] no response, no response and I'm thinking, 'Oh my god, something's wrong'."
"I had no idea that it was too much. His heart just stopped, you know? We had a party for him, kind of a celebration of his life."
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Matthew McConaughey, Celebrity, Parenting
Olivia Burke