Most people know Matthew McConaughey as a romance novel heartthrob and Oscar-winning actor, but to Rooster and Pat McConaughey, he’s just a little brother.
The Dallas Buyers Club the star is the youngest of three boys. Matthew was born in Texas to Mary Kathleen “Kay” and James McConaughey on November 4, 1969 – 15 years after they first welcomed his oldest brother Michael (who goes by the name “Rooster”). In the intervening years, Kay and James adopted their son, Pat.
The brothers grew up in a tumultuous, loving home, with parents who married three times and divorced twice, a topic Matthew opened up in his 2020 memoir. Green lights. While the award-winning actor and his brother Rooster pursued careers in the entertainment industry, Pat kept his life completely out of the limelight.
All about Matthew McConaughey’s parents, Kay and James McConaughey
From their Texas upbringing to their current relationship, here’s everything you need to know about Matthew McConaughey’s older brothers.
All three boys were born and raised in West Texas
Matthew McConaughey as a child.
Matthew McConaughey’s Instagram
Rooster was born in Houston, Texas, on August 2, 1954. He moved with his parents to Uvalde in the third grade, where he grew up and later attended Uvalde High School, according to Dallas morning news. After moving, the family adopted Pat in 1964. Five years later, Kay and James expanded their family again when they welcomed their son, Matthew, on November 4, 1969.
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In his memoirs, Green lightsMatthew described himself as an “accident”, revealing that his parents had not planned to have another child after Pat.
“Mom and dad tried unsuccessfully to make a baby for years, so mom thought I was a tumor until the fifth month of pregnancy. On the day of my birth, dad went to a bar instead of the hospital, because he suspected that I wasn’t his anyway. But I did,” he wrote.
Their family life was occasionally full of conflict
Matthew McConaughey and his mother, Mary Kathleen McCabe.
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
The Interstellar star took a deep dive into some of the more difficult aspects of his childhood in his memoir, revealing that his parents — who divorced twice — had an extremely tumultuous relationship.
“So mom gave dad an invitation to their own wedding and said, ‘You have twenty-four hours to decide, let me know.’ This is why my mom and dad got married three times and divorced twice – from each other,” Matthew wrote, adding that sometimes things get physical. “This is why my dad broke my mom’s middle finger four times to get it out of her face. This is how my mom and dad loved each other.”
In conversation with Willie Geist on Today in 2020, the actor explained that despite the difficult times, he did not doubt the love that his family has for him and for each other.
“I was scared at the time, but even then and right after, I never questioned the love mom and dad had or the love they gave us,” Matthew said.
“I tell these stories that are bloody and ugly and sometimes violent,” he added of the book, explaining that sharing those memories helps remind him of his family’s unbreakable bonds. “And I think the reason I tell them that is because those were the times when the love that we had — which was never in question — was challenged the most, but it never had a chance to be defeated.”
Their father died in 1992
Matthew McConaughey with his father and brothers.
Matthew McConaughey’s Instagram
James died exactly the way he always said he would – in bed with his wife, according to magical mike actor.
“My mom called me. “Your dad died,” Matthew wrote in his memoir, as excerpted exclusively on the cover of PEOPLE. “My knees were buckling. I couldn’t believe it. He was my dad. No one or nothing could kill him. Except mom,” he explained.
“He always told me and my brothers, ‘Guys, when I leave, I’m going to make love to your mother.’ And it happened,” wrote Matthew.
Rooster is an entrepreneur
Mary Kathleen McCabe and Michael Rooster McConaughey.
Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic
Rooster made – and immediately lost – his first million dollars at the age of 30. The eldest McConaughey brother founded his own pipeline company, DGM Supply, and started an investment company called West Texas Ltd. with his close friend Wayne “Butch” Gilliam.
“I’ve always been good at making money — I wasn’t very good at keeping money,” Rooster joked on PEOPLE Now in 2018. “It taught me more about, don’t forget who you are,” he said, explaining that he had “no where go but up” as a child, and tries to always keep that spirit in mind. “Being who you are is more important than having money,” thought Rooster.
Speaking with Fox News In the same year, he elaborated on what it takes to be truly rich. “You can’t just get rich with money,” Rooster said. “You must enrich yourself in mind, body and soul more than anything else. And do business with a conscience.”
Rooster hosted two reality TV shows
Matthew McConaughey’s brother, Michael Rooster McConaughey.
Building on his business experience, Rooster starred in two reality TV shows alongside his friend and business partner Gilliam. Viewers first met this duo in 2015 West Texas Investors Club, which ran for two seasons on CNBC. The Aquarium for sharks-inspired series followed the couple as they met with hopeful entrepreneurs about investing in their business.
In 2018, he and Gilliam began starring in the eponymous A&E show called Rooster & Butchwhich similarly followed their hands-on approach to investing in local companies.
“We leveled the playing field,” Rooster told PEOPLE Now. “It’s a condensed version of how we’ve done business all our lives.”
Despite the popularity of the series, the businessman said that he does not feel at home in Hollywood.
“I definitely don’t fit in, it’s pretty visible,” explained Rooster on Hollywood life podcast. “Even in an Armani suit, you can see that it’s me… I’m talkative no matter where I am,” he said, adding that he stays true to himself no matter where he is. “It could be a truck stop or the Oscars, so it doesn’t matter. So I just walk up to them and say, ‘Hey, go for it!’ ”
Rooster has three children — and two are named after his favorite beers
Rooster was married three times. During his first marriage, he had a son named Madison Beaumont. Many years later he had another son, Miller Lyte, and a daughter, Margarita Olympia. He chose unique nicknames for his two younger children that reminded him of one of his favorite things: beer.
“I called mine [3½-year-old] boy Miller Lyte because that’s my favorite beer. And my [11-month-old] the girl’s name is Margarita Olympia… I liked that beer too, even though they don’t make it anymore,” he told PEOPLE in 2010.
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Rooster dove deeper into the story while talking to Fox Newsexplaining that he did it in part to lift up his friends.
“What happened was that I was always drinking a lot of Miller Lite,” he explained, adding that his friends started telling him he would have to change his lifestyle when his wife was pregnant. “I said, ‘You know if things work out, I’ll be able to take Miller Lite to church.’ And I certainly am!”
As for his daughter, he managed to sneak in another beer-related name at the last minute.
“So my wife gets pregnant again and says, ‘I’m naming this [one] and you stay away from it”. Well, her grandmother’s name is Margarita. And so he names her Margarita.” She ended up asking her husband for a middle name after their daughter arrived. “So I threw Olympia out. They jumped over everything. They didn’t even know that beer was called that,” he revealed to the outlet.
Rooster’s favorite Matthew movie is Mud
Matthew McConaughey in ‘Mud’.
Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy
Rooster is a huge fan of his brother’s work and has shown his support over the years by attending various premieres and watching his films — but one in particular always tugs at his heartstrings.
“If I see advertisements about Mud I’m still teary-eyed,” Rooster told PEOPLE Now, revealing his admiration for the 2013 film, in which his brother plays a fugitive on the run from the law. “It’s my favorite of all time,” Rooster added.
Matthew’s Dazed and confused the character was inspired by Pat
Matthew McConaughey in Dazed and Confused.
Universal/Gramercy/Kobal/Shutterstock
While Matthew’s middle brother has mostly stayed out of the spotlight, the actor shared a rare story about him in 2020.
In a conversation with longtime friend Kate Hudson on Joy of brothers and sistersMatthew revealed that Pat greatly inspired the character of Wooderson, his first role in the 1993 classic. Dazed and confused.
“You all know that as actors,” he said A true detective said the star. “Sometimes you study the details of a character, and sometimes it’s just an impression. That character was based on a certain day when I was about 10 years old,” he said, going on to explain that Pat’s car broke down at school, so Matthew and his mom drove to pick him up.
“As we drive slowly through campus, I’m in the back seat looking out the back window,” Matthew explained. “I see this image of a guy in the shadows, leaning against the wall in the smoking section with one heel of his boot up against the wall, light streaming through, knee bent, leaning back, slightly lazy long arms. I said ‘Wow.’ He was about nine feet tall, the coolest thing in the world, and he was my brother Pat,” he said, calling him “an icon.”
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Source: HIS Education