At the time of his death, McGrath was starring in the Off Broadway solo show he'd written, Everything's Fine, an autobiographical play directed by John Lithgow at the Daryl Roth Theatre.
He's the son of Beatrice and R. Searle McGrath, an independent oil producer from Midland, Texas.
He is an alumnus of the Trinity School of Midland, TX, the Choate School, and Princeton University.