McVey was married three times; first to Lorraine Budge in 1937. After their divorce, he married Rita Ann Stickelmaier in 1950 before they divorced in 1970. In 1971, McVey married Esther Geddes. He died of leukemia in Rancho Mirage, California.

His first screen role, uncredited, came in 1951, where he portrayed Brady in The Day the Earth Stood Still. He was uncredited in two 1953 military films, From Here to Eternity as Major Stern and in Mission over Korea as Colonel Colton.

He made one of his first television appearances in a 1953 episode of Four Star Playhouse. During the 1950s, McVey guest starred in episodes of many series, including The Restless Gun, Dragnet, The Lone Ranger, I Love Lucy, Tales of Wells Fargo, Colt .45, Hallmark Hall of Fame, My Friend Flicka, Highway Patrol, It’s a Great Life and Annie Oakley. From 1953 to 1956, he guest starred on the CBS educational series You Are There, narrated by Walter Cronkite. From 1959 to 1960, McVey portrayed Major General Norgath in the CBS series Men into Space.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, McVey continued guest starring in episodic television, including roles on Kentucky Jones, National Velvet, My Three Sons, The Rebel, The Everglades, Bat Masterson, Death Valley Days (as cattle baron John Chisum in the 1956 episode, “Pat Garrett’s Side of It”), Checkmate, Ripcord, The Wild, Wild West, Bonanza, Ironside and Eight Is Enough. His last roles were in 1985 and 1986 as different ministers in two episodes of Highway to Heaven.

In 1964, McVey was cast as General Hardesty in the political thriller film Seven Days in May.