David McCallum

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David McCallum
Birth name David Keith McCallum
Born 19 September 1933 (1933-09-19) (age 76)
Image:Flag of Scotland.svg Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Spouse(s) Katherine Carpenter

David Keith McCallum, Jr. (born September 19, 1933) is a prolific Scottish actor and the son of concertmaster violinist David McCallum, Sr.. He is best known[citation needed] for his role as Illya Kuryakin, a Russian-born secret agent, on the popular 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Ducky Mallard on the series NCIS.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Career

McCallum was born in Glasgow, and was educated at University College School, a famous boys' independent school in Hampstead, London. He began his career as a bit-part actor in British films of the late-1950s and early-1960s. The Man from U.N.C.L.E., intended as a vehicle for Robert Vaughn, unexpectedly made McCallum into a sex symbol, his Beatle-style blonde haircut providing a trendy contrast with Vaughn's rather traditional appearance. Hero worship even led to a record, Love Ya, Illya, performed by Alma Cogan under the name Angela and the Fans ("I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish that Illya loved me"), which was a "pirate radio" hit in Britain in 1966.

Although McCallum subsequently became a familiar face on television, he was never able to achieve the same level of popular success as he had done with his role as Kuryakin. His best-known roles were in Sapphire and Steel (opposite Joanna Lumley), as the lead in a mid-1970s remake of The Invisible Man, and as Judas Iscariot in The Greatest Story Ever Told.

In the 1960s, McCallum recorded some albums for Capitol Records with producer David Axelrod, such as Music: A Bit More of Me (1966) and Music: It's Happening Now! (1967). The most well known of his pieces today is arguably The Edge, which was sampled by Dr. Dre as the intro and riff to the track The Next Episode. McCallum did not sing on these records, as many television stars of the 60's did when offered recording contracts, but used the opportunity to make a different statement. As a classically trained musician, he conceived a sound that would blend oboe, french horn, and strings with guitar and drums, and presented all instrumental interpretations of hits of the day. The official arranger on the albums was H.P. Barnum, but McCallum conducted, and contributed a few original compositions over the course of four LP's. The first two "Music: A Part of Me", and "Music: A Bit More of Me" have been issued together on CD on the Zonophone label.

McCallum co-starred with Charles Bronson in The Great Escape. He introduced then-wife Jill Ireland to Bronson on the set and she later left him and married Bronson. As of December 2006, he is one of only four surviving stars of the film, the others being Richard Attenborough, James Garner and John Leyton.

McCallum appeared on stage in Australia when he appeared in the play Run For Your Wife , during 1987-1988 and the production toured the country. Other members of the cast in the production were Jack Smethurst, Eric Sykes and Katy Manning.

McCallum also guest starred in the television series seaQuest DSV as the law enforcement officer Frank Cobb of the fictional Broken Ridge of the Ausland Confederation, an underwater mining off the coast of Australia by the Great Barrier Reef during the series' first season.

In 1994, McCallum narrated the critically acclaimed documentaries Titanic: Death of a Dream and Titanic: The Legend Lives On for A&E Television Networks, the second Titanic-centric project he worked on. The first was the 1958 film A Night to Remember. A 1990s rock/rap group from Argentina named themselves Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas in honor of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. character.

As of 2003, McCallum is starring in the successful CBS television series NCIS as Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, one of the key characters. In an inside joke on that program, when Agent Gibbs is asked the question, "What did Ducky look like when he was younger?," Gibbs simply responds, "Illya Kuryakin."

According to the behind-the-scenes featurette on the 2006 DVD release of season 1, McCallum took it upon himself to become an expert in forensics in order to better play the role of Dr. "Ducky" Mallard, including appearing at medical examiner conventions. Bellisario says McCallum's knowledge of the subject became so vast that Bellisario (at the time of the interview) was seriously considering making him a technical advisor for the series.

[edit] Personal life

He was married to the late actress Jill Ireland from 1957 to 1967. They had three sons: Paul, Jason (who died from an accidental drug overdose in 1989), and Valentine. He has been married to Katherine Carpenter since 1967. They have a son, Peter, and a daughter, Sophie.

[edit] Television

[edit] Films

[edit] See also

Illya Kuryakin

[edit] External links

de:David McCallum es:David McCallum fr:David McCallum ja:デヴィッド・マッカラム ro:David McCallum sv:David McCallum

Retrieved from "http://india.smashits.com/wikipedia/David_McCallum"
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