David McCallum

Template:Other people

Scottish actor and musicianTemplate:SHORTDESC:Scottish actor and musician[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]

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* Illya Kuryakin (*The Man from U.N.C.L.E.*)
* Steel (*Sapphire & Steel*)
* Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (*NCIS*)
* Jill Ireland(m. 1957; div. 1967)
* Katherine Carpenter (m. 1967)

**David Keith McCallum, Jr.** (born 19 September 1933) is a Scottish actor and musician. He first gained recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television series *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.*.
In recent years, McCallum has gained renewed international recognition and popularity for his role as NCIS medical examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard in the American television series *NCIS*.

## Early life

McCallum was born September 19, 1933, in Maryhill, Glasgow, the second of two sons of Dorothy Dorman, a cellist, and orchestral violinist David McCallum Sr. When he was three, his family moved to London for his father to play as concertmaster in the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Early in the Second World War, he was evacuated back to Scotland, where he lived with his mother at Gartocharn by Loch Lomond.

McCallum won a scholarship to University College School, a boys' independent school in Hampstead, London, where, encouraged by his parents to prepare for a career in music, he played the oboe. In 1946 he began doing boy voices for the BBC radio repertory company.Template:Deprecated inline Also involved in local amateur drama, at age 17, he appeared as Oberon in an open-air production of *A Midsummer Night's Dream* with the Play and Pageant Union. He left school at age 18 and was conscripted for National Service. He joined the British Army's 3rd Battalion the Middlesex Regiment, which was seconded to the Royal West African Frontier Force. In March 1954 he was promoted to Lieutenant. After leaving the army he attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (also in London), where Joan Collins was a classmate.

## Career

In 1951, McCallum became assistant stage manager of the Glyndebourne Opera Company. He began his acting career doing boy voices for BBC Radio in 1947Template:Deprecated inline and began taking bit parts in British films from the late 1950s. His first acting role was in *Whom the Gods Love, Die Young* playing a doomed royal. A James Dean-themed photograph of McCallum caught the attention of the Rank Organisation, who signed him in 1956. However, in an interview with Alan Titchmarsh broadcast on 3 November 2010, McCallum stated that he had actually held his Equity card since 1946.

Early roles included a juvenile delinquent in *Violent Playground* (1957), an outlaw in *Robbery Under Arms*, (1957) and as junior Template:RMS radio operator Harold Bride in *A Night to Remember* (1958). His first American film was *Freud: The Secret Passion* (1962), directed by John Huston, which was shortly followed by a role in Peter Ustinov's *Billy Budd*. McCallum played Lt Cdr Eric Ashley-Pitt (a.k.a., "Dispersal") in *The Great Escape*, which was released in 1963. He took the role of Judas Iscariot in 1965's *The Greatest Story Ever Told*. Other television roles included two appearances on *The Outer Limits* and a guest appearance on *Perry Mason* in 1964 as defendant Phillipe Bertain in "The Case of the Fifty Millionth Frenchman".

### *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.*

 File:David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin cph.3c35738.jpg
*The Man from U.N.C.L.E.*, intended as a vehicle for Robert Vaughn, made McCallum into a sex symbol, his Beatle-style blond haircut providing a trendy contrast to Vaughn's clean-cut appearance. McCallum's role as the mysterious Russian agent Illya Kuryakin was originally conceived as a peripheral one. McCallum, however, took the opportunity to construct a complex character whose appeal rested largely in what was shadowy and enigmatic about him. Kuryakin's popularity with the audience and Vaughn's and McCallum's on-screen chemistry were quickly recognized by the producers, and McCallum was elevated to co-star status.

Although the show aired at the height of the Cold War, McCallum's Russian alter ego became a pop culture phenomenon. The actor was inundated with fan letters, and a Beatles-like frenzy followed him everywhere he went. While playing Kuryakin, McCallum received more fan mail than any other actor in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's history, including such popular MGM stars as Clark Gable and Elvis Presley. Hero worship even led to a record, *Love Ya, Illya*, performed by Alma Cogan under the name Angela and the Fans, which was a pirate radio hit in Britain in 1966. A 1990s rock-rap group from Argentina named itself Illya Kuryaki and the Valderramas in honour of *The Man From U.N.C.L.E.* character.

McCallum received two Emmy Award nominations in the course of the show's four-year run (1964–68) for playing the intellectual and introvert secret agent.

McCallum and Vaughn reprised their roles of Kuryakin and Solo in a 1983 TV film, *Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.*. In 1986 McCallum reunited with Robert Vaughn again in an episode of *The A-Team* entitled "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair", complete with "chapter titles", the word "affair" in the title, the phrase "Open Channel D", and similar scene transitions.

In an interview for a retrospective television special, McCallum recounted a visit to the White House during which, while he was being escorted to meet the U.S. president, a Secret Service agent told him, "You're the reason I *got* this job."

### After *The Man from U.N.C.L.E.*

 File:David McCallum 1969.JPG
McCallum never quite repeated the popular success he had gained as Kuryakin until *NCIS*, though he did become a familiar face on British television in such shows as *Colditz* (1972–74), *Kidnapped* (1978), and ITV's science-fiction series *Sapphire & Steel* (1979–82) opposite Joanna Lumley. In 1975 he played the title character in a short-lived U.S. version of *The Invisible Man*.

McCallum appeared on stage in Australia in *Run for Your Wife* (1987–88), and the production toured the country. Other members of the cast were Jack Smethurst, Eric Sykes and Katy Manning.

McCallum played supporting parts in a number of feature films, although he played the title role in the 1968 thriller, *Sol Madrid*.

McCallum starred with Diana Rigg in the 1989 TV miniseries *Mother Love*. In 1991 and 1992 McCallum played gambler John Grey, one of the principal characters in the television series *Trainer*.
He appeared as a British double agent in a 1989 episode of *Murder, She Wrote*.
In the 1990s McCallum guest-starred in two U.S. television series. In season 1 of *seaQuest DSV,* he appeared as the law-enforcement officer Frank Cobb of the fictional Broken Ridge of the Ausland Confederation, an underwater mining camp off the coast of Australia by the Great Barrier Reef; he also had a guest-star role in one episode of *Babylon 5.*

In 1994, McCallum narrated the acclaimed documentaries *Titanic: The Complete Story* for A&E Networks. This was the second project about the *Titanic* on which he had worked: the first was the 1958 film *A Night to Remember*, in which he had had a small role.

In the same year McCallum hosted and narrated the TV special *Ancient Prophecies*. This special, which was followed soon after by three others, told of people and places historically associated with foretelling the end of the world and the beginnings of new eras for mankind.

### *NCIS*

 File:DavidMcCallumHWOFOct2012.jpg
Since 2003 McCallum has starred in the CBS television series *NCIS* as Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, the team's chief medical examiner and one of the show's most popular characters. In Season 2 Episode 13 "The Meat Puzzle", NCIS Special Agent Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander) asks Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), "What did Ducky look like when he was younger?" and Gibbs replies, "Illya Kuryakin".

According to the behind-the-scenes feature on the 2006 DVD of NCIS season 1, McCallum became an expert in forensics to play Mallard, including attending medical examiner conventions. In the feature, Donald P. Bellisario says that McCallum's knowledge became so vast that at the time of the interview he was considering making him a technical adviser on the show.

McCallum appeared at the 21st Annual James Earl Ash Lecture, held 19 May 2005 at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, an evening for honouring America's service members. His lecture, "Reel to Real Forensics", with Cmdr. Craig T. Mallak, U.S. Armed Forces medical examiner, featured a presentation comparing the real-life work of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner staff with that of the fictional naval investigators appearing on *NCIS*.

In late April 2012 it was announced that McCallum had reached agreement on a two-year contract extension with CBS-TV. The move meant that he would remain an *NCIS* regular past his eightieth birthday.
In May 2014 he signed another two-year contract. He has since signed extensions in 2016, beginning a limited schedule in 2017 and renewing the same for seasons 15, 16 & 17 - each one separately.

### Music

In the 1960s, McCallum recorded four albums for Capitol Records with music producer David Axelrod: *Music...A Part of Me* (Capitol ST 2432, 1966), *Music...A Bit More of Me* (Capitol ST 2498, 1966), *Music...It's Happening Now!* (Capitol ST 2651, 1967), and *McCallum* (Capitol ST 2748, 1968). The best known of his pieces today is "The Edge", which was sampled by Dr. Dre as the intro and riff to the track "The Next Episode", "M.I.A" by Missin' Linx, and "No Regrets" by Masta Ace. McCallum's version of "The Edge" appears on the soundtrack to the 2017 film Baby Driver.

McCallum did not sing on these records, as many television stars of the 1960s did when offered recording contracts. As a classically trained musician, he conceived a blend of oboe, English horn and strings with guitar and drums, and presented instrumental interpretations of hits of the day. The official arranger on the albums was H. B. Barnum. However, McCallum conducted, and contributed several original compositions of his own, over the course of four LPs. 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. On *Open Channel D*, McCallum did sing on the first four tracks, "Communication", "House on Breckenridge Lane", "In the Garden, Under the Tree" (the theme song from the film *Three Bites of the Apple*) and "My Carousel". The music tracks are the same as the Zonophone CD. This CD was released on the Rev-Ola label. The single release of "Communication" reached No. 32 in the UK Singles Chart in April 1966.

In the *Man from U.N.C.L.E.* episode "The Discotheque Affair", McCallum plays the double bass as part of a band in a night club. He also played guitar and sang his own composition, "Trouble," with Nancy Sinatra on "The Take Me to Your Leader Affair," and played several instruments in "The Off-Broadway Affair".

In the 1970s, McCallum also recorded three H.P. Lovecraft tales for Caedmon Records, an imprint of August Derleth's Arkham House publishing venture: "The Rats in the Walls" (TC 1347, 1973); "The Dunwich Horror" ("slightly abridged"; TC 1467, 1976); and "The Haunter of the Dark" (TC 1617, 1979).

### Fiction

In 2016, McCallum published a crime novel entitled *Once a Crooked Man*. The narrative is set in New York and London and centres on a young actor who tries to foil a murder. McCallum has stated that a second novel is in progress.

## Personal life

On 11 May 1957, McCallum married actress Jill Ireland in London. The couple had met during production of the film *Hell Drivers*. The marriage lasted 10 years. After leaving McCallum, Ireland married Charles Bronson, whom McCallum had introduced to her while McCallum and Bronson were filming *The Great Escape* (1963). McCallum and Ireland had three sons: Paul, Jason and Valentine (Val). Jason, who was adopted, died from an accidental drug overdose in 1989. Val McCallum is a guitar player, playing with Jackson Browne most recently in 2014 and is a member of the faux country band, Jackshit.

In 1967, McCallum married Katherine Carpenter. They have a son, Peter, and a daughter, Sophie. McCallum and his wife are active in charitable organisations that support the United States Marine Corps: Katherine's father was a Marine who served in the Battle of Iwo Jima and her brother was killed in the Vietnam War. On 27 August 1999, McCallum was naturalized as a United States citizen. McCallum has six grandchildren. He was friends with Tibor Rubin.

## Filmography

### Video games

* Appears in the opening full-motion video cinematic
 2009
* Voices his character from *NCIS*
* Narrates the game
 2014

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Swann, Yvonne (30 November 2010). "David McCallum: My father sometimes felt I was wasting my life".
2. ↑ "Interview from*Motion Picture* magazine". Davidmccallumfansonline.com. http://www.davidmccallumfansonline.com/sexsymbol.htm.
3. ↑ Template:Cite journal
4. ↑ Swann, Yvonne (30 November 2010). "David McCallum: My father sometimes felt I was wasting my life | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1332623/David-McCallum-My-father-felt-I-wasting-life.html.
5. ↑ "VJ Books Presents David McCallum!". Vj Books. http://www.vjbooks.com/David-McCallum-s/1772.htm. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "U.N.C.L.E. Actor – David McCallum". manfromuncle.org. http://www.manfromuncle.org/mccallum.htm. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
7. ↑ Titmarsh, Alan. "David on the Alan Titmarsh Show, November 2010". Unknown. http://www.davidmccallumfansonline.com/special.htm. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
8. ↑ "David McCallum Biography". Fandango. http://www.fandango.com/davidmccallum/biographies/p46912. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
9. ↑ Feeney, Mark (2 November 2008). "Audiences in the 1960s swooned over the cool men from U.N.C.L.E.", Boston Globe. Retrieved on 2 November 2008.
10. ↑ "The Man From UNCLE: Behind the Scenes of a TV Classic". YouTube}. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R\_NHKW\_2lMI. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
11. ↑ Template:Cite episode
12. ↑ "David McCallum discusses medical examiner work". Davidmccallumfansonline.com. 27 May 2005. http://www.davidmccallumfansonline.com/afip.htm. Retrieved 25 August 2010.
13. ↑ Eng, Joyce (30 April 2012). "David McCallum re-ups NCIS contract". TV Guide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/David-McCallum-NCIS-Contract-1046752.aspx. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
14. ↑ Bucksbaum, Sydney (5 May 2014). "'NCIS' Season 12 and 13: Sean Murray, Pauley Perrette, David McCallum, Rocky Carroll sign new 2-year deals". *Zap2it*. Tribune Media. http://www.zap2it.com/blogs/ncis\_season\_12\_and\_13\_sean\_murray\_pauley\_perrette\_david\_mccallum\_rocky\_carroll\_sign\_new\_2-year\_deals-2014-05. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
15. ↑ Giacobone, Nicole (25 June 2016). "‘NCIS’ Cast News: Sean Murray, Pauley Perrette, David McCallum, And Rocky Carroll Signed For Seasons 14 And 15". *Inquisitr*. The Inquisitr. https://www.inquisitr.com/3243205/ncis-cast-news-sean-murray-pauley-perrette-david-mccallum-rocky-carroll-signed-seasons-14-and-15/. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
16. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (4 May 2018). "‘NCIS’: David McCallum Set To Return For Season 16 Of CBS Series". *Deadline Hollywood*. Deadline. http://deadline.com/2018/05/ncis-david-mccallum-return-season-16-cbs-series-ducky-mallard-1202382769/. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
17. ↑ Template:Cite book
18. ↑ Tucker, Neely; Tucker, Neely (11 January 2016). "At 82, ‘NCIS’ actor David McCallum has written a delicious crime caper". https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/at-82-ncis-actor-david-mccallum-has-written-a-delicious-crime-caper/2016/01/11/b71995fa-b872-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d\_story.html.
19. ↑ "Why Man from U.N.C.L.E star David McCallum is learning new lines". http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts\_ents/14193287.Why\_Man\_from\_U\_N\_C\_L\_E\_star\_David\_McCallum\_is\_learning\_new\_lines/.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "David Mcallum's heartache at death of adopted son – Celebrity Interview – Celebs + TV". People.co.uk. 27 June 2010. http://www.people.co.uk/celebs-tv/celebrity-interview/2010/06/27/david-mcallum-s-heartache-at-death-of-adopted-son-102039-22363142/.
21. ↑ Granberry, Michael (18 July 2014). "At 65, Jackson Browne continues to rock and roll, announcing a new album and world tour". http://popcultureblog.dallasnews.com/2014/07/at-65-jackson-browne-continues-to-rock-and-roll-announcing-an-international-tour-and-a-new-studio-album.html/.
22. ↑ Lisa Respers (3 February 2009). "'NCIS' actor's portrayal is dead on", CNN.com.
23. ↑ McCallum, David (28 August 2015). "Celebrating the date I became an American citizen". https://www.facebook.com/DavidMcCallumWriter/photos/a.107091362972150.1073741828.101763950171558/124520094562610/?type=3&theater.
24. ↑ "Local Hero Honored For Service In Korean War", CBS Los Angeles (8 August 2014). Retrieved on 17 May 2018.

## External links

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