David McCallum RIP (1933 - 2023)

[felixdeburgh]

Variety has reported the death of David McCallum who is probably best remembered for appearing as Ilya Kuryakin in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Sapphire & Steel. He also appeared in The Great Escape, The Outer Limits, The Invisible Man and many other quality productions.

variety.com/2023/tv/news/david-mccallum-dead-ncis-man-from-uncle-1235734772/

RIP.

[spacecadet]

Sad news. I can remember watching him in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. on Saturday tea-times in the early 70s when Granada repeated the series. I also watched him in The Invisible Man and then Sapphire and Steel. I only recently watched in The Six Million Dollar Man - Wine, Women and War movie in which he played a Russian. He certainly had a long and impressive career.

RIP David

[mybodyguard]

A likeable guy, most recently known here for the TV series NCIS, in addition to his classic cult roles. RIP

[jno]

This is sad news indeed, great actor in an ton of really great shows. At 90 that's a good innings.

RIP David, a job well done sir

[ontheslate]

Another actor who has passed on leaving a great body of work, his roles mentioned by others shows he done a lot of programmes which I watched Man from Uncle, Sapphire and Steel remember his role in the Outer Limits and later on NCIS.
RIP

[bodiesstuntdouble]

Sad to hear , he was an integral part of pop culture TV and Film over the last several decades.

RIP Sir

[gustav]

Really sad to hear this. A extraordinarily long and varied career. I can't remember a time when he wasn't a star, and still going strong until quite recently, hardly showing any sign of age. Few actors could trace such a remarkable career through every era of film and TV.

[metro1962]

Sad news to here.

Starred in some classic films and tv.

RIP David😒

[ltd]

Sept 26, 2023 7:13:17 GMT bodiesstuntdouble said:

Sad to hear , he was an integral part of pop culture TV and Film over the last several decades.

RIP Sir

One of those actors who defines cult. Pllayed memorably against type as the manic perv dentist in Michael Winner's Dirty Weekend. Probably not how he'd like to be best remembered, but he is very good in it.

[jjmolloy]

Too young for the for the 60s, but The Invisible Man was shown primetime here in Ireland in the 70's, and Sapphire & Steel of course. RIP David. 

[metro1962]

Apparently he got more fan mail than Elvis.👍

[AlanH]

Oddly enough, his most famous role came in the one of the few series that he did that I've never much cared for: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - though even in that he was the more watchable of the leads.

Very sorry to hear of David's passing. I think he first came to my attention in NBC's The Invisible Man, which I still have a soft spot for and recently purchased on Blu-ray so I could give it another viewing.

Hugely impressive in his two Outer Limits roles, particularly in The Forms of Things Unknown.

Never seen him in NCIS, but I presume he was the most interesting character in it, which was kind of what he did...

As Steel in Sapphire and Steel, he will always be in my heart. Such a brilliant, clever and unique series.

And a little shout out for a (generally quite rightly) forgotten anthology series, Monsters, in which he gives an astonishing performance. (Episode: The Feverman.)

[ltd]

Again, not a film for which he's well remembered (or would probably want to be), but Mosquito Squadron is a guilty pleasure especially on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

[gustav]

He was also a very successful musician which I only discovered recently. It has been mentioned in the obituaries but worth flagging up:

[billyfarmer]

Sad news, an Actor who I have always liked.

I can remember watching The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Sapphire & Steel (which I have got on DVD), on TV, a long time ago.

Three more titles, which deserve a mention, the 1958 film A Night to Remember (in which David played Harold Bride), the 1970's Wartime series Colditz (in which David played Flight Lieutenant Simon Carter) and the late 1970's series Kidnapped (in which David played Alan Breck Stewart).

Colditz, is one of my favourite Wartime TV series's.

[billyfarmer]

The Guardian obituary - www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/sep/26/david-mccallum-obituary

[billymedhurst]

RIP. Absolute legend.

He was in so many things I have watched over most of my life. Man from UNCLE, ofcourse. Invisible Man, Sapphire and Steel. But also Hell Drivers, Violent Playground (with Stanley Baker again), Robbery Under Arms (with Peter Finch and Jill Ireland), The Great Escape (with everyone!), Mosquito Squadron, The Watcher in the Woods (with Bette Davis)

The first non-UNCLE role I remember, was jumping into the back of a lorry to attempt to escape in Colditz.

I think he would have been brilliant in either the Sandbaggers, or the Professionals; as a high-level spook, telling Burnside and Cowley what to do, in very un-exaggerated tones, ofcourse.

90 is a good run, especially for a man, RIP.

[daz]

Shame to read of this when it broke, but a good innings.

You often catch him on Talking Pictures, in early film roles. One of my favourites of his is Violent Playground.

Sapphire and Steel is what I remember him best from, but was certainly a face that popped up in unexpected TV shows over the years.

Amazing to think that for all his credits on television, he never appeared in The Holy Trinity.

RIP

[McCann]

Must have been one of the last main cast that was left from A night to remember in 1958.

[pr1]

Rest In Peace. Thank you for all the entertainment.

[Portland Road]

In the obituaries I read, his role as 'The Invisible Man' was barely mentioned, yet it was very popular at the time and is what I remember him for.

I was aware, but not overly acqainted with, his musical career, and I think some tracks were e.g., sampled by contemporary artists in the 90s-00s. I like the version of 'A Taste Of Honey' that gustav posted above.

R.I.P. David McCallum - as ltd says, one of those actors that defines 'cult'.

[metro1962]

Oct 3, 2023 7:42:42 GMT Portland Road said:

In the obituaries I read, his role as 'The Invisible Man' was barely mentioned, yet it was very popular at the time and is what I remember him for.

I was aware, but not overly acqainred with, his musical career, and I think some tracks were e.g., sampled by contemporary artists in the 90s-00s. I like the version of 'A Taste Of Honey' that gustav posted above.

R.I.P. David McCallum - as ltd says, one of those actors that defines 'cult'.

The Invisible Man was indeed very popular back then,it seems NCIS was chosen because it was the current series he was in,Personally I would have chosen IM over it.

[pr1]

It’s a shame he didn’t play the murderer in a ‘70s episode of Columbo.

[gustav]

As Portland Road says above 'The Invisible Man' was a big show in its day, I remember it too. I am old enough to remember 'The Man from Uncle' and it is astonishing to think how versatile he was to pop up in leading roles in every era over decades. I watched him in 'Colditz'. He was a big star in 'Sapphire and Steel', although that never appealed to me at the time. He had a big and effective role in NCIS so recentl. My wife is a big fan of that so I saw him in that and thought he was one of the best things in it. And at one time he probably regarded himself, with some reason, as primarily a musician. An impressive career all round.

[thewoodster]

Very talented actor Rip