 |
David McCallum pioneered the role of super spy Ilya Kuryakin in the '60s, and reprised the role in a television movie in 1983. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McCallum (May be subject to copyright) |
“We need you to save the world.”
“How many times have we saved the world already?”
It was between spy Napoleon Solo who was seeking to bring his old partner Ilya Kuryakin out of retirement for a very important mission in “The Man from U*N*C*L*E”: The 15 years Later Affair.”
He may be known now for his work on “NCIS”, but for me David McCallum will always be Ilya Kuryakin, a Russian operative for United Network Command for Law Enforcement.
I heard today David McCallum has died, and it reminded me not only of “The Man from U*N*C*L*E”, but also “The Invisible Man” and more.
The spy I loved
“The Man from U*N*C*L*E” was more of an idea than a TV show for me. It actually had gone off the air before I was born, and never appeared in reruns. However, my brother and sister had a bunch of books and digests of “The Man from U*N*C*L*E” that I began to read. Then I added to the collection with books and comic books that I purchased.
“The Man from U*N*C*L*E” was more of an idea than a TV show for me. It actually had gone off the air before I was born, and never appeared in reruns. However, my brother and sister had a bunch of books and digests of “The Man from U*N*C*L*E” that I began to read. Then I added to the collection with books and comic books that I purchased.
I learned about the fictional United Network Command for Law Enforcement, and its agents Napoleon Solo, played by the suave and debonair Robert Vaughn, and Ilya Kuryakin, played by David McCallum. Interestingly, U*N*C*L*E was a supranational organization, not operating on behalf of any one country. That way you could have a Russian, such as Ilya, working with an American, such as Solo. Instead of the Russians being the bad guys, it was another evil organization called T*H*R*U*S*H who was the enemy.
Ilya was the one I came to like because he was blonde, resourceful and seemed to get his hands dirty in the field.
Finally, I did get to see a real live show, but it wasn’t an episode.
Instead, in 1983, Robert Vaughn and David McCallum reunited in “The Man from U*N*C*L*E: The 15 Years Later Affair”, which I was so excited to see, and it was well worth it. A terrorist holds the world hostage and will only deal with Solo. Of course, he needs his old partner Kuryakin, who is now a clothing designer.
When Solo goes to see him, they have the conversation I reference above.
It was a good show.
It was also a nice touch they subtitled it “The 15 Years Later Affair”, because very episode of the series had “Affair” in the title.
Incidentally, I recently found a DVD of the movie in a discount bin in our local Bargain Shop.
Now you see him, now you don’t
The first time I actually saw David McCallum was in a show on Channel 13 on the peasant vision dial called “The Invisible Man” in 1975. He played Daniel Westin, a scientist who employs technology that renders him invisible – permanently. With the assistance of a friend, who is able to create a mask of his features, and his hands, he is able to function in the world.
The first time I actually saw David McCallum was in a show on Channel 13 on the peasant vision dial called “The Invisible Man” in 1975. He played Daniel Westin, a scientist who employs technology that renders him invisible – permanently. With the assistance of a friend, who is able to create a mask of his features, and his hands, he is able to function in the world.
He works for an organization called the Klae Corporation and his services are called “The Klae Resource”.
“The Invisible Man” only lasted one season, a pilot and 12 episodes, but it was not bad.
I didn’t have many memories of the show initially, but a few years ago I bought it on DVD and binge watched the entire series.
It held up pretty well.
The funny thing was that Daniel Westin, the character McCallum played, was similar to Ilya Kuryakin.
Familiar face
One Sunday afternoon in high school, I was flipping channels and came upon this old movie starring Steve McQueen. He was in a prisoner of war camp hell bent on escaping. Soon, a plot is hatched to engineer the largest prison escape in history. It was called “The Great Escape”, and is an amazing movie. As I watched, I recognized a lot of faces, younger then, because the movie was from 1963. They included James Garner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and – David McCallum.
One Sunday afternoon in high school, I was flipping channels and came upon this old movie starring Steve McQueen. He was in a prisoner of war camp hell bent on escaping. Soon, a plot is hatched to engineer the largest prison escape in history. It was called “The Great Escape”, and is an amazing movie. As I watched, I recognized a lot of faces, younger then, because the movie was from 1963. They included James Garner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn, and – David McCallum.
He again played someone who reminded me of Ilya Kuryakin.
The decade
David McCallum guest starred in a number of shows in the 1980s, including “Strike Force”; “Hart to Hart”; “The Master”; “The A-Team”; "Matlock”; “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”; and “Murder, She Wrote”.
David McCallum guest starred in a number of shows in the 1980s, including “Strike Force”; “Hart to Hart”; “The Master”; “The A-Team”; "Matlock”; “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”; and “Murder, She Wrote”.
He continued on acting, pioneering the role of Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard in “JAG” in 2003, then portraying that character for 20 seasons, up until his death in 2023.
He was 90.
Parting thoughts
Eventually, I did see “The Man from U*N*C*L*E” on TV, when RDTV aired reruns when I lived in Edmonton in 1996 and 1997. Later, I found some episodes on video tapes in a bargain bin at the Rogers video store on Whyte Avenue at that same time in Edmonton. Finally, a few years ago, I bought the first two season of the show on DVD.
Eventually, I did see “The Man from U*N*C*L*E” on TV, when RDTV aired reruns when I lived in Edmonton in 1996 and 1997. Later, I found some episodes on video tapes in a bargain bin at the Rogers video store on Whyte Avenue at that same time in Edmonton. Finally, a few years ago, I bought the first two season of the show on DVD.
It’s funny, how I could become so intrigued by a character I never actually saw until much, much later.
The thing was I loved spy stories.
As I read more about David McCallum, I discovered he was a pop culture icon. He received more fan mail then any other actor in MGM history, and was nominated for two Emmys for the role.
So, it wasn’t just me who found the intellectual, introverted spy so appealing.
He really was an icon.
No comments:
Post a Comment