David McCallum Biography

David Keith McCallum, Jr. (born 19 September 1933) is a Scottish-American actor and musician. He first gained recognition in the 1960s for playing Russian spy Illya Kuryakin in the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and as interdimensional operative Steel in Sapphire & Steel. 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 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. 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, joining the 3rd Battalion the Middlesex Regiment, which was seconded to the Royal West African Frontier Force. In March 1954 he was promoted to Lieutenant. 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 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 (e.g., "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.

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 introverted 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, David McCallum told of 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.

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 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 also 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

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 agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) is asked, "What did Ducky look like when he was younger?" 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 appearing at 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.

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 Uncle episode the "Alexander the Greater Affair", McCallum plays the double bass as part of a band in a night club.

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

McCallum was first married to actress Jill Ireland on 11 May 1957 in London. The two met during production of the film Hell Drivers which provided early roles for both actors. In 1963 McCallum introduced Ireland to Charles Bronson when both were filming The Great Escape. She subsequently left McCallum and married Bronson in 1968. 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 successful guitar player, playing with Jackson Browne most recently in 2014 and currently a member of the faux country band Jackshit.

He has been married to Katherine Carpenter since 1967. 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 lost his life in the Vietnam War. On 27 August 1999, McCallum was naturalized as an American citizen.

McCallum has six grandchildren.

Filmography

n.b. for credit listings reference

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	Ill Met By Moonlight	Sailor
	These Dangerous Years		Also known as Dangerous Youth
	Robbery Under Arms	Jim Marston	British Crime film
	Hell Drivers	Jimmy Yately	Directed by Cy Endfield
	The Secret Place	Mike Wilson	Directorial debut of Clive Donner
1958	A Night to Remember	Harold Bride	British drama
	Violent Playground	Johnnie Murphy	Directed by Basil Dearden
1961	The Long and the Short and the Tall	Private Samuel "Sammy" Whitaker	Released as Jungle Fighters in the US and Canada
	Jungle Street	Terry Collins	Later retitled Jungle Street Girls
1962	Freud: The Secret Passion	Carl von Schlossen	Also known as Freud
	Billy Budd	Steven Wyatt	A CinemaScope film produced, directed, and co-written by Peter Ustinov
1963	The Great Escape	Lt. Cmdr. Eric Ashley-Pitt, "Dispersal"	Based on an escape by British and Commonwealth prisoners of war from a German POW camp during the Second World War
1964	To Trap a Spy	Illya Kuryakin	A Man from U.N.C.L.E. film
1965	The Spy with My Face
	The Greatest Story Ever Told	Judas Iscariot	Retelling of the story of Jesus, from the Nativity through the Resurrection
1966	One Spy Too Many	Illya Kuryakin	A Man from U.N.C.L.E. film
	The Spy in the Green Hat
	Around the World Under the Sea	Dr. Philip Volker
	The Big T.N.T. Show	Master of Ceremonies, conducting the orchestra	"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (instrumental)
	One of Our Spies Is Missing	Illya Kuryakin	A Man from U.N.C.L.E. film
1967	The Karate Killers
	Three Bites of the Apple	Stanley Thrumm
1968	The Helicopter Spies	Illya Kuryakin	A Man from U.N.C.L.E. film
	Sol Madrid	Sol Madrid	Released in the UK as The Heroin Gang
	How to Steal the World	Illya Kuryakin	A Man From U.N.C.L.E. film
1969	Mosquito Squadron	Squadron Leader Quint Monroe, RCAF	British war film
	The Ravine	Sergeant Stephen Holmann	Italian-Yugoslav-American war film
	Rascal	Ice Cream Man
1972	She Waits	Mark Wilson	Horror film
1975	The Kingfisher Caper	Benedict Van Der Byl	Released as Diamond Hunters in South Africa and as Diamond Lust on video
1976	Dogs	Harlan Thompson
1977	King Solomon's Treasure	Sir Henry Curtis	British-Canadian low-budget film based on the novel King Solomon's Mines
1980	The Watcher in the Woods	Paul Curtis
1985	Terminal Choice	Dr. Giles Dodson
1986	The Wind	John	Released in 1987 in the USA
1990	The Haunting of Morella	Gideon	Set in colonial America
1991	Hear My Song	Jim Abbott
1993	Fatal Inheritance	Brandon Murphy
1993	Dirty Weekend	Reggie	Based on the novel of the same name by Helen Zahavi
1994	Healer	The Jackal
1999	Cherry	Mammy
2008	Batman: Gotham Knight	Alfred Pennyworth (voice)	Direct-to-video
2009	Wonder Woman	Zeus (voice)
2014	Son of Batman	Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
2015	Batman vs. Robin

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1961	Sir Francis Drake	Lord Oakshott	Episode: "The English Dragon" (S 1:Ep 6)
1963	The Outer Limits	Gwyllm Griffiths	Episode: "The Sixth Finger" (S 1:Ep 5)
1964	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters	Prophet	Episode: "The Day Of The Search" (S 1:Ep 18)
	Perry Mason	Phillipe Bertain	Episode: "The Case of the Fifty-Millionth Frenchman" (S 7:Ep 19)
	The Great Adventure	Captain Hanning	Episodes:
	The Outer Limits	Tone Hobart	Episode: "The Forms of Things Unknown" (S 1:Ep 32)
	Profiles in Courage	John Adams	Episode: "John Adams" (S 1:Ep 7)
1964-68	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Illya Kuryakin	Main cast
1965	Hullabaloo	Host
1966	Please Don't Eat the Daisies	Illya Kuryakin	Episode: "Say U.N.C.L.E." (S 1:Ep 18)
1969	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Hamilton Cade	Episode: "Teacher, Teacher" (S 18:Ep 3)
	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Kenneth Canfield	Episode: "The File On Devlin" (S 19:Ep 1)
1970	Hauser's Memory	Hillel Mondoro
1971	Night Gallery	Dr. Joel Winter	Episode: "The Phantom Farmhouse" (S 2:Ep 16)
1971	The Man and the City		Episode: "Pipe Me A Loving Tune" (S 1:Ep 12)
1972-74	Colditz	Simon Carter	Main cast
1973	Frankenstein: The True Story	Dr. Henry Clerval	Made for TV film
	The Six Million Dollar Man	Alexi Kaslov	Episode: "Wine, Women and War" (S 1:Ep 3)
1975-76	The Invisible Man	Daniel Westin	Main cast
1978	Kidnapped	Alan Breck Stewart	TV Miniseries
1979-82	Sapphire & Steel	Steel	Main cast
1982	Strike Force	Roderick Howard Hadley III	Episode: "Ice" (S 1:Ep 9)
1983	As the World Turns	Maurice Vermeil	Contract role
	Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Illya Kuryakin	Made for TV film
1984	The Master	Castile	Episode: "Hostages" (S 1:Ep 4)
1986	Hart to Hart	Geoffrey Atterton	Episode: "Hunted Harts" (S 4:Ep 11)
	Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense	Frank Lane	Episode: "The Corvini Inheritance" (S 1:Ep 10)
	The A-Team	Ivan	Episode: "The Say U.N.C.L.E. Affair" (S 5:Ep 6)
1987	Matlock	Phil Dudley	Episode: "The Billionaire" (S 2:Ep 1)
1988	Alfred Hitchcock Presents		"Murder Party" (S 3:Ep 11)
	Monsters	The Feverman	Episode: "The Feverman" (S 1:Ep 1 - "Pilot")
	The Man Who Lived at the Ritz	Charlie Ritz	Made for TV film
1989	Murder, She Wrote	Cyril Grantham	Episode: "From Russia...With Love" (S 5:Ep 14)
	Mother Love	Sir Alexander "Alex" Vesey	Main cast
	McCloud	Inspector Craig	Made-for-TV-film titled The Return of Sam McCloud
1990	Murder, She Wrote	Drew Garrison	Episode: "Deadly Misunderstanding" (S 7:Ep 2)
	Boon	Simon Bradleigh	Episode: "The Belles of St. Godwalds" (S 6:Ep 4)
	Lucky Chances	Bernard Dimes	TV miniseries
	Father Dowling Mysteries	Sir Robert	Episode: "The Royal Mystery" (S 3:Ep 1)
1991-92	Trainer	John Grey	Main cast
1991	Cluedo	Professor Plum	U. K. Game show
1993	seaQuest DSV	Frank Cobb	Episode: "seaWest" (S 1:Ep 11)
1994	Babylon 5	Dr. Vance Hendricks	Episode: "Infection" (S 1:Ep 5)
	Titanic: The Complete Story		Narrator
	Heartbeat	Cooper	Episode: "Arms and the Man" (S 4:Ep 10)
1994-95	Scavengers	Narrator	Voiceover
1995	VR-5	Dr. Joseph Bloom	Main cast
1996	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Ian Felton	Episode: "The Impossible Mission" (S 1:Ep 11)
1997	Law & Order	Craig Holland	Episode: "Past Imperfect" (S 7:Ep 22)
	The Outer Limits	Joshua Hayward	Episode: "Feasibility Study" (S 3:Ep 17)
1997-98	Team Knight Rider	Mobius	Main cast
1998	Coming Home	(TV serial)	Billy Fawcett
	March in Windy City	Daniel Paterson / Dimitri Petrovsky	Made for TV film
1999	Sex and the City	Duncan	Episode: "Shortcomings" (S 2:Ep 15)
2000	Deadline	Harry Hobbs	Episode: "Lovers and Madmen" (S 1:Ep 2)
2001-02	The Education of Max Bickford	Walter Thornhill	Main cast
2002	Jeremiah	Clarence	Episode: "Things Left Unsaid" (S 1:Ep 19)
2002-03	Taboo	Narrator	Episodes:
2003	JAG	Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard	Episodes:
2003-present	NCIS		Main cast
2006-09	The Replacements	The voice of C.A.R.
2008-10	Ben 10: Alien Force	Professor Paradox	Recurring
2009	Batman: The Brave and the Bold	Merlin Ambrosius	Episode: "Day of the Dark Knight!" (S 1:Ep 5)
2010-12	Ben 10: Ultimate Alien	Professor Paradox	Recurring
2013-14	Ben 10: Omniverse
2014, 2016	NCIS: New Orleans	Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard	Episodes:

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Privateer 2: The Darkening	Captain of the Canera
2009	Ben 10: Alien Force - Vilgax Attacks	Professor Paradox
2009	FusionFall	Paradox
2011	NCIS Video Game	Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard
2014	Diablo III: Reaper of Souls	The Grand Maester / King Rakkis	His voice only appears in the Diablo III expansion DLC, Reaper of Souls.