David McCallum was a Scottish actor and musician. He gained wide recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
His other notable television roles include Carter in Colditz (1972–1974) and Steel in Sapphire & Steel. Beginning in 2003, McCallum gained renewed international popularity for his role as NCIS medical examiner Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard in the American television series NCIS.
On film, McCallum notably appeared in The Great Escape (1963). David McCallum died on September 25, 2023 at the age of 90.
Who was David McCallum ?
David McCallum was born David Keith McCallum Jr. on 19 September 1933, in Maryhill, Glasgow, the second of two sons of orchestral violinist David McCallum Sr. and Dorothy (née Dorman), a cellist.
When he was three, his family moved to London for his father to play as the leader of 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 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 David McCallum 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, David McCallum began working as assistant stage manager of the Glyndebourne Opera Company, and he made his television debut in the 1953 miniseries “The Rose and the Ring.” In 1957, he had an uncredited role in the film “Night Ambush” and appeared in “The Secret Place,” “Dangerous Youth,” “Hell Drivers,” and “Robbery Under Arms.”
David portrayed Harold Bride in the 1958 film “A Night to Remember,” which was about the sinking of the Titanic, then he appeared in “The Long and the Short and the Tall” (1961), “Jungle Street” (1961), and “Freud: The Secret Passion” (1962).
He played Lieutenant-Commander Eric Ashley-Pitt in 1963’s “The Great Escape,” and he guest-starred on “The Outer Limits” (1963; 1964) and “Perry Mason” (1964) and portrayed John Adams on “Profiles in Courage” (1964). From 1964 to 1968, David starred as Russian agent Illya Kuryakin on the NBC series “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” which aired 105 episodes over four seasons.
He reprised his role in the films “To Trap a Spy” (1964), “The Spy with My Face” (1965), “One Spy Too Many” (1966), “The Spy in the Green Hat” (1966), “One of Our Spies Is Missing” (1966), “The Karate Killers” (1967), “The Helicopter Spies” (1968), and “How to Steal the World” (1968) and the TV movie “Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (1983).
While starring on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” McCallum also portrayed Judas Iscariot in the 1965 film “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” which earned five Academy Award nominations, and appeared in “Around the World Under the Sea” (1966) and “Three Bites of the Apple” (1967).
He played Simon Carter on the British series “Colditz” from 1972 to 1974 and Daniel Westin on NBC’s “The Invisible Man” from 1975 to 1976, and he appeared in the films “Rascal” (1969), “She Waits” (1972), “Night of the Lepus” (1972), and “Dogs” (1976).
From 1979 to 1982, David starred as Steel on the British supernatural series “Sapphire &; Steel,” and in 1980, he appeared in the horror film “The Watcher in the Woods.” He guest-starred on “As the World Turns” (1983), “Hart to Hart” (1986), “The A-Team” (1986), “Matlock” (1987), “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” (1988), and “Murder, She Wrote” (1989), then he starred as John Grey on the BBC series “Trainer” from 1991 to 1992.
McCallum appeared in the films “Hear My Song” (1991), “Dirty Weekend” (1993), and “Healer” (1994), and he narrated the A&a;E documentary “Titanic: The Complete Story” (1994) and the ITV game show “Scavengers” (1994–1995).
From 2001 to 2002, David played Walter Thornhill on the CBS drama “The Education of Max Bickford,” and in 2003, he landed the role of Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard on the CBS police procedural “NCIS.” The popular series began its 19th season in 2021 and has aired more than 400 episodes as of this writing. McCallum also played “Ducky” in a 2003 episode of “JAG” and two episodes of “NCIS: New Orleans” (2014; 2016).
During his time on “NCIS,” David has voiced Zeus in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie “Wonder Woman” (2009) and Alfred Pennyworth in “Batman: Gotham Knight” (2008), “Son of Batman” (2014), and “Batman vs. Robin” (2015), and he has voiced characters on the TV series “The Replacements” (2006–2009), “Ben 10: Alien Force” (2008–2010), “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” (2009), “Ben 10: Ultimate Alien” (2010–2012), and “Ben 10: Omniverse” (2013–2014). He also narrated the 2019 PBS documentary “D-Day at Pointe-du-Hoc.”
David McCallum Parents
David McCallum was born on September 19, 1933 in Maryhill, Glasgow, Scotland, to Dorothy Dorman David McCallum Sr.
His mom, Dorothy, was a cellist while his dad was an orchestral violinist.
David McCallum siblings
David McCallum was not the only child to his mother and father as he had one more sibling, a brother named Iain McCallum.
David McCallum Family
Father – David McCallum Sr.
Mother – Dorothy Dorman
Brother – Lain McCallum
Wife – Katherine McCallum
Children – Paul, Valentine, Peter McCallum, and Sophie McCallum
Grandchildren – Julia McCallum, Luca de Sanctis, Iain de Sanctis, Stella McCallum, Gavin McCallum, George McCallum, Alessandro de Sanctis and Whit McCallum.
David McCallum Cause of Death.
David McCallum died on 25 September 2023 at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, six days after his 90th birthday
The actor died “peacefully” of natural causes surrounded by family, CBS announced.
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