He was first seen in the cinema in 1957, beginning his film and television career that spanned over 60 years. David McCallum’s CV combines classics of Hollywood cinema and modern TV hits such as NCIS. The actor died on Monday. This is reported by the Hollywood Reporter. McCallum was 90 years old.
Through a spy series, David McCallum became a sex symbol of the 1960s
McCallum was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1933 and originally pursued a career in music before deciding to pursue acting. After smaller roles, for example in the disaster film The Last Night of the Titanic, he filmed more in the USA. He appeared as Judas Iscariot in the Bible monumental film The Greatest Story of All Time.
In 1962 he took on one of his most famous cinema roles: Im Classic war film Broken Chains with Steve McQueen He played Lieutenant-Commander Eric Ashley-Pitt, who is responsible for disposing of the earth during the escape from a German prisoner of war camp.
MGM
David McCallum in solo for ONCEL
David McCallum achieved great fame primarily on television. The agent series Solo for ONCEL was first shown on screens in 1964 transformed David McCallum into a sex symbol of the Swinging Sixties. As Russian agent Illya Kuryakin, he stole the show from leading actor Robert Vaughn. In 2015, Guy Ritchie remade the series in Codename UNCLE and cast Armie Hammer in the role.
Since 2003, McCallum was one of the original stars of NCIS as “Ducky.”
Numerous other film and series appearances followed in David McCallum’s long career. A younger generation took him to their hearts from 2003 onwards. As forensic scientist Donald “Ducky” Mallard, he was part of the original main cast of NCIS and became a fan favorite.
CBS
David McCallum (right) and the NCIS cast
Over the years, colleagues like Pauley Perrette and Mark Harmon left the show, but McCallum stayed and appeared in the current 20th season of NCIS in old age. In fact, at this point he was the last remaining member of the main cast from the first season.
David McCallum only celebrated his 90th birthday on September 19th. He died peacefully in a New York hospital on Monday, his family announced.