While David McCallum was once primarily known for playing Ilya Kuryakin in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., over the last couple decades, he’d gained new appeal for his time as Donald “Ducky” Mallard in NCIS. Whether you liked him in either of those roles, or perhaps appreciated a different corner of his filmography, there’s no denying that the man was talented. Sadly, it’s been announced that McCallum has died at the age of 90.
Per Deadline, the actor passed away peacefully in his sleep from natural causes at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He was surrounded by his family and had celebrated his 90th birthday less than a week ago. NCIS executive producers Steven D. Binder and David North released the following statement about how much McCallum meant to them and everyone else on the CBS show:
For over twenty years, David McCallum endeared himself to audiences around the world playing the wise, quirky, and sometimes enigmatic, Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard. But as much as his fans may have loved him, those who worked side by side with David loved him that much more. He was a scholar and a gentleman, always gracious, a consummate professional, and never one to pass up a joke. From day one, it was an honor to work with him and he never let us down. He was, quite simply, a legend. He was also family and will be deeply missed.
Born on September 19, 1933, David McCallum began his professional acting career doing voice roles for BBC Radio, and that was followed by various stage productions including Amadeus and Julius Caesar. He made his film debut (albeit uncredited) in 1957’s Ill Met by Moonlight, and after moving to the United States in 1961, his big and small screen credits included The Great Escape, The Outer Limits and Perry Mason.
Then in 1964, McCallum was cast to co-lead The Man from U.N.C.L.E. with Robert Vaughn, who played Napoleon Solo. In addition to the series running from 1964 to 1968, many of its two-part episodes were cut together with extra footage and released in theaters as feature-length movies. McCallum and Vaughn reprised their spy roles in the 1983 TV movie The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair, and by 2015, the property was rebooted for the big screen, with Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer inheriting the lead roles.
By 2003, David McCallum debuted as NCIS head medical examiner Ducky Mallard in the JAG two-parter “Ice Queen” and “Meltdown,” which served as the backdoor pilot for the NCIS show that debuted a few months later. McCallum remained a series regular for all of NCIS’ first 20 seasons (which can be viewed with a Paramount+ subscription), with his co-stars for many of those years including Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly, Sean Murray, Cote de Pablo and Pauley Perrette. However, in recent years, the actor would only appear a few times per season, with Ducky taking a part-time position as NCIS historian and Brian Dietzen’s Jimmy Palmer taking over as head medical examiner at the agency’s Washington DC office.
We here at CinemaBlend pass along our condolences to David McCallum’s family and friends during this difficult time. At least we know future generations will easily be able to enjoy his two most well-known TV shows and many of the other projects he appeared in over the course of more than five decades.
