I just heard that David McCallum, best known in the Titanic Community for portraying Harold Bride in the 1958 movie A Night to Remember, and for narrating the highly regarded 1994 Titanic documentary episodes "Titanic: Death of a Dream" and "Titanic: The Legend Lives On" has died at the age of 90.
News RIP David McCallum
- Thread starter J Sheehan
- Start date
Steven Christian
Member
That's too bad. Always liked him as an actor going all the way back to his Man From U.N.C.L.E. days and his movies. Anybody that makes it to 90 did ok in my book. Good for him.
Arun Vajpey
Member
RIP Illya.
While McCallum had a good role in the 1958 ANTR film, it is hardly appropriate to describe it as his "best known". He was far and away known and will be remembered around the world as the genially tough Russian counterpart Illya Kuryakin of the Man From UNCLE TV series duo. In fact, the original plan was to have Robert Vaughan's Napoleon Solo as the main protagonist of the series with Illya an occasional contributor; that is reflected in the first one or two episodes. But David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin proved so popular that they upgraded his character into an equal partner. In fact, on the Gold Key comics of the series from the 60s, McCallum as Illya is more often than not the one prominently featured on the cover.
Eric Paddon
Member
The qualifier I guess was "Titanic community" but yes, in the overall pantheon of his career ANTR is more of an interesting footnote from the early days of his career. Before "Man From UNCLE" he also had prominent roles in "The Great Escape" and as Judas Iscariot in "The Greatest Story Ever Told." And he was still active to the end of his life on "NCIS".
With McCallum's passing the only living credited cast members of ANTR (going by not always reliable IMDB listings) would be Jill Dixon (Mrs. Clarke), Barry MacGregor (Apprentice James Gibson), Gerald Harper (Carpathia 3rd Officer) and Christina Lubicz (Polish Girl). I haven't bothered to check those who are listed as uncredited performers.
With McCallum's passing the only living credited cast members of ANTR (going by not always reliable IMDB listings) would be Jill Dixon (Mrs. Clarke), Barry MacGregor (Apprentice James Gibson), Gerald Harper (Carpathia 3rd Officer) and Christina Lubicz (Polish Girl). I haven't bothered to check those who are listed as uncredited performers.
Arun Vajpey
Member
Robert Vaughn and David McCallum made a great pair and despite doing decent enough jobs, there was no way Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer could even come close in their 2015 iteration.
Growing -up in India in the 1960s, we did not have TV and so my introduction to The Man From UNCLE was through feature films at the cinema and comic books. My friends were quick to notice the close resemblance of the two protagonists in the comics to actual actors in the films. David McCallum's Illya Kuryakin had only a cameo role in the first film To Trap A Spy (1964) but he proved so popular that the character was elevated to equal status with Vaughn's Napoleon Solo by the time the second film, The Spy With My Face was released the following year. I remember skipping school to see the latter film with a 13 year-old cousin and getting caught later. Illya was everybody's favourite agent.
Growing -up in India in the 1960s, we did not have TV and so my introduction to The Man From UNCLE was through feature films at the cinema and comic books. My friends were quick to notice the close resemblance of the two protagonists in the comics to actual actors in the films. David McCallum's Illya Kuryakin had only a cameo role in the first film To Trap A Spy (1964) but he proved so popular that the character was elevated to equal status with Vaughn's Napoleon Solo by the time the second film, The Spy With My Face was released the following year. I remember skipping school to see the latter film with a 13 year-old cousin and getting caught later. Illya was everybody's favourite agent.
Mike Spooner
Member
Mc Callum got a good cover on BBC news but no mention of Titanic! Rotten devil.
Alex Kiehl
Member
This has not been a good month for ANTR characters. First, we lose Pat Murphy, then we lose Harold Bride. *sigh*
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