David McCallum, who died yesterday, had a long and very varied acting career, but to me he's most memorable as the rather weird agent Ilya Kuryakin, alongside Robert Vaughn's Napoleon Solo, in the 1960's television series (and spin-off movie series) "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.". It seems incredibly chintzy and dated today, but it was the sixties, after all . . . perhaps it was better viewed through a haze of marijuana smoke or on an LSD high! Here's a selection of their 1960's-vintage humor.
I mostly remember McCallum for his appallingly bad weapon handling in the series - but then, in the 1960's, almost every series like that had the same problem. Firearms were seen as "gee-whiz" props, something big and scary, rather than the tools they are, and professional handling was never part of the script. Still, it was a wildly popular series in its day, so they got something right!
One of the less pleasant things about getting older is that many of one's favorite performers, singers, actors, whatever, seem to die in increasing numbers as one's birthdays pass. Intimations of mortality, and all that . . .
Peter
And all the teenaged girls back then were infatuated by him.
ReplyDeleteRiffing off of Jim's comment, his Kuryakin bouncing off of Solo is very much like Orlando Bloom's Legolas bouncing off of Gimli. That foreign, slightly etherial dry wit works wonders, especially with a more two-fisted friend nearby.
ReplyDeleteI loved the show growing up.
ReplyDeleteSubtle nod to Wordsworth.
ReplyDeleteHey Peter.
ReplyDeleteI saw him more as "Ducky" from NCIS, Although I remember "Abby" Asking "Gibbs" what "Ducky Looked like when he was younger and "Gibbs Answered "Ilya Kuryakin". May he rest in Peace.
The Project Strigas Affair (Season 1, Ep 9) had, as guest stars, the first joint appearance of Shatner and Nimoy. With Werner Klemperer as another guest star in the same episode.
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me, I need some dry cleaning done.
ReplyDelete