Actor Robert Vaughn, the suave star of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., dies at 83
Vaughn also made his mark in movies, earning an Oscar nomination in 1959 for his supporting role in The Young Philadelphians, in which he played a wounded war veteran accused of murder.
Robert Vaughn, the debonair, Oscar-nominated actor whose many film roles were eclipsed by his hugely popular turn in television’s The Man From U.N.C.L.E., has died. He was 83.
Vaughn died on Friday morning after a brief battle with acute leukaemia, said his manager, Matthew Sullivan.
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was an immediate hit, particularly with young people, when it debuted on NBC in 1964. It was part of an avalanche of secret agent shows (I Spy, Mission: Impossible, Secret Agent), spoofs (Get Smart), books (The Spy Who Came in From the Cold) and even songs (Secret Agent Man) inspired by the James Bond films.
Vaughn’s urbane superspy Napoleon Solo teamed with Scottish actor David McCallum’s Illya Kuryakin, a soft-spoken, Russian-born agent.
The pair, who had put aside cold war differences for a greater good, worked together each week for the mysterious U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) in combatting the international crime syndicate THRUSH.
“Girls age nine to 12 liked David McCallum because he was so sweet,” Vaughn said in a 2005 interview in England. “But the old ladies and the 13- to 16-year-olds liked me because I was so detached.”