He was, and always will be, Illya Kuryakin (Russian partner of Napoleon Solo in The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) to people of my generation. The show was intended to be focused on Robert Vaughn as Solo, but McCallum was immediately so popular that he was elevated to co-star status (everyone I knew always preferred the cool Kuryakin character to the suave Solo one). He followed that with 35 years of steady work, but not great fame, until he created the character of medical examiner "Ducky" Mallard on NCIS in 2003, being the last original cast member when he died (although his appearances were much more sporadic in later years, he had appeared in every episode but one in the first 14 seasons of the show). That show had one of the great call-back TV lines ever, when in season 2 Kate Todd asked Jethro Gibbs what Ducky looked like when he was younger, and Gibbs replied "Illya Kuryakin." He also had a memorable role in the movie The Great Escape as Lt. Cmdr. Ashley-Pitt ("Dispersal"). RIP.
RIP. Great actor. I am a fan of NCIS, and I thought he did a great job playing Donald "Ducky" Mallard as a medical examiner.
