Rest in Peace, Robert Vaughn

I just learned a few minutes ago that Robert Vaughn passed away yesterday, just 11 days before his 84th birthday. I always liked his acting. I remember his role in the Magnificent Seven, as well as being the star of The Protectors. He also played a U.S. Marine Captain in the TV series, the Lieutenant. But I will always best remember him for his role as Napoleon Solo in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. He was a terrific actor, and from all I heard of him, an even better human being. I pray he is now in the presence of God, where he will live forever.

I'm pretty certain that God will forgive the guy for his involvement in "Superman III."

"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." was a semi-spoof of the 'secret agent' genre popularized in the 1960s, it was quite a 'tongue-in-cheek' spy thriller show, in terms of seriousness I'd venture that it was somewhere between "Get Smart!" and "I Spy."

Robert Vaughn's co-star on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." fifty years ago, David McCallum [then portraying Illya Kuryakin], amazingly is still a featured performer on a popular television program, playing Dr. "Ducky" Mallard on "N.C.I.S."

Another classic actor departed from our midst... --C.K.

Frankly, I had thought Vaughn was dead already. Then I realized that I had confused him with Robert Culp (Kelly Robinson on "I Spy"). I always liked Robert Vaughn. He had a long career in both film and TV. One of my favorite roles of his was Walter Chalmers, the ambitious Federal prosecutor who was, to say the least, "morally flexible" (something many of the characters he played shared) in the movie "Bullitt".

One another note, David McCallum, Vaughn's co-star in The Man From U.N.C.L.E is only a year younger and still going strong on "N.C.I.S". He also hasn't appeared to age much. I suspect him of having a portrait of himself in his attic that ages while he does not.

May he rest in peace...

The Man from UNCLE was very exciting to me as a kid, but I most enjoyed his work as the 'roper' Albert Stroller in the Noughties series Hustlers.

I enjoyed the Man from U.N.C.L.E. I remember one episode where David McCallum threatened a teenage girl with a spanking and had actually upended her before the scene was interrupted.
Mention of Robert Culp and I Spy recalls the most frustrating spanking event on TV I ever witnessed. He was spanking this awful brat of a teenage girl,played by Mary Jane Saunders,who was wearing a very tight pair of pants. Only problem was it all happened offscreen! You could hear her yelps,maybe smacks as the show ended. But saw nothing.

David McCallum's character [Illya Kuryakin] was actually strapped rather severely by a villainess in one episode of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," however it was done between scenes (implied yet not shown) but also on his bare back (rather than buttocks), which personally did nothing at all for me.

April Dancer, "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." as portrayed by Stephanie Powers, I wouldn't have minded a nice long paddling excursion across her lap, although like comic-book character Susan Storm ("Invisible Girl") of the Fantastic Four back then, she was of course really a woman...

--C.K.

Absolutely agree with you TEM, a consummate actor playing a consummate rogue.
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Stephanie Powers, of course, was the recipient of the other spanking in McLintock.

Speaking of Stephanie Powers, I recently bought an old comic book with one of my favorite covers, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. #4. It features a photo of the lovely Ms. Powers in a fencing stance, holding a foil. She is wearing what appears to be a sweatshirt and shorts. (It could be a one piece outfit.) The outfit is grey with black trim. She is wearing one black boot, and one white boot.

I have that comic also, Wheatwine. I was an enthusiastic admirer of both UNCLE shows, which often featured clever bondage sequences. Both shows were the epitome of cool, not really broad satire, but full of ironic self-awareness. Nobody could raise a single eyebrow like Vaughn. I'm curious about the recent Guy Ritchie film but haven't seen it yet.

The last survivor of "The Magnificent Seven", one of my favourite films and the first film I took a girl to!

By all accounts he had a marvellous time in Hollywood.