Second act for man from 'U.N.C.L.E.'

Susan King / Los Angeles Times

Hollywood -- David McCallum has heard this story before. But ever the gentleman, he listens intently as a female baby boomer relates how he made her preteenage heart skip more than a few beats as the blond, blue-eyed Russian-born secret agent Illya Kuryakin on NBC's 1964-68 espionage series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E."

Kuryakin and equally sexy American spy Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) worked for a secret government agency called the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement whose nemesis was the evil THRUSH -- the Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and the Subjugation of Humanity.

The youthful-looking and charming actor, who turned 76 last week, recalls that "U.N.C.L.E-mania" was so great that one day three mounted policemen had to escort him out of New York's Central Park.

"I just went for a walk," says McCallum. "I was staying at the Plaza (Hotel) for the weekend and literally had to be hoisted onto a police horse and taken out."

The series allowed McCallum, a Scotsman, to meet politicians, sports figures and other celebrities.

"It allowed me to meet Senator Ted Kennedy. I went out to the compound simply because I was in the show. We went sailing with him."

The long-running CBS action series "NCIS," which begins its seventh season tonight, has brought McCallum more fame.

McCallum plays the eccentric Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, the chief medical examiner who has seen it all. Ducky frequently uses his psychological training to help the team understand clues left by the killers. The bespectacled, bow-tie-wearing Ducky also has a warm and often sarcastic friendship with the NCIS team's head special agent, Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon).

Not only is "NCIS" consistently in the top 10 Nielsen ratings each week, it repeats on USA, ION and Sleuth.

"I would watch myself on JetBlue," says McCallum, who lives in New York with his wife of 42 years, former model-interior decorator Katherine Carpenter. While "NCIS" is in production, he stays in a one-bedroom apartment in Santa Monica, Calif., and drives a secondhand car.

He describes the ensemble series as "the little engine that could," despite his belief that CBS hasn't done much to promote the show.

"We never had a feeling that they were throwing everything they could behind to make us more of a success," he says, relaxing in his trailer on the set of "NCIS" in Valencia, Calif. "We just did it on our own with sheer guts and hard work."

On TV

'NCIS'

8 tonight on CBS (Channel 62)