David McCallum, the Scottish actor and musician, died on Monday of natural causes at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He was 90.
David had a long career as an actor, including a memorable supporting role in 1963’s The Great Escape, which led to him getting cast in hit spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E., where he played Illya Kuryakin alongside Robert Vaughn’s Napoleon Solo. McCallum spent the last 20 years playing Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard on CBS series NCIS.
Like other actors in the ’60s, McCallum also made a few pop records but his were a little different. A classically trained musician, McCallum created loungey, atmospheric arrangements of popular songs of the day alongside a few original pieces, and made four albums with forward-thinking producer and composer David Axelrod. Those groovy productions have been sampled a lot by hip hop artists, trip hop artists and more. In particular, “The Edge” from 1967’s Music: A Bit More of Me, has been sampled by Dr Dre (“The Next Episode”), Missing Lynx (“M.I.A.”), Masta Ace (“No Regrets”), Kendrick Lamar (“Bitch I’m in the Club”), John Legend (“Actions”) and more, and his original was used in Grand Theft Auto IV and Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver. McCallum’s “House of Mirrors” (from It’s Happening Now!, also released in 1967) was sampled by DJ Shadow for “Dark Days.”
Rest in peace, David.
