News

New York -- 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 Friday morning after a brief battle with acute leukemia, according to 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 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.

Photos: Stars We've Lost In Recent Years

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...

This Article Has Been Updated

By Lee Pfeiffer

The past year has been an especially harsh one for the entertainment industry in terms of well-known personalities who have passed away. Today's news that actor Robert Vaughn has died hits Cinema Retro especially hard and this writer in particular. He died from a battle with leukemia and was surrounded by his family in his final moments. I first met Robert in 1983 at a press conference in New York in which he and David McCallum promoted their forthcoming TV movie "Return of The Man From U.N.C.L.E." I've remained friends with them ever since and shared many an enjoyable conversation. Robert was an early supporter of Cinema Retro and contributed to numerous issues, most recently issues #33 and #34 in which he was interviewed by writer Steve Rubin about the dramatic occurrences in making the 1969 WWII film "The Bridge at Remagen...