{"id":815,"date":"2023-11-22T07:13:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T07:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/?p=815"},"modified":"2023-11-22T07:13:05","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T07:13:05","slug":"the-truth-behind-how-david-mccallum-was-cast-to-ncis-confirms-what-we-all-suspected","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/?p=815","title":{"rendered":"The truth behind how David McCallum was cast to NCIS confirms what we all suspected"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just two days after the 20th anniversary of\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u2018s premiere, we are forced to say goodbye to another member of the popular series.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a remarkable 60+ year acting career,\u00a0David McCallum passed away on September 25, 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Scottish actor was best known for playing Dr. Donald \u201cDucky\u201d Mallard on\u00a0NCIS<\/em>, from season one all the way through until season 20<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Many\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0fans are now mourning the news of McCallum\u2019s tragic passing. The popular actor passed away peacefully at a hospital in New York, surrounded by his family. He was 90 years old.<\/p>\n

Hailing from Scotland, McCallum gained widespread recognition in the mid-1960s for his portrayal of the secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the\u00a0The Man from U.N.C.L.E<\/em>.<\/p>\n

During his early years in Britain, David portrayed the real-life role of a struggling Scotsman in search of steady employment and a stable income in the English film and television industry.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t widely recognized in his home country, and when he arrived in America in 1962, he was \u201da nobody\u201d. However, his portrayal of Kuryakin in\u00a0U.N.C.L.E<\/em>\u00a0catapulted him to fame. Throughout the show\u2019s golden years, McCallum received an astonishing 35,000 fan letters from all around the world.<\/p>\n

\"David
TV Times via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But perhaps above all, many recognize him from the long-running series\u00a0NCIS<\/em>, where his character, \u2018Ducky\u2019, became immensely popular and contributed significantly to the show\u2019s success. As the wise, quirky, and sometimes enigmatic chief medical examiner, McCallum earned himself a spot in the pantheon of Hollywood\u2019s most beloved actors.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWe are deeply saddened by the passing of David McCallum and privileged that CBS was his home for so many years. David was a gifted actor and author, and beloved by many around the world. He led an incredible life, and his legacy will forever live on through his family and the countless hours on film and television that will never go away,\u201d a spokesperson for CBS said in a statement.<\/p>\n

David McCallum NCIS audition<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

McCallum\u2019s 18-year tenure on\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0is impressive in itself. It\u2019s not common for actors to stay with a single TV show for such an extended period, and he really formed a strong connection with the show\u2019s viewers.<\/p>\n

But how did David end up on the show in the first place? Well, it turns out that his audition for\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0was one of a kind \u2013 and it only further proves what a great person he was.<\/p>\n

\"David
Silver Screen Collection\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While David certainly had a strong legacy as an actor, and most people recognized his face, he still needed to prove to CBS that he was the right person for the role of Dr. Donald \u2018Ducky\u2019 Mallard.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In a 2021 interview with Emmy magazine, McCallum shared some insights into the casting process that led to his role as Ducky in\u00a0NCIS.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI was walking down Park Avenue when I got a call, \u2018We\u2019d like you to go to [casting director] Bonnie Timmermann\u2019s office and put something on tape for a show called NCIS. You\u2019re playing a character called Ducky,\u2019\u201d he\u00a0said. \u201cI went to Bonnie\u2019s office, and I got down on the floor. She said, \u201cWhy are you on the floor? Get up!\u201d And I said, \u2018No, tip the camera down. I\u2019ve got a dead body, and it\u2019s on the floor.\u2019<\/p>\n

David continued: \u201cSo, I did the audition with the camera tilted down. Then I got a call that they wanted me to go to Los Angeles to audition for Ducky, so I had to fly out. Susan Bluestein, the casting director, was reading the other characters. I did the same thing over again, left, and then they produced a contract. I signed it and went over to Paramount, which was just down the road, went in through those wonderful gates and did the same audition again. Then, when I was driving away, my rental car had a flat. I got a call to say I got the job. I said, \u2018Well, then, I\u2019m going to go get a car that works.\u2019 And that was it. I\u2019m still doing the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

McCallum is survived by his wife of 56 years, Katherine McCallum,\u00a0and his five children.\u00a0Following McCallum\u2019s sad passing, CBS aired a special 20th-anniversary-themed\u00a0NCIS<\/em>\u00a0marathon, featuring an \u201cin memoriam\u201d card as a tribute to the actor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just two days after the 20th anniversary of\u00a0NCIS\u2018s premiere, we are forced to say goodbye to another member of the popular series. After a remarkable 60+ year acting career,\u00a0David McCallum passed away on September 25, 2023. The Scottish actor was best known for playing Dr. Donald \u201cDucky\u201d Mallard on\u00a0NCIS, from season one all the way…<\/p>\n

Read More “The truth behind how David McCallum was cast to NCIS confirms what we all suspected”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/815\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}