RIP Robert Vaughn

[Syt]

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37957088

Robert Vaughn, Man from UNCLE actor, dies aged 83

Actor Robert Vaughn, best known as the secret agent Napoleon Solo in The Man from UNCLE, has died aged 83.

Vaughn was also famous for his role as Lee in the Magnificent Seven, and television roles in Hustle and Coronation Street.

The iconic actor died after a battle with acute leukaemia, his manager, Matthew Sullivan, told the BBC.

Vaughn died in New York on Friday morning surrounded by his family, he said.

The suave, debonair and impeccably dressed star

David McCallum, from the hit TV show NCIS, who as Illya Kuryakin starred alongside Vaughn in The Man From UNCLE, told TVLine.com he was "utterly devastated" by the news.

"Robert and I worked together for many years and losing him is like losing a part of me. My deepest sympathies go out to Linda and the Vaughn family," he said.

Vaughn, who was "a few months shy of 84" had been seeking treatment for his leukaemia, Mr Sullivan said.

"He was a great human being. I enjoyed every day of working with him," he said.

Vaughn had only recently finished two projects - an appearance on Law and Order: SVU, and a starring role in the upcoming film Gold Star, about a young woman caring for her dying father.

Famous films Vaughn worked on included Bullitt and Towering Inferno, both with Steve McQueen, and he took the role of the villain in Superman III.

He was also well-known in Britain for his 1970s appearance as Harry Rule in the ITV series, The Protectors.

The plot featured three wealthy individuals getting together each week, usually in exotic locations, to solve crimes and protect the innocent.

Though extremely popular, it was later described by Vaughn in his autobiography as "tasteless junk".

Decades later, he would have anther hit UK series with Hustle, a BBC series in which he played elderly con man Albert Stroller, responsible for setting up potential targets for a younger generation of grifters.

He is survived by his wife Linda and two children, Cassidy and Caitlin Vaughn.

On social media, fans paid tribute to his work.

"Robert Vaughn, such a fine actor, one of the best Columbo villains (no higher praise than that) and an utterly charming man," tweeted Stephen Fry.

Actor Jon Donahue said: "As an 80s kid, I grew up with Superman III... Robert Vaughn was a badass!" referencing Vaughn's role as Superman's nemesis.

Gavin Free, creator of the YouTube series The Slow Mo Guys paid tribute to Vaughn's work ethic. "I got to work with him on Hustle five years ago. He did his own slow mo stunts that day while in his late 70s," he wrote.

Fellow fictional secret agent, Sir Roger Moore, whose incarnation of James Bond came several years after The Man From UNCLE, said he was sorry to hear the news.

[dps]

Well, double fuck.

[mongers]

Oh dear. 

Seemed like he was always having a lot of fun in the films and series he starred in.

[Duque de Bragança]

RIP

He was in Delta Force, with Chuck Norris too. 

[Admiral Yi]

Napoleon Solo is one of the best character names of all time.

[Sheilbh]

RIP

[grumbler]

Napoleon Solo is one of the best character names of all time.

Exceeded only by Napoleon Premier.

[Agelastus]

R.I.P.

Lee/Gelt you will be missed.

[celedhring]

I always remembered him as the General Stockwell from A-Team. Give them that pardon you duplicitous bastard. 

He was always a treat to watch when he would pop up in some random TV show or film.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

shame shame shame 

[Barrister]

As a kid in the 1980s, I spent many summers at my grandparents cottage by a small prairie lake in Saskatchewan.  The cottage had been in the family for decades (though sadly no longer).

Anyways, sometimes those summers could be pretty boring at times, in particular if you're a kind-of bookish kid.  So I absolutely ransacked the very limited library of pulpy paperbacks that we had there.

This included a small selection of Man from UNCLE novels.  I thought they were pretty decent.

So while I certainly know who Robert Vaughn was, and saw him in a few tv shows / movies from time to time, for me he'll always be the cover photo to a Man from UNCLE book (though I never saw an episode of the TV show).

[Admiral Yi]

Some friends of my parents bought my older brother and I some lunch boxes one time.  My brother got the cool bigger kid Man from U.N.C.L.E. lunch box while I got some liittle kid dork box, like Peanuts or something.  That was the start of the rift between us.

[Admiral Yi]

No, I remember now.  I got Mighty Mouse, which in retrospect is pretty damn cool, but at the time it was devastating.