Open Channel D: The Man From UNCLE Affair

Fritz Weaver (1926-2016)  as Andrew Vulcan in  The Vulcan Affair episode Fritz Weaver, Tony-Winning Character Actor, Dies at 90 By  ROBERT BERKVIST NOV. 27, 2016 Continue reading the main story Share This Page Share Tweet Email More Fritz Weaver, a Tony Award-winning character actor who played a German Jewish doctor slain by the Nazis in the 1978 mini-series “Holocaust” and an Air Force colonel who becomes increasingly unstable as the nation faces a nuclear crisis in the 1964 movie “Fail Safe” died on Saturday at his home in Manhattan. He was 90.  His death was confirmed by his son-in-law, Bruce Ostler. Mr. Weaver won a Tony in 1970 for his role in Robert Marasco’s drama “Child’s Play” about the malevolent environment at an exclusive Roman Catholic school for boys.  But winning the Tony did not catapult Mr. Weaver into stardom. “What I remember is a vast silence from the phone,” he said, “because people said, ...

Produced with a low budget and precarious resources, The Man From UNCLE needed to maintain a certain tone of realism in its episodes. One of the instruments for this was to insert elements of geographic identification before each scene. This detail gave the series a journalistic feel. Some examples: Much more about UNCLE: Amazon.com  -  http://goo.gl/OD1XKW   Amazon Australia  -  http://goo.gl/ODQYPY   Amazon Brazil  -  http://goo.gl/qYPYg6   Amazon Canada  -  http://goo.gl/XrC6gc   Amazon France -  http://goo.gl/IGxkLq   Amazon Germany  -  http://goo.gl/Wtz6WB   A mazon India -  http://goo.gl/vtNMYo   Amazon Italy  -  http://goo.gl/gPOn6X   Amazon Japan -  http://goo.gl/Cwqw1s   Amazon Mexico  -  http://goo.gl/xY6ANr   Amazon Netherlands -  http://goo.gl/y1t4KO   Amazon Spain  -  http://goo.gl/ph9s0Z ...

New York (AP) — 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.,” died last week at age 83. Vaughn passed away Friday, Nov. 11 after a brief battle with acute leukemia. “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” was an immediate hit, particularly with young people, when it debuted in 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. 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 Network Command for Law and Enforcement) in combatting the international crime syndicate THRUSH. “Girls ag...

Tuesday, November 15, 2016 by  Tom King I failed to mention yesterday, the passing of actor Robert Vaughn. From 1964-68 he starred in one of my favorite tv shows, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. What started as a mostly serious James Bond imitator eventually devolved into campiness...but for a kid in elementary school...this was good tv. From the secret entrance in Del Florio's Tailor Shop...to the cool gadgets like the pen communicators ("open Channel D" became a catch phrase and had us all talking into our BICS). The suaveness of Vaughn's character Napoleon Solo (cool name too) and the total coolness of his Russian counterpart Ilya Kuriakin (played by David McCallum) was like catnip. The plots got pretty silly near the end and most of us had moved to other things by 1968...but for a couple of years "The Man From UNCLE delivered the goods. They also had UNCLE books, toys and other merchandise available. I have a record album of the music from the show. To ...

by  Sam Mitchell  •  November 13, 2016 in  Celebrity Net Worth How many of you are fans of the spy genre? I can’t imagine there are many who aren’t. It’s a genre filled with an exciting blend of reality and fantasy. It’s about the dangers of exposing secrets and the game of intelligence. We’ve seen it unfold in the news and in television, film and novels. From the thrilling adventures of James Bond, to the more gripping, intense thrills of Jason Bourne (and Jack Bauer). At a time when Bond films were first being produced, there was an extremely popular 1960’s series titled “The Man from U.N.C.L.E”, which starred Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo (a film which was recently remade into a Guy Ritchie-vehicle starring Henry Cavill). Robert Vaughn soon became a star and has had roles in the A-Team and, most recently, on “Hustle”, where he played grifter Albert Stroller. Unfortunately, Robert Vaughn passed away yesterday, at the age of 83. He had a very prolific ca...

By  Matt Schudel   November 12 at 7:19 PM From 1964 to 1968, Mr. Vaughn was one of the most recognizable stars in Hollywood, playing Napoleon Solo in the NBC spy spoof “ The Man from U.N.C.L.E .” The character was developed by Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, as something of a small-screen Bond. Darkly handsome, with a prominent chin and a distinctive, cultivated voice, Mr. Vaughn starred alongside David McCallum, playing the Russian spy Illya Kuryakin. Together, they were an international crime-fighting duo defying Cold War convention in a tongue-in-cheek series that was one of the most popular shows of its time. Each week, the pair from the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, a private organization “involved in maintaining political and legal order anywhere in the world,” accepted a mission from their boss, played by Leo G. Carroll. With wit and panache, they  overcame  the deadly gadgets and thugs put in their way by their nemesis,...

Robert Vaughn (Napoleon Solo) and David McCallum (Illya Kuryakin) in the remains of what used to be UNCLE's secret entrance in the MGM studios. The set was destroyed by fire in March 31, 1967. (AP) Surrounded by fans and protected by police in London, as a rock star. (Getty Images) With bride Linda Staab, June 29, 1974. (AP) As president Harry S Truman in President: The Man From Independence (1974). (AP) Winning the Emmy Ward as supporting actor for the drama series Washington: Behind Closed Doors in 1979 (AP). Atending the Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony in July 27, 1998 with wife Linda Staab, daughter Caitlin and son Cassidy. (Wire Image) Much more about UNCLE: Amazon.com  -  http://goo.gl/OD1XKW   Amazon Australia  -  http://goo.gl/ODQYPY   Amazon Brazil  -  http://goo.gl/qYPYg6   Amazon Canada  -  http://goo.gl/XrC6gc   Amazon France -  http://goo.gl/IGxkLq   Amazon German...

By LESLIE KAUFMAN NOV. 11, 2016 Robert Vaughn, the cleft-chinned actor who reached the peak of his fame in the 1960s playing Napoleon Solo, the debonair international agent tasked with saving the world each week on the hit television series “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” died on Friday in Danbury, Conn. He was 83.  His manager, Matthew Sullivan, said that the cause was acute leukemia, for which Mr. Vaughn had been under treatment in Manhattan and Connecticut. Mr. Vaughn had numerous roles in film and on television. He played an old boyfriend of Laura Petrie (Mary Tyler Moore) on an episode of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and a gunman in “The Magnificent Seven” (1960). He was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actor for his role as a man accused of murder in “The Young Philadelphians” (1959) and won an Emmy in 1978 for his performance as a White House chief of staff in the mini-series “Washington: Behind Closed Doors.” But no character he played was as p...