'NCIS' Star David McCallum Dead At 90
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00:00 "Hollywood is mourning the death of David McCallum, who died at the age of 90."
00:05 The beloved NCIS star passed away peacefully on Monday of natural causes surrounded by
00:10 family at New York Presbyterian Hospital, CBS announced in a statement.
00:15 "We are deeply saddened by the passing of David McCallum and privileged that CBS was
00:20 his home for so many years.
00:22 David was a gifted actor and author and beloved by many around the world.
00:27 He led an incredible life and his legacy will forever live on through his family and the
00:31 countless hours of film and television that will never go away.
00:34 We will miss his warmth and endearing sense of humor that lit up any room or soundstage
00:39 he stepped onto, as well as the brilliant stories he often shared from a life well-lived,"
00:44 the network wrote in part.
00:47 David's son Peter McCallum also released a statement on behalf of the family, writing,
00:51 "He was the kindest, coolest, most patient and loving father.
00:55 He always put family before self.
00:57 He looked forward to any chance to connect with his grandchildren and had a unique bond
01:01 with each of them.
01:02 He and his youngest grandson, Wyatt, 9, could often be found in the corner of a room at
01:06 family parties having deep philosophical conversations," Peter wrote before sharing a sweet moment
01:12 he recently shared with his mother, quote, "After returning from the hospital to their
01:16 apartment I asked my mother if she was okay before she went to sleep.
01:20 Her answer was simply, 'Yes, but I do wish we had a chance to grow old together.'
01:24 She is 79 and Dad just turned 90.
01:27 The honesty in that emotion shows how vibrant their beautiful relationship and daily lives
01:31 were, and that somehow, even at 90, Daddy never grew old."
01:37 David is survived by his wife of 56 years, Catherine McCallum, his four kids, and eight
01:41 grandchildren.
01:43 He was most known for his role as Donald "Ducky" Mallard on NCIS in his portrayal of Ilya Kurkainen
01:48 on The Man from UNCLE.
01:50 Texas Hollywood spoke to David about NCIS back in 2003 and he revealed what made the
01:56 show so different.
01:57 "The greatest thing about it, we're very grateful to the JAG people for allowing us to take
02:02 or coattail into their, you know, on their spot particularly, but they have been wonderful
02:08 and gracious.
02:09 They're moving down to Friday.
02:11 And um, you know, JAG is a great show and NCIS is totally different from JAG.
02:16 It's a different thing altogether."
02:17 "Why?"
02:18 "Well, because it's the investigative side.
02:21 NCIS is a real organization where civilians work for the Navy Department, whereas JAG
02:27 is part of the Navy, so it's different."
02:29 "Do you guys ever, you know, laugh or marvel when you look at a schedule of how many initials
02:34 are at the end of shows these days?"
02:36 "Well, it is CBS, so, I mean, how many, if we all, if we tried, we could probably come
02:40 up with, I mean, 20.
02:41 There's..."
02:42 "But we didn't come up with ours.
02:43 Ours really exists."
02:45 "The acronym for Access Hollywood is AHH.
02:48 AHH.
02:49 AHH."
02:50 "Don Bellisario.
02:51 You know, I've been a fan of his since Rockford Files, and I'm here because of that.
02:58 And the truth is, Pauly's name and David's name, they were both attached when I first
03:01 saw the script.
03:02 So, most of these people were all here before me."
03:05 [Music]