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David McCallum – born in Glasgow, Scotland on September 19, 1933 – was best known for acting roles on the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964-1968), Sapphire & Steel (1979-1982), and NCIS (2003-2023). A prolific actor since he made his film debut in 1957, he spent nearly a decade playing small roles in motion pictures and on television. The son of orchestral violinist David McCallum, Sr., he was encouraged to pursue music as a career and learned to play the oboe when he was young. By the age of 13, he was doing voice overs for BBC Radio and became interested in acting, which dictated the future path of his career. However, during his years portraying Illya Kuryakin in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., he was one of the most famous actors in the world. His teen idol looks brought the attention of record labels who wanted to capitalize on his success. Signing to Capitol Records, David McCallum became a recording artist in 1966 with the release of his debut album Music: A Part of Me. Since he was neither a singer nor a professional musician, his involvement on the album included conducting and composing several tracks. His recordings were mainly instrumental arrangements of then-current hits. The following year, he released three more albums in the same vein as his debut: Music… A Bit More of Me, Music… It’s Happening Now!, and McCallum. One track, “The Edge” (from Music… A Bit More of Me) was later sampled by Dr. Dre and was also featured in the Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) and the film Baby Driver (2017). After the release of these four pop-oriented albums, David McCallum stepped away from releasing music although he did provide narration to several albums in the 1970s. David McCallum died on September 25, 2023, at the age of 90.
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