He might be best known as a suave secret agent or a talented gunman, but throughout his long career, Robert Vaughn proved he could pull off any number of different roles. He died on Friday morning, aged 83.
Born in New York City in 1932 to parents who were both in show business, Vaughn's initial career ambition was journalism, though he initially only spent a year at the University of Minnesota as journalism major. After moving with his mother Marcella to Los Angeles, he attended city and state colleges and earned a master's degree in theatre before heading to USC for a Ph.D in communications.
The actor's first screen role was on US TV drama Medic in 1955, which kicked off a long list of guest-starring roles in other shows including Gunsmoke, Dragnet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wagon Train and Columbo. But his television career is more notable for his starring work, especially as charming agent Napoleon Solo on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., which ran for four years, and appeared on the various movie spin-offs and subsequent shows. He was also a star on The Protectors between 1972 and 1974. In his later life, he also popped up on UK TV series including Hustle and, most unusually, Coronation Street.
His cinema career was just as eclectic, after he started acting there with uncredited roles in 1956's The Ten Commandments. Vaughn won an Oscar nomination for The Young Philadelphians in 1959 and scored his place in cinema history as Lee in the original Magnificent Seven in 1960 (he was the last surviving member of the titular seven). He went on to play senators and criminals, spies and Romans, and even provided the voice for the evil Proteus IV computer in Demon Seed. Among his other memorable movies appearances? Bullitt, Superman III and The Big Show. His most recent film was Gold Star, which hit American screens last month.
Vaughn had been suffering from acute leukemia for several months, and began treatment for the disease earlier this year. He's survived by his wife, Linda Staab and their two adopted children.