The friends and colleagues of the late Scottish actor David McCallum took to social media on Monday to pay their respects to him after his death earlier in the day at 90.
McCallum was best known in his later years for portraying Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard on CBS’ longtime hit series NCIS.
Fittingly, many of his costars from NCIS shared memories of him, including Michael Weatherly, Wilmer Valderama and Emily Wickersham.
Weatherly, who appeared as NCIS Senior Field Agent Anthony DiNozzo for the first 13 seasons of the series, looked back on one of McCallum’s other roles in the classic WWII film The Great Escape.
He shared a pictured of a signed photo from the set of the 1963 film that showed McCallum interacting with its star Steve McQueen.
‘To Michael, Wow!’ McCallum had signed the photo.
‘David McCallum made every moment count, in life and on set,’ Weatherly began his tribute. ‘Let’s raise a jug and celebrate a funny fantastic authentic man.
‘I’ve only got 3 autographs. Connery, Tony Bennett and McCallum,’ he continued. ‘I felt the same way as Steve McQueen in this picture from The Great Escape: Wow! It’s David McCallum! No one did it better. We were lucky to have him bring us Ducky.
‘Let’s send all the love in the world to his beautiful family,’ he added. ‘Rest In Peace David.’
In his post on Instagram, former That ’70s Show actor Wilmer Valderama, who joined NCIS in its 14th season as Special Agent Nicholas Torres, shared a still from the series showing him looking affectionately at McCallum.
‘David, what an immense honor it was to share the screen with you. Your professionalism and ability to effortlessly take every one of us on a journey through your art will be felt forever,’ he wrote. ‘I will miss you my friend.’
Emily Wickersham also remembered her late friend and costar on Instagram with a still from the series that also featured original star Mark Harmon, who was with the show through its 19th season.
‘Had the pleasure of working with David for many years and he was the utmost professional and a true legend. I will miss you David,’ she captioned the picture, adding that she was sending her ‘love’ to his family.
Emily Wickersham also remembered her late friend and costar on Instagram with a still from the series that also featured original star Mark Harmon, who was with the show through its 19th season
Katrina Law only appeared on NCIS for a short portion of McCallum’s run on the series, but that didn’t stop her from remember the actor.
She posted a short and sweet ‘R.I.P.’ with a photo of McCallum smiling in character as Ducky.
Brian Dietzen also played a doctor on NCIS from the first season on, though he was a featured player before moving up to the main cast in the tenth season.
He honored his colleague with a lengthy post and several photos of McCallum.
The actor wrote that McCallum had ‘A life well lived,’ and he described him as a ‘mentor, a great scene partner, a wonderful feather and husband,’ and his ‘dear friend.’
Dietzen revealed that he was only booked for a single day of work on NCIS during its first season, but he and McCallum had such great chemistry in their scene together that he kept getting invited back, before he became a permanent member of the cast several seasons in.
He shared that he and McCallum ‘developed a deep friendship and love of our shared work,’ and he called him a ‘joy to work with.’
He praised McCallum’s ‘wry sense of humor’ and generosity with ‘advice’ and ‘praise.’
‘I loved getting a phone call from him after a show aired to hear him talk about the scenes (even as he appeared less and less in our show).’
Dietzen said that their on-screen relationship mirrored their off-camera friendship, and he wrote that McCallum was ‘always up for an adventure.’
He marveled that McCallum ‘live to be 90 years old, was a part of multiple hit tv shows, movies, broadway shows, and wrote a couple novels, all while raising a loving family.’ ‘Thank you David. Love you my friend. I’ll miss you,’ he concluded, before sending his ‘love to the McCallum family.’
William Shatner also shared a brief tweet about McCallum on Monday.
New star: Katrina Law only appeared on NCIS for a short portion of McCallum’s run on the series, but that didn’t stop her from remember the actor. She posted a short and sweet ‘R.I.P.’ with a photo of McCallum smiling
‘Condolences to the family of David McCallum,’ he wrote, adding a sad emoji face as well.
Although he didn’t mention it, Shatner was once a guest actor on a 1964 episode of McCallum’s popular spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
Titus Welliver, the star of Bosch, shared a news story about McCallum’s death and wrote, RIP David, we are fewer…’
Rounding out the tributes was the American presidential historian Michael Beschloss, who posted a photo of McCallum from The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
