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Posted

This is the message from his website:

It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Darren McGavin at approximately 7:10 A.M. Pacific time today, Saturday 25, 2006. Darren was just three months short of his 84th birthday. While we suspect none of us can imagine a world without the beloved, feisty little red-head, it is time to reflect, give thanks for his life and hold in reverence his memory. Darren is gone, but in many respects he will always be with us: as Carl Kolchak, fighting authority and battling monsters; the grumpy Old Man sending curses over Lake Michigan; as David Ross, the outsider, Grey Holden, captain of the Enterprise, the irascible detective Mike Hammer or any number of memorable guest star appearances, most notably as Joe Bascome on GUNSMOKE and as the washed-up old actor from "Distant Signals."

Please take a moment in your sadness to reflect upon all the ways Darren touched your lives, say a prayer and raise a glass to toast a career which spanned over fifty years and affected us all in ways too numerous to count.

https://www.darrenmcgavin.net

I loved him as Kolchak. He will be missed.

Posted

A sad day for all. A true legend has passed on into the next world, on the biggest adventure of all. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones. :down:

Posted

I just heard it on the TV.

what a loss! He was much loved. Both as Kolchak and as Frank's Dad

Posted

BEER---> Yes a sad day, here's the obituary from Southern California where he passed away.

BELCH

Feb 26, 1:20 AM EST

Actor Darren McGavin dies at 83

By GREG RISLING

Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Darren McGavin, the husky, tough-talking actor who starred in several TV series, played a grouchy dad in the holiday classic "A Christmas Story" and had other strong roles in such films as "The Man with the Golden Arm" and "The Natural," died Saturday. He was 83.

McGavin died of natural causes at a Los Angeles-area hospital with his family at his side, said his son Bogart McGavin.

McGavin made his film debut in 1945 when he switched from painter of movie sets to bit actor in "A Song to Remember." After a decade of learning his craft in New York, he returned to Hollywood and became one of the busiest actors in television and films.

He starred in five series, including "Mike Hammer" and cult favorite "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," and became a prolific actor in TV movies. Among his memorable portrayals was Gen. George Patton in the 1979 TV biography "Ike."

Despite his busy career in television, McGavin was awarded only one Emmy: in 1990 for an appearance as Candice Bergen's opinionated father in an episode of "Murphy Brown."

He may be best recognized for his role as the hot-tempered father of a boy yearning for the gift of a BB gun in the 1983 comedy "A Christmas Story." The film has become a holiday-season staple on TV.

McGavin lacked the prominence in films he enjoyed in television, but he registered strongly in featured roles such as the young artist in Venice in "Summertime," David Lean's 1955 film with Katharine Hepburn and Rosanno Brazzi; Frank Sinatra's crafty drug supplier in "The Man with the Golden Arm" (1955); and Jerry Lewis's parole officer in "The Delicate Delinquent."

McGavin's other films include "The Court-martial of Billy Mitchell," "Airport '77," and "Billy Madison." He starred alongside Don Knotts, who died Friday night, in the 1976 family comedy "No Deposit, No Return."

Throughout his television career, McGavin gained a reputation as a curmudgeon willing to bad-mouth his series and combat studio bosses.

McGavin starred in the private eye series "Mike Hammer" in the 1950s. In 1968 he told a reporter: "Hammer was a dummy. I made 72 of those shows, and I thought it was a comedy. In fact, I played it camp. He was the kind of guy who would've waved the flag for George Wallace."

McGavin also disparaged "Riverboat," an 1840s adventure that ran from 1959-61 and costarred Burt Reynolds.

When "Riverboat" was in danger of being canceled by NBC, McGavin rented a room in St. Louis, interviewed riverboat captains and searched old files about Mississippi traffic. He presented the network with a detailed plan for improving the series.

"NBC used none of my ideas, went fumbling ahead, and `Riverboat' sank," he said.

McGavin's other series included "Crime Photographer," "The Outsider," and the short-lived "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," in which he played a reporter who investigates supernatural occurrences in Chicago. Last fall, ABC began airing a remake of the 1974 occult fave, but that too was soon canceled.

Born in Spokane, Wash., McGavin was sketchy in interviews about his childhood. He told TV Guide in 1973 that he was a constant runaway at 10 and 11, and as a teen lived in warehouses in Tacoma, Wash., and dodged the police and welfare workers. His parents disappeared, he said.

He spent a year at College of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., taking part in dramatics, then landed in Los Angeles. He washed dishes and was hired to paint sets at Columbia studio. He was working on "A Song to Remember" when an agent told him of an opening for a small role.

"I climbed off a painter's ladder and washed up at a nearby gas station," McGavin said. "I returned through Columbia's front gate with the agent." The director, Charles Vidor, hired him. No one recognized him but the paint foreman, who said, "You're fired."

McGavin studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio and began working in live TV drama and on Broadway. He appeared with Charlton Heston in "Macbeth" on TV and played Happy in "Death of a Salesman" in New York and on the road.

He is survived by his four children York, Megan, Bridget and Bogart, from a previous marriage to Melanie York McGavin. McGavin was separated from his second wife, Kathy Brown, Bogart McGavin said. Services will be held March 5 at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

---

Posted

When i saw the news last night i was surprise to hear about McGavins death, even though i knew his health was poor. I wanted to get online at tiwwa to post it but my computer once again was actin up. Its funny that i was watching episodes from my Nightstalker DVD just a few days ago.

Rest in peace Mr. McGavin, you will be missed.

Posted
When i saw the news last night i was surprise to hear about McGavins death, even though i knew his health was poor. I wanted to get online at tiwwa to post it but my computer once again was actin up. Its funny that i was watching episodes from my Nightstalker DVD just a few days ago.

Rest in peace Mr. McGavin, you will be missed.

I could never quite understand just how the death of someone i have never met, never shook their hand, nor asked for their autograph, could affect me in such a way. MOTC will most certainly in the future be a far more emotional event. Its as if we have lost a member of the family...and the same goes for Don Knotts...man, two in the same day....life is certainly cruel at times....

God Speed Darrin and Don...

4th Horseman..

Posted
God Speed Darrin and Don...

4th Horseman..

Well said, Horseman.

Does anyone know what else, if anything, he acted in after Millennium-MOTC?

I only ask because I have noticed that, often, it seems that actors end up doing a role, involving their death, shortly before they die. Remember the guy who played Holmes on PBS for years, doing "The Death of....Holmes", and it was only a few months later when he died?

  • Elders (Admins)
Posted

So sorry to hear the sad news. I saw on his website a few weeks ago that he was unwell. Such a shame.

Guest Mr Noir
Posted

I'm shocked about this news! But it's good to hear that he died in the round of his family.

Rest In Peace

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

I read tonight that Dan Curtis, producer of the original Night Stalker made for TV movies, had died this morning at 78 from brain cancer. Dan Curtis is most known for Dark Shadows.

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