R.I.P Darren McGavin
Actor Darren McGavin died of natural causes on Saturday February 24th 2006 at the age of 83. McGavin is best known to sci-fi fans for his portrayal of Carl Kolchak in the short lived series Kolchak: The Night Stalker.
McGavin began his career with a role in the 1945 movie A Song to Remember. He went on to appear in many other movies including Airport 77, The Natural, Billy Madison, A Christmas Story and Ike.
But the majority of McGavin’s work was in television. He remained a working actor from 1955 all the way through to 1995 and starred in several TV series including Mike Hammer, Crime Photographer, The Outsider, Small & Frye and Murphy Brown (playing Candice Bergen’s dad) for which he won an Emmy.
In the end though it is Carl Kolchak which will define how he is remembered. He first played the gruff, cranky and rumpled Kolchak for the tv movie Kolchak: The Night Stalker in 1972. He reprised the role for the sequel tv movie Kolchak: The Night Strangler and them continued to play the part for the 20 episode tv series Kolchak: The Night Stalker in 1974.
While the series only ran for one season it has had a long lasting impact on television and popular culture. Chris Carter, the creator of the X-Files has listed it as one of his primary influences when creating that show.
Eoghann Irving is amongst other things the creator and Editor of Solar Flare. He has a life long interest in all forms of science fiction and fantasy and a pressing need to share this interest with anyone who will listen. Find out more at his personal website eoghann.com..
One Comment, Comment or Ping
John
The old Nightstalker was good and the new one was so disappointing.
Feb 28th, 2006
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