The actor Robert Vaughn has died. Vaughn left a body of work with 226 screen credits, mostly on television. He was nominated for a Supporting Actor Oscar for The Young Philadelphians, but I think his most enduring feature film role was as one of The Magnificent Seven.
Of course, for us Baby Boomers, Vaughn will always be remembered as Napoleon Solo in the Bond spy spoof The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which absolutely dominated television briefly in the mid-1960s.
Not an actor with a lot of range or depth, Vaughn’s greatest attribute was his presence – a very cool presence. Not cool as in “hip”, but cool as in “icy”. That presence served him well in action films. And his unremitting dead pan was PERFECT for a parody like U.N.C.L.E.
His NYT obit indicates that, in real life, he was noted for his militant rejection of any artistic pretension whatsoever and for his liberal politics.