The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

 

By Bruce Shawkey

One of my favorite TV shows growing up was The Man From UNCLE It starred American Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn), and Russian Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum) and Leo G. Carroll played Alexander Waverly,

They made toy guns based on the series (there's one on eBay in mint condition with orginal packaging listed for $1,000), and playing cards. Today, you can buy and all sorts of DVD sets. And of course this book shown at left. I got one for Christmas from Sears, and I cost around $10.

The book features new stories (i.e., separate from the TV show) of UNCLE written by Michael Avellone, copyright 1965. 

The stories read like pulp fiction. There is usually at least one beautiful girl in every story, as there was on every TV episode. The villain is always THRUSH trying to take over the world. The backdrop is the Cold War with Russia.

McCallum went on to co-star in NCIS. He passed away in September 2023 at age 90

Robert Vaughn's career in film, television and theater spanned nearly six decades. He died in November 2016 at age 84.

A host of actors played good guys and bad guys, usually for just one episode. Some guest stars included William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Werner Klemperer Of Hogans Heroes fame), James Doohan (Scotty in Star Trek) appeared in multiple episodes, each time as a different character. Each episode was called The (insert word or words) Affair.






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