September 22, 1964: "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." Premieres

Robert Vaughn and David McCallum

September 22, 1964: The Man from U.N.C.L.E. premieres on NBC, produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It follows the spy fiction craze launched by the James Bond films.

"U.N.C.L.E." stood for United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. It was based on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan, which led to the misunderstanding that the "U.N." stood for "United Nations," whose headquarters was a few blocks away.

Nevertheless, their lead two-man team was an American and a Russian working together. The American was Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, who had been one of The Magnificent Seven in 1960. Solo was supposed to be the "Bond" of the series, the suave secret agent, impeccably dressed, completely competent, and irresistible to women. However, the character was smoothed over for American TV audiences, so he was less violent than Bond.

The Russian was Illya Kuryakin, played by Scottish actor David McCallum, who had starred in the 1958 film A Night to Remember, about the sinking of the Titanic. The approach he hit upon was to build a persona based on ambiguity and enigma -- hiding, rather than revealing, aspects of the character's background and personality. McCallum summed up the character in commenting, "No one knows what Illya Kuryakin does when he goes home at night." Nevertheless, Illya proved such a popular character that McCallum received more fan mail than any actor in MGM's history. 

(This was paralleled on Star Trek: Walter Koenig, who played Pavel Chekov, said, "When they thought I was Russian, 22 and single, I got more mail than anybody except Leonard (Nimoy). When they found out I was American, 31 and married, the mail dried up."

Napoleon and Illya reported to the chief of U.N.C.L.E., an Englishman named Alexander Waverly, played by Leo G. Carroll, who starred in the 1953-55 CBS series Topper. U.N.C.L.E.'s primary adversary was Thrush. The implication was that Thrush was considered an organization so dangerous that the U.N. founded U.N.C.L.E., with nations that would normally be adversaries cooperating to combat their agents. (A year later, the sitcom Get Smart would premiere, parodying U.N.C.L.E. as "CONTROL," and Thrush as "KAOS," with neither organization's letters standing for anything.)

The original series never divulged whom or what Thrush represented, nor was it ever used as an acronym. Norman Felton, who, along with Sam Rolfe, created and produced the show, always insisted that "Thrush" was not an acronym and stood for nothing. In a second season episode, guest star Jessie Royce Landis plays a character who claims that she founded Thrush. (Rolfe and Herb Meadow created the Western series Have Gun -- Will Travel. Felton created the TV version of Dr. Kildare.)

Each episode, titled, "The (something) Affair," followed a similar format. An innocent character would be featured, giving the audience someone with whom to identify. Despite many changes over four seasons, "innocents" remained a constant, from a suburban housewife in the pilot, "The Vulcan Affair," to those kidnapped in the final episode, "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair." In 1966, there was a Christmas episode, "The Jingle Bells Affair," in which Armenian-American actor Akim Tamiroff played a Khrushchev-like figure who ends up having to wear a Santa Claus suit.

The show's pilot was being filmed on November 22, 1963, which was Vaughn's 31st birthday, when word came that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. They stopped, and resumed filming the next week.

On November 24, 1964, the episode "The Project Strigas Affair" aired. Among the guest stars were William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. It was the first time the future Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock of Star Trek were in the same entertainment production, and they were, very briefly, onscreen together.

The show ran for 4 seasons, and inspired a spinoff, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., with Carroll's Alexander Waverly advising young American agent April Dancer, played by Stefanie Powers. It lasted just 1 season.

Carroll died in 1972, Vaughn in 2016. McCallum went on to star in the brief 1975 NBC series The Invisible Man, and then became beloved by a new generation of fans, playing medical examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard on CBS' NCIS. An inside joke came in that show's 1st season: Special Agent Caitlin Todd (Sasha Alexander) asked Special Agent In Charge Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) what Ducky looked like when he was younger. Gibbs said, "Illya Kuryakin." As of September 22, 2022, McCallum is still alive, although, due to his advancing age, his appearances on NCIS have been reduced. (UPDATE: He died in 2023, a few days after his 90th birthday.)

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September 22, 1964 was a Tuesday. The Broadway musical Fiddler On the Roof premiered on this day. I have a separate entry for this event.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the Cleveland Indians, 5-3 and 8-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Mel Stottlemyre won the opener, Whitey Ford the nightcap. Home runs were hit by Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Joe Pepitone and Phil Linz.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Shea Stadium. Curt Simmons outpitched Tracey Stallard.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-2 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. This was the 2nd game of the 10-game "Phillie Phlop" that cost Philadelphia the National League Pennant. Frank Robinson went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 2 RBIs. Pete Rose also went 2-for-4 with a walk.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Senators, 3-0 at District of Columbia Stadium in Washington. (It was renamed Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 1969.) Bill Monboquette pitched a 5-hit shutout, and Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Bob Veale pitched a 7-hit shutout. Roberto Clemente went 3-for-4. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Lew Burdette pitched a perfect 1st inning for the Cubs, then had to leave the game due to an injury. Cal Koonce pitched a 7-hit shutout the rest of the way, outpitching Don Drysdale. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-9 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Colt .45s, 7-1 at Colt Stadium in Houston. Willie Mays went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. The Colts became the Houston Astros the next season.

* And The Los Angeles Angels beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels were groundsharing while waiting for their stadium in suburban Anaheim to be ready. Fred Newman pitched a 5-hit shutout.