Robert Vaughn has passed away

2016 keeps on rolling along and it has taken another legend. Robert Vaughn, The Man from UNCLE, has died at the age of 83.

The iconic actor died after a battle with acute leukaemia, his manager, Matthew Sullivan.

Vaughn died in New York on Friday morning surrounded by his family, he said.

He also starred as Lee in The Magnificent Seven and a similar role in Battle Beyond The Stars, Major Paul Krueger in The Bridge at Remagen, the voice of Proteus IV, the computer villain of Demon Seed, Walter Chalmers in Bullitt, Ross Webster in Superman III, and war veteran Chester A. Gwynn in The Young Philadelphians which earned him a 1960 Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was also well-known in Britain for his 1970s appearance as Harry Rule in the ITV series, The Protectors.

From 1964-68, Vaughn played Napoleon Solo in The Man from UNCLE with Scottish co-star David McCallum playing his fellow agent Illya Kuryakin. This production spawned a spinoff show, large amounts of merchandising, overseas theatrical movies of re-edited episodes, and a sequel The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. – The Fifteen-Year-Later Affair. In the year the series ended, Vaughn landed a large role playing Chalmers, an ambitious California politician in the film Bullitt starring Steve McQueen; he was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role.

Decades later, he would have anther hit UK series with Hustle, a BBC series in which he played elderly con man Albert Stroller.

He is survived by his wife Linda and two children, Cassidy and Caitlin Vaughn.