"It's a major award!" - as The Old Man from A Christmas Story (1983) Darren McGavin regularly guest-starred in dozens of TV shows, including Gunsmoke (1955), Dr. Kildare (1961), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). Darren McGavin was a remarkably seasoned actor of stage, screen and television, Darren McGavin has notched in excess of 200 performances; however, he is most fondly remembered by cult TV fans as heroic newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak in the classic but short-lived horror TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974). In a long and varied career, McGavin has often turned up as authority figures including policemen, military officers, stern-faced business executives or father figures; however, he is equally adept at light-hearted comedic performances. McGavin was born on May 7th, 1922, in California, and received his dramatic arts training at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio, and debuted on screen in an uncredited role in A Song to Remember (1945). Several standard roles followed over the next decade before he landed the key role of Louie the drug pusher in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955) and Capt. Russ Peters in One Man Mutiny (1955), both directed by Otto Preminger. Each of these performances showcased McGavin's versatility, and his virile looks scored him the role of Mickey Spillane's hard-boiled private eye in Mike Hammer (above 1958). McGavin stayed continually employed throughout the 1960s, appearing in such films as The Great Sioux Massacre (1965), The Outsider (1967), The Challengers (1970) and Tribes (1970). In addition, he was regularly guest-starring in dozens of TV shows, including Gunsmoke (1955), Dr. Kildare (1961), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). In 1971 he landed the role of cynical reporter Carl Kolchak in the low-budget horror thriller The Night Stalker (1972), about a vampire running amok in Las Vegas. The film was a monster ratings winner and the highest-rated telemovie of 1972, and original scriptwriters were soon hard at work on a punchier sequel. The Night Strangler (1973) saw Kolchak in Seattle (after being booted out of Las Vegas by the police), and this time on the trail of a serial killer seeking the elixir of eternal youth. The second movie was equally successful, and spawned the short-lived TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974) with Simon Oakland as McGavin's long-suffering editor. "Kolchak" only lasted one season, but it became a bona-fide cult classic, and many years later its premise of "the unknown amongst us" inspired writer Chris Carter to create the phenomenally successful long-running TV series The X-Files (1993), which saw McGavin guest-star in several episodes. McGavin remained busy throughout the rest of the 1970s and well into the 1980s and would endear himself to to a whole new generation of fans with his superb performance as the vitriolic, yet buffoonish, father in the delightful Christmas classic A Christmas Story (1983). He was indeed "curiously" uncredited in The Natural (1984). During the filming of the movie, Robert Redford was so pleased with McGavin's portrayal of his character that they began to expand the role. However, after a certain point, union rules dictated that the actor's contract needed to be renegotiated for salary and billing. After haggling on salary, and holding up production of the movie because of it, the billing had to be decided. Apparently, McGavin became somewhat fed up with the proceedings and instructed his agent to waive his billing entirely so they could get back to filming. In 1990 the opportunity arose for McGavin to play another somewhat stern, yet comedic, father figure, this time as "Bill Brown" to Candice Bergen in the popular sitcom Murphy Brown (1988). McGavin died on February 25th 2006, in Los Angeles, California, of natural causes. Selected Darren McGavin TVography The Alcoa Hour - The Original Miss Chase (1957) - The Archangel Harrigan (1956) The Alfred Hitchcock Hour - A Matter of Murder (1964) Alfred Hitchcock Presents - The Cheney Vase (1955) - Triggers in Leash (1955) Armstrong Circle Theatre - Terror at My Heels (1956) - The Town That Refused to Die (1955) - Recapture (1952) Around the World in 80 Days - as Benjamin Mudge (TV Mini-Series, 1989-1990) Banyon - Pilot (1971) Ben Casey - Kill the Dream, But Spare the Dreamer (1964) Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre - Parties to the Crime (1964) - The Game with Glass Pieces (1964) The Bold Ones: The Lawyers - The Invasion of Kevin Ireland (1971) Bracken's World - Infinity (1970) Burke's Law - Who Killed the King of the Country Club? (1995) Cade's County - Homecoming (1971) CBS Summer Playhouse - Day to Day (1987) Cimarron Strip - The Legend of Jud Starr (1967) Civil Wars - Shop 'Til You Drop (1992) Climax! - Night of the Heat Wave (1956) The Commish - Father Image: Part 1 and 2 (1995) Confidential for Women - guest star (1966) Court Martial - All Roads Lead to Callaghan (1966) Crime Photographer - series star as Casey (1951-1952) Custer - Desperate Mission (1967) Danger - Hand Me Down (1953) - The Thread of Scarlett (1952) Death Valley Days - The Stolen City (1961) Decision - Man Against Crime (1958) The Defenders - A Taste of Ashes (1964) - Everybody Else Is Dead (1963) Disneyland - Donovan's Kid: Part 1 and 2 (1979) - The High Flying Spy: Part 1, 2 and 3 (1972) - Boomerang, Dog of Many Talents: Part 1 and 2 (1968) Dr. Kildare - With This Ring (1965) - When Shadows Fall (1965) - In the Roman Candle's Bright Glare (1965) - From Nigeria with Love (1965) The Evil Touch - Gornak's Prism (1974) - George (1973) - A Game of Hearts (1973) Fallen Angels - Fly Paper (1995) Fantasy Island - Let the Goodtimes Roll/Nightmare/The Tiger (1978) Felony Squad - The Streets Are Paved with Quicksand (1966) Fudge - Fudge-a-mania (1995) Gargoyles - The Silver Falcon (voice, 1995) The General Motors Playwrights Theater - Clara (1991) Goodyear Television Playhouse - Better Than Walking (1952) - The Witness (1952) Grace Under Fire - Take Me to Your Breeder (1996) Gunsmoke - Gunfighter, R.I.P (1966) - The Hostage (1965) - Twenty Miles from Dodge (1965) Highway to Heaven - The Correspondent (1988) The Hitchhiker - Nightshift (1985) Ike - as Gen. George S. Patton (Mini-Series, 1979) It's Always Jan - Episode #1.3 (1955) Janet Dean, Registered Nurse - The Van Horn Case (1954) - The Gomez Case (1954) Kolchak: The Night Stalker - series star as Carl Kolchak (1975) Kojak - It's Always Something (TV Movie 1990) Kraft Television Theatre - Blind Alley (1954) - Unequal Contest (1954) Love, American Style - Love and the Fly (1970) The Love Boat - The Family Plan/The Promoter/May the Best Man Win/Forever Engaged/The Judges (1980) Magnum, P.I. - Mad Buck Gibson (1981) Mama - Mama and the Magician (1954) The Man from U.N.C.L.E. - The Deadly Quest Affair (1967) Mannix - A Ticket to the Eclipse (1970) The Martian Chronicles - as Sam Parkhill (TV Mini-Series, 1980) Matinee Theatre - The Shining Palace (1956) Matt Lincoln - Billy (1970) Mike Hammer - as series star (1958-1959) Millennium - Midnight of the Century (1997) Mission: Impossible - The Seal (1967) Monsters - Portrait of the Artist (1989) Mr. I. Magination - first TV apperance (1949) Murder, She Wrote - Angel of Death (1992) Murphy Brown - I'm Dreaming of a Brown Christmas (1992) - Full Circle (1991) - Brown Like Me: Part 1 and 2 (1989) The Name of the Game - Battle at Gannon's Bridge (1970) - Goodbye Harry (1969) - Shine On, Shine On, Jesse Gil (1968) Nero Wolfe - Gambit (1981) Night Stalker - Pilot (Cameo, last TV appearance, 2005) The Nurses - Hildie (1964) Omnibus - Just Be Normal (1954) The Outsider - series star as David Ross (1968 - 1969) Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law - A Foreigner Among Us (1974) The Philco Television Playhouse - The Rainmaker (1953) Police Story - The Ripper (1974) Producers' Showcase - Dateline II (1955) Purex Summer Specials - The Problem Child (1962) Rawhide - The Sendoff (1961) The Revlon Mirror Theater - The Enormous Radio (1953) Riverboat - series star as Captain Grey Holden (1959-1961) Robert Montgomery Presents - Sunset Boulevard (1956) The Rogues - The Diamond-Studded Pie (1965) The Rookies - Pilot (1972) Route 66 - The Opponent (1961) Shaft - Cop Killer (1974) Short Short Dramas - The Double Cross (1953) Sibs - If I Only Had a Dad (1992) Sisters - Judgment Day (1995) The Six Million Dollar Man - as Oliver Spencer (pilot, 1973) Small & Frye - The Case of the Concerned Husband (1983) - Schlockty Too (1983) - Pilot (1983) - The Case of the Street of Silence (1983) - Endangered Detectives (1983) - Fiddler on the Hoof (1983) Stagecoach West - A Place of Still Waters (1961) Studio One - The Fair-Haired Boy (1958) - First Prize for Murder (1957) - Fandango at War Bonnet (1954) - Macbeth (1951) Suspense - An Affair with a Ghost (1954) - For the Love of Randi (1952) Tales from the Darkside - Distant Signals (1985) Tales of the Unexpected - Heir Presumptuous (1983) Tales of Tomorrow - The Duplicates (1952) The Telltale Clue - The Case of the Talking Garden (1954) Touched by an Angel - Missing in Action (1997) The United States Steel Hour - Marriage Marks the Spot (1962) The Virginian - The Deadly Past (1967) - The Intruders (1964) The Web - Turn Back (1952) Worlds Beyond - Voice from the Gallows (1986) The X Files - Agua Mala (1999) - Travelers (1998) Selected Darren McGavin Filmography 1945 A Song to Remember Counter-Attack Kiss and Tell 1946 She Wouldn't Say Yes Fear 1951 Queen for a Day Distant Drums 1955 Summertime The Man with the Golden Arm The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell A Word to the Wives 1957 The Delicate Delinquent Beau James 1958 The Case Against Brooklyn 1961 Witchcraft 1964 Bullet for a Badman 1965 The Great Sioux Massacre 1966 African Gold 1967 Ride the High Wind The Outsider 1968 Mission Mars 1969 Anatomy of a Crime 1970 The Challenge Tribes The Forty-Eight Hour Mile Berlin Affair The Challengers 1971 Mooch Goes to Hollywood Mrs. Pollifax - Spy The Death of Me Yet 1972 The Night Stalker Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole Here Comes the Judge Something Evil 1973 Happy Mother's Day, Love George The Night Strangler 1974 43: The Richard Petty Story 1975 B Must Die 1976 The Demon and the Mummy No Deposit, No Return Law and Order Brinks: The Great Robbery 1977 Airport '77 1978 Hot Lead and Cold Feet Zero to Sixty The Users 1979 A Bond of Iron Love for Rent Donovan's Kid 1980 Hangar 18 The Martian Chronicles Ike: The War Years Waikiki 1981 Firebird 2015 AD 1983 A Christmas Story 1984 The Natural The Baron and the Kid The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. 1985 Turk 182 The O'Briens My Wicked, Wicked Ways: The Legend of Errol Flynn 1986 Flag Raw Deal 1987 From the Hip Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro's 1988 Dead Heat Inherit the Wind The Diamond Trap 1989 In the Name of Blood 1990 By Dawn's Early Light Child in the Night 1991 Captain America Blood and Concrete Perfect Harmony 1992 Happy Hell Night Mastergate 1995 Billy Madison 1996 Still Waters Burn Small Time 1999 Pros and Cons Darren McGavin links slideshow