The stars – past and present – of NCIS are paying tribute to David McCallum after it was revealed that the actor passed away at the age of 90.
Stars Mark Harmon, Wilmer Valderrama, Katrina Law and Brian Dietzen, as well as former series regular Michael Weatherly, all took to social media, sharing their memories and condolences about David.
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Michael, who played Anthony DiNozzo up until 2013, was one of the first to share his memories.
“David McCallum made every moment count, in life and on set,” he recalled in his post. “Let’s raise a jug and celebrate a funny fantastic authentic man. I’ve only got 3 autographs. Connery, Tony Bennett and McCallum. I felt the same way as Steve McQueen in this picture from The Great Escape: Wow! It’s David McCallum! No one did it better.”
Michael added, “We were lucky to have him bring us Ducky. Let’s send all the love in the world to his beautiful family. Rest In Peace David.”
Emily Wickersham, who played Ellie Bishop on the series, also posted a tribute to her IG Story, writing that he was “the utmost professional and a true legend. I will miss you David.”
While Katrina shared a simple, and still touching, “RIP” post on her feed, Wilmer expressed his gratitude towards David.
“David, what an immense honor it was to share the screen with you,” he wrote with a still from NCIS. “Your professionalism and ability to effortlessly take every one of us on a journey through your art will be felt forever. I will miss you my friend.”
Brian, who portrays Dr. Jimmy Palmer on the hit CBS series, had much more to say about David, as he shared a lot of screentime with the actor.
“I was booked to work one day on the show, but David and I hit it off. Our scene turned out well and they invited me back for more scenes with this screen legend. Several more,” Brian says. “Over the course of the next 20 years, David and I (along with our alter-ego’s Ducky and Jimmy) developed a deep friendship and love of our shared work. He was a joy to work with. Always had a smile. Always had something new to add to the page, and ALWAYS had the ability to steal every scene he was in!”
He concluded his lengthy post, “Thank you David. Love you my friend. I’ll miss you.”
Mark also made a rare statement about David, sharing it with TVLine.
“David lived a great, full, long life,” he shared. “I was in awe when I first met him and all of us on the show were honored to have toed a mark opposite him. My condolences go out to Katherine and his family.”