Darren McGavin mini-bio: 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 stayed continually employed throughout the 1960s, appearing in such films as The Great Sioux Massacre (1965), The Outsider (1967) (TV), The Challengers (1970) (TV) and Tribes (1970) (TV). 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) (TV), about a vampire running amok in Las Vegas.
"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 into the 1980s. Along with his film and TV work, McGavin has also enjoyed an illustrious career on the stage, with appearances in dozens of critically acclaimed productions across the length and breadth of the US. He has appeared in stage presentations of "Death of a Salesman", "The Rainmaker", "The King and I" and "Blood Sweat & Stanley Poole", to name a few.
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 much loved sitcom "Murphy Brown" (1988). McGavin was again wonderful, and his entertaining performances resulted in an Emmy Award in 1990. Several other film roles followed in the 1990s, in such films as Adam Sandler's hit Billy Madison (1995). He died on 25th February 2006 at the age of 83.
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