A long time working actor, in such films as, The Man with the Golden Arm and A Christmas Story, he was first brought to my attention as Karl Kolchak in The Night Stalker T.V. series. McGavin's performance as Kolchak has solidified my long lasting love of the over achieving underdog, the guy who knows he's right but the world just won't listen to him. He always managed to give whatever role he was in a style all his own. He will surly be missed out here in movie blog land as I expect elsewhere....
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Mr. McGavin was one of our great character actor's. But most of all, I remember him fondly as Koljack, "The Night Stalker". The recent attempt to bring back "The Night Stalker" as a weekly series was a disaster. Instead of Darren McGavin, they cast a "Ken doll" in the lead role. They just didn't get it. That is not what we loved about "The Night Stalker". We loved the idea of this guy, mustard on his tie, mismatched socks, uncovering conspiracies and vampires. Nobody believes him because he works for a rag of a paper. And because HE WAS the underdog. Darren McGavin played this role to perfection. He was a great talent and will be sorely missed. R.I.P
Just an interesting tidbit: McGavin started his out his career as a painter on movie sets!
Darren McGavin was an actor that no matter what he did or was in; he stood out above the rest of the cast. His acting was easy and real, never forced or over done. His look was always that of the blue collar guy, the everyday Joe, someone down to earth, he was one of us. In the greatest show from the 1970’s "The Night Stalker", he made this an art forum, his years of work and crafting came to a head as Koljack.
No on else could pull this off with such ease and believability, as was proved by the failed return last year of the The Night Stalker on ABC. It was not just the show that made you come back, it was Koljack. You always found yourself thinking “how the hell would he do it this week?” The new show, they needed to build a large cast to try and fill the void of not having Koljack, well in the end it was just the X-Files.
For me; his role in a Christmas story always reminds me of my dad, from the way he walked, talked and yelled. But also in the end you see just how much “despite in his hard fathering ways” he loved his family. To me that was Darren McGavin, every ones dad. He will be missed!!
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