Production
Niven and Boyer were two of the co-owners of Four Star Television, which produced the show.
Although sometimes appearing together, the three lead actors tended to rotate appearances as their schedules permitted. This resulted in Young helming more episodes because the other two were engaged on other projects; Boyer and Niven were still major film stars (Niven had received an Academy Award for Best Actor in 1958).
Larry Hagman, who portrayed "J.R. Ewing" in the television series Dallas two decades later, was brought aboard for the last two episodes to help fill in for Young, who had been the lead in most of the episodes. The only episode in which Niven and Boyer had more or less equal roles was "Bless You, G. Carter Huntington," which also featured Young in a substantial capacity. Niven briefly appears in a number of episodes (often toward the beginning of the show), but took the lead in only three out of the series' thirty episodes because of his film schedule. Many of his scenes were shot separately in other locations, especially later in the series.
Additional continuity was provided by the presences of Gladys Cooper as Auntie Margaret St. Clair and Robert Coote as Timmy St. Clair, appearing in their supporting roles in most episodes.
Guest stars included Eddie Albert, Tol Avery, Broderick Crawford, John Dehner, Sally Kellerman, Ida Lupino (also a member of Four Star Television though not an owner), Elsa Martinelli, Walter Matthau, Darren McGavin, Dina Merrill, Susan Oliver, George Sanders, Telly Savalas, Gia Scala, Everett Sloane, Raquel Welch and Marie Windsor.
Four Star President David Charnay announced a feature film revival to star David Niven and Charles Boyer, scheduled for 1968, but nothing came of it. In 1989, Blake Edwards optioned the series for a revival, but ABC passed on the unproduced pilot script in 1990.
Repeats of the series were aired on Me-TV during 2011-2012 and again in September 2014, and on Decades in March 2015. Commencing in 2018, the show was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Talking Pictures TV.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is an American spy fiction television series produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents Napoleon Solo, played by Robert Vaughn, and Illya Kuryakin, played by David McCallum, who work for a secret international counterespionage and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E.. The series premiered on September 22, 1964, and completed its run on January 15, 1968. The program was part of the spy-fiction craze on television, and by 1966 there were nearly a dozen imitators. Several episodes were successfully released to theaters as B movies or double features. There was also a spin-off series, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., a series of novels and comic books, and merchandising.
James David Graham Niven was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. He received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Charles Boyer was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American films during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised, in romantic dramas such as The Garden of Allah (1936), Algiers (1938), and Love Affair (1939), as well as the mystery-thriller Gaslight (1944). He received four Oscar nominations for Best Actor. He also appeared as himself on the CBS sitcom I Love Lucy.
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Richard Ewing Powell was an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man, starring in projects of a more dramatic nature. He was the first actor to portray private detective Philip Marlowe on screen.
Larry Martin Hagman was an American film and television actor, director, and producer, best known for playing ruthless oil baron J. R. Ewing in the 1978–1991 primetime television soap opera Dallas, and the befuddled astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the 1965–1970 sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. Hagman had supporting roles in numerous films, including Fail-Safe, Harry and Tonto, S.O.B., Nixon, and Primary Colors. His television appearances also included guest roles on dozens of shows spanning from the late 1950s until his death, and a reprise of his signature role on the 2012 revival of Dallas. Hagman also worked as a television producer and director. He was the son of actress Mary Martin. Hagman underwent a life-saving liver transplant in 1995. He died on November 23, 2012, from complications of acute myeloid leukemia.
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Charlene L. Tilton is an American actress and singer. She is widely known for playing Lucy Ewing on the CBS prime time soap opera Dallas.
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Gig Young was an American stage, film, and television actor.
Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950, until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its eight-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example, Robert Montgomery Presents Your Lucky Strike Theater, ....The Johnson's Wax Program, and so on.
Thomas Noel Rettig was an American child actor, computer software engineer, and author. He portrayed the character "Jeff Miller" in the first three seasons of CBS's Lassie television series, from 1954 to 1957, later seen in syndicated re-runs with the title Jeff's Collie. He also played the young orphan adopted by David Niven in Niven's film titled "No Identity," for the series, "Four Star Playhouse, He also co-starred with another former child actor, Tony Dow, in the mid-1960s television teen soap opera Never Too Young and recorded the song by that title with the group, The TR-4.
Collier Hudson Young was an American film producer and writer, who worked on many films in the 1950s, before becoming a television producer for such shows as NBC's Ironside and CBS's The Wild, Wild West, as well as the supernatural anthology series One Step Beyond (1959–61).
Robert Coote was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of My Fair Lady.
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Patric Knowles, born Reginald Lawrence Knowles, was an English film actor. Born in Horsforth, West Riding of Yorkshire, he later changed his name to reflect his Irish heritage. He made his film debut in 1932, and played either first or second film leads throughout his career. He appeared in films from the 1930s to the 1970s.
Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. Founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino and Joel McCrea, it was inspired by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz founding Desilu Productions a year earlier. McCrea left soon after its founding to continue in films, television and radio, and was replaced by Ida Lupino as the fourth star—although Lupino did not own stock in the company.
David John Stollery, III is a former American child actor and, as an adult, an industrial designer. He appeared in numerous Disney movies and television programs in the 1950s. He is best known for his teenage role as the loner Marty in the Spin and Marty television serials on the Mickey Mouse Club TV series in the mid-1950s.
Goodyear Theatre is a 30-minute dramatic television anthology series telecast on NBC from 1957 to 1960 for a total of 55 episodes. The live show was directed by many notable directors, including Don Taylor, Arthur Hiller and Robert Ellis Miller. It followed Goodyear Television Playhouse (1951).
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