# Darren McGavin has died :( **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158 "2006-02-26T06:00:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/1 "2006-02-26T06:00:24Z")
[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060226/ap\_en\_tv/obit\_mcgavin](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060226/ap_en_tv/obit_mcgavin) I thought he was great as the dad in A Christmas Story and The Night Stalker ☹ sad ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/2 "2006-02-26T07:26:22Z")
Best…dad…ever. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/3 "2006-02-26T07:48:45Z")
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I just heard Don Knotts died yesterday. How sad! ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/4 "2006-02-26T07:49:58Z")
And now I’ve just seen the thread below about Don Knotts. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/5 "2006-02-26T08:38:13Z")
Dammit, it’s turning out to be a sad weekend. I admired this actor’s work tremendously. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/6 "2006-02-26T08:43:12Z")
The AP story linked in The Celebrity Death Pool 2006 has Darrin McG starring in a TV series called “The Night Prowler”. WTF?!?! :mad: God bless ya, Carl Kolchak! ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/7 "2006-02-26T08:45:17Z")
^^The story quotes McGavin’s son as saying he was separated from his wife, Kathy Browne. Yeah, separated by her own death a couple years ago! Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/8 "2006-02-26T09:10:06Z")
Sorry to hear that, but I honestly thought he was already dead. No idea why I thought so. Some trivia: while not what you would generally consider an exotic Asian despot type, McGavin took over for a dying Yul Brynner for some of his _The King & I_ appearances. Reviews were basically “he’s not as bad as you’d think”. ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/9 "2006-02-26T12:28:47Z")
> [@Hakuna Matata](#): > > [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060226/ap\_en\_tv/obit\_mcgavin](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060226/ap_en_tv/obit_mcgavin) > > I thought he was great as the dad in A Christmas Story and The Night Stalker ☹ > sad Between this and Don Knotts, I cannot tell you how sad I am. ☹ VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/10 "2006-02-26T13:49:04Z")
Darren McGavin always gave great performances, imho–the most memorable are probably Kolchak the Night Stalker and of course the Dad in “The Christmas Story.” Coupled with the passing of Don Knotts, this is definitely a bad weekend for entertainment. We will at least have the many movies and TV shows they both appeared in to remember them by. RIP Darren and Don ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/11 "2006-02-26T13:59:10Z")
Very sad news. (Didn’t he have a recurring role as as Murphy Brown’s father? That was an inspired bit of casting – Murphy Brown as Kolchak’s daughter, of course, it all makes sense!) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/12 "2006-02-26T14:01:54Z")
Oops, sorry, should have read the obit before posting – yes, that role is mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/13 "2006-02-26T14:23:26Z")
From the earlier thread: When I was a kid I had a hammock strung between two posts of the patio. I’d take my little 9" B&W TV I got as a birthday present and put it on the little raised area between the sliding glass doors and the rest of the patio. There, in my sleeping bag (which I still have) I would lie in my hammock and watch _Kolchak: The Night Stalker_ in the dark. Being outside, in the dark, with only the feeble light from the TV, and watching Kolchak battle mysterious monsters scared the hell out of me. I did it every week. (The scariest one for me was the one with the swamp monster.) I watched a few episodes a couple of years ago. In retrospect, they were often laughable. But they were great when I was a kid. If I’d ever paid attention to the schedule, I would have watched all of them again. And would there have been a Mulder, if not for Kolchak? ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/14 "2006-02-26T22:23:20Z")
Oh no! I loved him. I never would have put him as older than Don Knotts, though. ---
**Author:** ![TommyTutone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@TommyTutone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TommyTutone)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/15 "2006-02-27T02:20:03Z")
I was at Costco tonight and just out of the blue was the DVD for ‘No Deposit No Return’ with both Don Knotts and Darrin McGavin on the cover. I of course had to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/16 "2006-02-27T02:48:40Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Very sad news. > > (Didn’t he have a recurring role as as Murphy Brown’s father? That was an inspired bit of casting – Murphy Brown as Kolchak’s daughter, of course, it all makes sense!) He did indeed and he won an Emmy for that role. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/17 "2006-02-27T02:49:50Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Sorry to hear that, but I honestly thought he was already dead. No idea why I thought so. I thought he had died because they digitally inserted his image to the new _Night Stalker_ series pilot. He was a great actor. Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/18 "2006-02-27T07:08:54Z")
I loved his work in the little-seen [From the Hip](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093051/): “We’ll have to change the name of the firm to Sleaze, Sleaze, and Pander!” ---
**Author:** ![beowulf573](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@beowulf573](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulf573)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/19 "2006-02-27T13:55:52Z")
It’s goofy I know, but besides “Night Stalker” as a kid I also loved [Mission Mars](http://imdb.com/title/tt0063311/). I don’t remember anything about it but the ending and the finding of the frozen cosmonaut. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158/20 "2006-02-27T19:13:30Z")
I have long enjoyed his work. His work with the Actors Group and later Actors Studio definitely came through. I felt he did a wonderful job on _Riverboat_ in addition to the shows already menioned here. Perhaps one of his most memorable roles, at least in my mind, was in _Magnum PI_ as a Hemingwayesque author looking for an acceptable way to die. He always brought a sense of humor to his roles, so you could know it was OK not to take it too seriously. For me at least, that was one of the reasons _Kolchak_ was entertaining. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/darren-mcgavin-has-died/346158.md?page=2)