“It’s the most fascinating thing”: David McCallum Spent Years Watching Real Dead Bodies to Portray His NCIS Role

Scottish actor and musician David McCallum is widely remembered for his role as NCIS chief medical examiner Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard. The actor played the character in the CBS television series NCIS for 20 seasons until he died in 2023. He is also regarded for his work as the bond-type mysterious Russian agent Illya Kuryakin in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. which made the actor a sex symbol at the time.

David McCallum became one of the fan-favorite actors at the time, and his chemistry with Robert Vaughn in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was highly appreciated. After he starred as a chief medical examiner in NCIS, McCallum became a forensics expert to play his character. In an interview, the late actor explained how he prepped himself to play Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard.

Late actor David McCallum recalled how he ended up being Dr. Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard on NCIS

In a conversation with Television Academy, now-late actor David McCallum was asked how he ended up being on NCIS. He, at the time, shared that he got a call asking him to go to casting director Bonnie Timmermann’s office. He was asked to put something on a tape for a show called NCIS. The actor added,

I went to Bonnie’s office, and I got down on the floor. She said, ‘Why are you on the floor? Get up!’ And I said, ‘No, tip the camera down. I’ve got a dead body, and it’s on the floor.’

McCallum added that he auditioned with the camera tilted down and got a callback to audition for Ducky in Los Angeles, where the casting director Susan Bluestein was reading. He recalled that he did the same thing over again, and he was selected.

The actor, during the interview, was asked how he would describe his character on the show, to which he explained that the creator of NCIS, Don Bellisario, insisted on the hat.

He further mentioned that after he decided to leave the show, the makers said to him that they’d like to make him the historian, which made McCallum realize that the studios liked when he was around.

David McCallum shared his preparation for playing Ducky on NCIS

During the interview with Television Academy, the actor was asked about his preparation in order to play a chief medical examiner, to which he recalled and shared that the very first thing he realized was he didn’t know anything about pathology. So to make his character convincing, he went to NCIS at Marine Corps Base Quantico and went all around the NCIS and the FBI.

McCallum also observed a coroner in downtown LA and recalled:

People said, ‘Why are you watching autopsies? Doesn’t it gross you out?’ I said, ‘No, it’s the most fascinating thing I’ve ever seen.’. To take a body apart and see how it works is quite extraordinary. I said, ‘If I’m going to do it on television, I’ve got to know what I’m doing.’

Now, the late actor had shared at the time that he picked up that the coroners do not use surgical instruments, and there is a sense of humor in there. He noted that he learned that, and he brought that to his character and the show.

The actor passed away at the age of 90 in September 2023, and the show paid tribute to him in the February 2024 episode. Ducky’s storyline officially ended during season 21 as the character passed away in his sleep in one of the first episodes of the season. His tribute episode was focused on the squad solving one of his unsolved cases as a final goodbye to the character and the actor who dedicated his life to portraying the character.

Ducky’s room was turned into Dr. Donald Mallard Memorial Multi-Purpose Room. It was referred to as ‘Ducky’ throughout the show, and fans were really happy to see the show pay tribute to the late actor in the best way possible.

NCIS is available to watch on Netflix, Hulu, CBS, and Paramount Plus.