The debonair star of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Until well into his 70s, Robert Vaughn remained a familiar face to British television viewers, owing to his role in the spy series Hustle. In the 1960s, however, the debonair actor experienced fame on another level when, as one of the stars of the cult TV hit The Man from U.N.C.L.E., he “attracted the same kind of hysteria as The Beatles”, said The Times. “I made the mistake of strolling by the lingerie department of an LA store,” Vaughn once recalled, “and in a second I was running for my life, pursued by a posse of middle-aged matrons waving their newly bought underthings to sign.” He played the charming US agent Napoleon Solo, who worked for the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, battling the evil forces of T.H.R.U.S.H. alongside his Russian partner, Illya Kuryakin (David Mccallum). Screened at the height of the Cold War, it was an unusual partnership – and one that FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover heartily disapproved of. It later emerged that Hoover had received thousands of letters from people anxious to join U.N.C.L.E. All were sent “terse replies, telling them that it did not exist”.

Robert Francis Vaughn was born in New York in 1932. His parents were both actors, but following their divorce, he was mainly brought up by his grandparents in Minnesota. A troubled child, he was expelled from several schools, but became hooked on acting at college. In 1951, he went to Hollywood. A series of bit parts led to a supporting role in The Young Philadelphians (1959) – and an Oscar nomination. But even his friend James Coburn was surprised when, a year later, he was cast as one of the gunslingers in The Magnificent Seven. “He looked like he was a golf pro… red pants, checkered shirt,” Coburn observed. Yet Vaughn pulled it off. He would describe The Man from U.N.C.L.E., which ran from 1964 to 1968, as a cartoon Bond, and as it happens, Ian Fleming had worked as an advisor on the series, and is credited with coming up with the name Napoleon Solo. The show was a hit in 60 countries; Vaughn received 70,000 fan letters a week, and was obliged to put an electric fence around his house to keep out his admirers. When the series ended, he returned to the big screen to play a senator in Bullitt (best line: “Integrity is something you sell to the public”) and, later, a baddie in Superman III (1983). He also won an Emmy for his role in the 1977 mini-series Washington: Behind Closed Doors.

In the 1960s and early 1970s, Vaughn was known as something of a playboy, along with his friend Jack Nicholson. But he had a serious side, said The Daily Telegraph. At the height of his fame, he found time to complete a doctorate, titled “Only Victims: a Study of Show Business Blacklisting”. He was on friendly terms with Bobby Kennedy, and as an outspoken opponent of the war in Vietnam, he once debated it with William F. Buckley. In 1974, he fell in love with the actress Linda Staab, and married her. They had two children. He was also assumed to be the father of the film producer Matthew Vaughn, but a paternity test in the 1980s proved otherwise. He starred in Hustle from 2004 to 2012, and did a stint on Coronation Street. He called his biography A Fortunate Life, citing his happy marriage, his long career – built on only “a modest amount of looks and talent” – and his liberal activism. Vaughn once said he was more proud of his opposition to the Vietnam war than of any of his acting work.