McCallum☆Vaughn: The Stars from U.N.C.L.E. - Ideal Magazine 1965

A selection of gossipy (and occasionally catty) Vaughn photo essays from this vintage fan magazine.
Click on thumbnails to read photo captions.

The Un-Average American and Where He's Going About the only average thing Robert Vaughn did as a child growing up in Minneapolis was to bat a baseball around the local schoolyard. The rest of the time he was stealing small change from his grandmother's purse and shoplifting everything from chewing gum to jewelry from the downtown merchants. He carried a knife and a pair of dice to school, and it took a half dozen expulsions to break him of the habit. At 12, he took his first shot of bourbon and became a habitual drinker. At 18, he went through the $10,000 his father left him in six months buying some 50 suits, a car and countless drinks at bars surrounding the University of Minnesota where he was a journalism major. At 32, he revealed his plans for the future: "I will run for the California governorship in my middle forties and for the Presidency when I'm in my fifties." Although Bob seems better qualified to serve four years in San Quentin than in the White House, he did mend the errant ways that were his only means of achieving recognition in a loveless childhood. He found that approval from an audience was more fulfilling than the praise of fellow delinquents who admired his abilities as a law breaker. Since the early fifties, he has been on the straight and narrow and on the way up. He now considers himself the biggest actor in TV, and quite soon the only actor with a Ph.D. But before Bob considers the Presidency, he'll do at least one more tour of duty as Napoleon Solo, bringing adult delinquents to justice. The Battle Bob Still Has to Win He's a man used to waging war - and coming out on top. But there was a major conflict Bob didn't win, so he's preparing a second offensive. Even in the strongest, toughest and most secure men, there is often a little boy who is constantly looking for approval - from his parents, his friends, or his peer group. It is this need, magnified to a great degree, which makes men perform acts that are sometimes beyond the capacity of normal human beings. Bob Vaughn is one of those men. Because of his tortured childhood and insecure adolescence, he grew up constantly seeking approval - needing it the way most people need food and drink. He has always wanted attention, and as a youth, he nearly became a juvenile delinquent to get it. In later years, this desire led him into more constructive fields. Acting was one of them. Political aspirations are another. In this direction, as in acting before, Bob has systematically gone about learning the ropes, aligning himself with a political party, and has begun to build a basic following for his future ambitions. It may seem strange to some that an obviously successful actor like Bob would want to leave the field where he's gained such enormous popularity and esteem. But Bob has gone on record many times to say that acting is only a stopgap profession for him. "My real aspiration is to be President of the United States," he has said. "I will run for the California governorship in my mid forties and for the Presidency when I'm in my mid fifties. I happen to feel that I am a superb diplomat and I know I MUST be in control of the Free World." There are a few precedents in this, as in all things. George Murphy, the song-and-dance man who used to co-star with Shirley Temple, has become the Republican senator from California. Ronald Reagan, who used to be one of the top leading men in the forties and fifties has more and more identified himself with conservative politics, and Irene Dunne, the lovely stage and screen star, has been a U.S. representative at the United Nations for many years. To this small list will undoubtedly be added Bob Vaughn's name. He has already taken definite measures to insure it. During the 1964 election, Bob was the Democratic party's district manager for Pierre Salinger's campaign. Salinger, the late President Kennedy's Press Secretary, lost the election to George Murphy, and the defeat was heartbreaking to Bob. But, though it hurt him, it did not dampen his enthusiasm for political work. Nor did it deter his own personal ambitions. Bob Vaughn's name will be on a ballot someday and it will be the first step towards the attainment of his goal. Bob may have lost a major battle, but he aims to win the war. Bob's Long Search For Love Robert Vaughn has a custom-made car, a wine cellar and projection room in a sprawling manse filled with expensive antiques. But when the Fuller Brush Man comes calling on "the lady of the house," he is surprised to find that no such person shares these palatial surroundings. Although a steady stream of lovelies parades through Bob's private life, he remains stubbornly unattached. With ambitions as big as the Presidency, the absence of a first lady could be a serious handicap - politically and emotionally. The electorate looks forward to feminine relief amid the platitudes and pot shots of politicking, and many a candidate has found a wife to be the best medicine for a battered ego. But Bob's experiences with love and marriage have been discouraging: parents who split up, grandparents who didn't speak to each other, a mother and stepfather who screamed at each other. He has come a long way from these painful memories to find happiness and success as a star. Yet Bob has not come far enough to overcome his doubts about marriage: "I just don't want to take a chance on being rejected in any way by anybody." For the girls who've tried to change his mind, see the next six pages of wife material. The Girls in His Past Natalie Wood was Bob's Juliet at a costume ball prior to her '57 wedding to Bob Wagner. Natalie, like Vaughn, has had a long love search. Her marriage ended in divorce; her attachment to Warren Beatty, engagement to Arthur Loew didn't work out. Now Nat's to wed Ladislow Blatnik, if she doesn't change her mind. Blonde Fay Spain was one of the girls in Bob's life in '63; like most of his other romances, they parted friends. Fay, who has been married twice before and has a son by her first husband, also didn't want to get involved again - which suited Bob fine. Her latest picture is Flight To Fury. Dorothy Provine has had a hard time finding Mr. Right; needless to say, Bob wasn't he. But Dot's career is bright and this carries her through: she co-stars in Warners' The Great Race, Disney's That Darn Cat. and on TV. Connie Stevens played the Hollywood field so well it was inevitable that she and Bob met. Theirs was no flaming love, though; call it rather friendly dates. Con since wed Jim Stacy and is starring in the best role of her career in Warners' Never Too Late; her next pic's lined up, too. Barbara Parkins was brand-new on the star scene when she and Bob first met. They dated but, as with Connie, no passionate romance occurred. Barbara says that she prefers dating non-actors (though she sees a lot of David Hedison), and Bob is a gentleman who prefers blondes. Barbara, of course, was an overnight hit on ABC's Peyton Place. The Girls in His Present Not all the girls Bob sees currently are actresses. That's decorator Susan Kohn who's with him (see below: top left and bottom left). Bob treats Susan to concert (one-finger) and champagne by candlelight. Susan's helping with the decoration of his new home; much of their time together is spent haunting the antique shops. Susan is a rarity for Bob though; she's one of the few brunettes - among past or present dates - to intrigue him. Actress Sandy Gregg is more his usual type - a spectacular blonde. Bob takes her shopping too; this time in addition to an auction (which they covered with Sandy's Afghan hound), they stopped by a wine cellar and Bob's favorite tobacconist. He's a cigar smoker, has them blended to his special order. Sandy's brains as well as her looks make her attractive to Bob. The most constant woman in Bob's life is blonde comedienne Joyce Jameson. His late mom introduced them almost ten years ago and, says Joyce, "He's the best date I've ever gone out with. We've been in and out of the marriage question many times but neither of us wants it right now. Regardless of what we decide, I feel I will always be his close friend." Joyce is divorced with a son. Julie Newmar's a good match for Bob: she's 29 (three years younger than he) and stands two inches less than his six feet. More importantly, she has an IQ of 135, has studied at his own college U.C.L.A. However, neither one of them looks on their dates as more than friendship. Julie, who's often been engaged but never wed, vows she'll marry "a rick, handsome genius." Bob is saving up! Though many women have drifted in and out of Bob's life, not one has made the bachelor want to change his status. At the moment the most important female to Bob is the girl who watches him on TV - the millions of Vaughn boosters and fans - like the one in the top right photo above who's getting his autograph. The One Girl He Can't Forget A famous philospher once said: "Every human being is a problem in search of a solution." Bob Vaughn is more complex. He is an entire mathematics text with a new problem on every page. But the most important chapter in the Book of Bob is the chapter on Love. And (despite his almost steady dating of Joyce Jameson) the name that runs most consistently through the chapter is Joan O'Brien. Joan was born in 1936 in Cambridge, Mass. Her father, a fireman, moved the family to California when Joan was in grade school. Like Bob, Joan was an only child. In rapid succession, she won a part in Operation Petticoat with Cary Grant, three husbands, two children (Russell, 9, and Melissa, 7), and notoriety with newspaper headlines describing her custody fights and frequent suicide attempts. A four-and-a-half page psychiatric report released during one of her domestic battles said: "Miss O'Brien has shown poor judgment in her relations with men and her choice of husbands, and shows...emotional instability particularly under stress." A judge called the singer-actress "un-moral," but awarded her custody of her two children. This is the woman whose path crosses Bob Vaughn's again and again. Bob's mother, Marcella Gaudel, was a Broadway star of sorts. She was also an unreliable mother, and dumped Bob with her own parents who sort-of-raised him in an icy, unloving atmosphere. Bob's concept of love and his concept of women developed in the exotic soil of selfishness, and may not be fully developed at all. Perhaps Joan, with her "try-anaother-brand" neurosis, and haphazard approach to life, has a special appeal for him - a case of his wound fitting her teeth. For some people, that is almost-love. Though Joan only recently landed Bob (as well as herself) in the papers when she made yet another suicide try in his house following a party, he still holds her in warm affection. It was she whom he picked as his co-star for his stage production of Hamlet. Thanks to Georgie Smith for these HQ scans! Visit her site Raspberry World for this and many other vintage magazine articles.