David McCallum tied the knot in Valley Stream as a crowd of 2,000 hoped for a view
David McCallum and his bride, Cedarhurst socialite Katherine Carpenter, leave the Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Valley Stream after being wed in September 1967. Credit: AP/John Rooney
Late actor David McCallum, who achieved TV success as an international man of mystery on TV's "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," tied the knot on Long Island during the height of the show's popularity in the 1960s.
The actor, who decades later would star in the long-running CBS procedural "NCIS," married Cedarhurst socialite Katherine Carpenter at Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Valley Stream on Sept. 16, 1967, two years after meeting the model-turned-interior designer at a photo shoot for Glamour magazine. They were still married when he died on Monday at age 90. McCallum previously was married to actress Jill Ireland from 1957 to February 1967.
The wedding party consisted of best man Don Williams, the brother of singer Andy Williams; several ushers; bridesmaids dressed in apple-green gowns and white flower headdresses; a flower girl; and the maid of honor, Carpenter's sister Carolyn. Pastor William F. Donahue presided over the ceremony.
Photos from the wedding that appeared in the Sept. 17, 1967, edition of Newsday featured the bride and groom exiting the church after the ceremony — along with shots of the crowd of more than 2,000 onlookers anxious to get a glimpse of them.
"The number of people there was tremendous," McCallum's "U.N.C.L.E." co-star Robert Vaughn, one of the guests, recalled during an interview with CBS News in 2015. "It was like one of The Beatles was getting married. In fact, they used to call David ‘The Blond Beatle.’ ”
Members of Valley Stream's police, auxiliary police and fire departments also were present to keep the crowd under control. According to a story in the Sept. 21, 1967, edition of Valley Stream MAILeader, police pulled down several boys who tried to scale the church walls to peek through the windows. Officers also formed a human chain to stave off fans as the couple left the church, though some of them did manage to break through fire department ropes to surround the couple's car before they drove away.
Though McCallum lived in Santa Monica, California, when he was filming "NCIS," he and his wife also maintained a home in Atlantic Beach.
David McCallum's best man Don Williams was singer Andy Williams' brother. A previous version of this story was incorrect.
