Jason McCallum: What happened to David McCallum’s son?

Jason McCallum was the son of David McCallum. Jason McCallum’s father is a British actor and musician. The cionic actor first gained recognition in the 1960s for playing secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Beginning in 2003, McCallum gained renewed international recognition and popularity for his role as NCIS medical examiner Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard in the American television series NCIS. Though for years the man has been working hard to bring some meaning to lives of his fans, the tragic death of “NCIS” star’s adopted son, Jason, will stay with him forever. Who is David McCallum’s son?

Jason McCallum: Bio Summary

Who is David McCallum’s adopted son?

Jason McCallum was the adopted son of David McCallum and his first wife, actress Jill Ireland. He was born in 1963 in the United Kingdom. He was 27 years old at the time of his passing. The actress adopted Jason while she was married to actor David McCallum. Ireland married actor David McCallum in 1957 after meeting him while working on the film Hell Drivers. The marriage lasted ten years and they had two biological children- Val McCallum and Paul McCallum.

ALSO, READ; Paul McCallum: Inside the Life of David McCallum’s son

What happened to Jason McCallum, how did David McCallum’s son die?

Jason McCallum died from a drug overdose in the actor’s Laurel Canyon home on November 7, 1989, and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles, California. The adopted son of actor David McCallum and Jill Ireland died from a lethal drug mixture that was both injected and ingested, the coroner’s police offices disclosed to the LAtimes. ″He died of acute multiple drug intoxication, administered by ingestion and injection,″ said Bob Dambacher of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office to APNews. ″It is listed as accidental.″

The type and quantity of drugs was not disclosed instantly but Jason had a history of abusing heroin, cocaine, morphine, and alcohol. Later, Outsider revealed, Jason McCallum died from playing “chemical roulette.” He passed away from a combination of painkillers and other muscle relaxants.

ALSO, READ; Peter McCallum: Who is David McCallum’s son?

Jason’s long battle with drug addiction was the subject of the book “Life Lines,” by his mother Jill Ireland which was published earlier that year. Jason had been undergoing a series of medical treatments before he broke down and took drugs again which led to his death.

Ireland once said her struggles to save Jason were more traumatic than her own cancer battle. She said through a Family spokesperson to the LAtimes, “I hate drugs. Jason had shown signs of being on the road to recovery. The book meant a lot to Jason, and he hoped it would keep other young people from going through what he had gone through.“

ALSO, READ; Sophie McCallum: Where is David McCallum’s daughter now?

David McCallum also expressed his pain to the Belfast Telegraph saying, “You never come to terms with the death of a child […] In the final analysis, he had the life he had. You just have to accept it.”

Per APNews, Jill Ireland and her adopted son Jason McCallum searched and found his birth mother who told them that Jason’s biological father had been a heroin addict and his grandfather an alcoholic. Jason was adopted by the couple at a very early age.

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Six mothers after Jason McCallum’s death, his mother Jill Ireland also passed away from breast cancer at her home in Malibu, California. She was cremated and her ashes were placed in a cane which Charles Bronson had buried with him at Brownsville Cemetery. Actor David McCallum is married to former model Katherine Carpenter since 1967 and they have two children- Sophie McCallum and Peter McCallum.