Katherine Carpenter: Who is David McCallum’s Wife

Katherine Carpenter is a Former actress and model and also best known as the wife of iconic actor David McCallum. Katherine Carpenter’s husband was a pop culture sensation in the mid-1960s as the suave spy, Illya Kuryakin, on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E” (CBS, 1965-68) and later as the avuncular Donald “Ducky” Mallard on “NCIS: Naval Criminal Service Investigation” (CBS, 2003). Aside from being a beloved star, McCallum is a husband and a father. Who is David McCallum’s wife?

Katherine Carpenter: Bio Summary

Who is David McCallum’s wife?

Katherine Carpenter was born on November 30, 1944, in Hollywood, California United States of America per Famousbirthdays. As of 2023, he is 79 years old while her husband is 90 years old. Though there isn’t much known about her parents and siblings, Famousfix reported Katharine’s father made his fortune in investment banking and later became a playwright. Katherine’s father was a Marine who served in the Battle of Iwo Jima and her brother was killed in the Vietnam War. Katherine Carpenter was an art student at Sarah Lawrence College.

Katherine Carpenter was a model and an actress

Carpenter’s exposure started when she was in college. Her breakthrough moment came when Vogue magazine chose Katherine for a campus feature because they wanted to use a student as a model. She has appeared in numerous publications, including Glamour, Teen, and Ingenue. Katharine is now a mother and interior designer.

Katherine Carpenter is David McCallum’s second wife

Before Carpenter, McCallum was married to Jill Ireland. Per Hellomagazine, Katherine first met David on a photo shoot for his show, Man from U.N.C.L.E. McCallum, and still had hopes of saving his wavering marriage to Jill Ireland, who had left him for his friend Charles Bronson.

According to davidmccallumfansonline when Jill filed for divorce, he knew there was no use fighting any longer. He was morose and lonely. Then he remembered the beautiful young girl who’d lifted his heart that Sunday in New York. He called her.

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Katherine Carpenter was just 21 years old at the time, while McCallum was 11 years older than her. David was intrigued by her slender, statuesque beauty and her cool manner. Soon after getting acquainted, the pair became inseparable and made their romance known by having her accompany him on a publicity tour around Australia and Asia for the action-comedy film.

The possibility of a scandal was raised by executives of MGM, however, David replied by saying- “Katherine is going along as my friend. Can’t two people travel together without causing a lot of tongue clicking?” he defied the censure of the studio bosses. Katherine accompanied him, as did a studio publicist, Gene Webster.

When they attended the premiere of the U.N.C.L.E. feature in Hong Kong, the police force was inadequate for handling the crowd, and the clamoring Chinese moved in close to the stars. David had to step in to protect her queen- “I was determined to protect Katherine,” said David, “so I walked ahead to make a path through the mob. I was pushing on both sides until I noticed I was pushing Bob Vaughn with one arm, and Gene Webster with the other“, davidmccallumfansonline reported.

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Katherine Carpenter and David McCallum clicked so well and months later the two love birds tied the knot in September 1967 in New York in a beautiful wedding ceremony in the presence of their friends, families, and loved ones. They have been together since with no scandal or rumors of divorce.

Katherine Carpenter and McCallum have been married for more than five decades and are still in love more than ever. The actor never misses a chance to credit his wife for the success of their marriage – “Katherine and I are two halves of a whole,” he told Closer Weekly in 2017. “We work well together, and when problems come along, we solve them. The best thing about a marriage is you find out what the other person wants and make damned sure they get it.“

In November 2022, The Man from U.N.C.L.E actor also spoke to Radio Times about his early career and credited his supportive wife Katherine Carpenter for keeping their family running. He revealed-“I was very happy to get to work and get paid for it, pay school fees and insurance, you know. This is the life of an actor, particularly in the early years before you get a little better known: your main concern is to make enough money to keep the family running,“

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David McCallum continued-“Fortunately I married a young lady who was more talented than I was [Katherine] and so we shared the burden together and we’ve had a very successful relationship. In fact, we’ve been married for 55 years.” The couple’s five-decade marriage has also been blessed with two children-  Sophie McCallum and Peter McCallum. McCallum has six grandchildren. The couple are active in charitable organizations that support the United State Marine Corps per Famousbirthdays.