American actor best known for originating the role of Riff in West Side Story on Broadway, and for his film roles for Columbia Pictures, notably Gidget Goes Hawaiian, The Interns and Cat Ballou Michael Callan died of pneumonia on October 10, 2022, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, at the age of 86.
He was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, Callan sang and danced as a teenager. By the age of fifteen, he was dancing in local nightclubs. Two years later, Callan moved to New York City and performed under the name of “Mickey Calin”.
Callan’s first big break came when he was cast in The Boy Friend (1954) and Catch a Star (1955). He and his dance partner, Grace Genteel, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and Chance of a Lifetime.
In October 1959, Columbia Pictures announced that Callan was one of 11 young names the studio would be building up the others were James Darren, (Darren’s soon-to-be wife) Evy Norlund, Glenn Corbett, Carol Douglas, Jo Morrow, Margie Regan, Joby Baker, Rian Garrick, Joe Gallison, and Steve Baylor.
In 1968, he co-starred as ‘Bill Calhoun in the ABC-TV production of Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate starring Robert Goulet and Carol Lawrence.