Director · Actor · Producer

Darren McGavin

78 credited titles on WatchWise

Darren McGavin (born William Lyle Richardson; May 7, 1922 – February 25, 2006) was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity in the film A Christmas Story. He appeared as the tough-talking, funny detective in the 1950s television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. From 1959-1961, McGavin starred in the NBC western series Riverboat, first with Burt Reynolds and then with Noah Beery, Jr. Description above from the Wikipedia article Darren McGavin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Darren McGavin in one minute

Strongest genre

Comedy

$17M · 100% hit rate

Biggest hit

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

$60M

Standout efficiency

6.8x

The Delicate Delinquent · gross ÷ budget

Commercial performance

Associated lifetime gross

$31M

Combined reported budget

$23M

Gross / budget

1.3x

Bankability Index

17 / 100

All figures are associated, not attributed — box-office numbers are sourced from TMDB and Wikipedia (reused under CC BY-SA), shown in US$, and weighted by billing prominence. Coverage varies by title; figures are estimates, not audited trade data.