RIP Gareth Hunt

Very sad news today: New Avengers star Gareth Hunt has died of pancreatic cancer at age 65. Even saddled with silly Seventies fashions, Hunt always managed to look cool as third-wheel Avenger (and Steed protege) Mike Gambit. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Hunt was the coolest part of that iteration of The Avengers. His interplay with Joanna Lumley's Purdy was always the highlight of every episode. The New Avengers may get a bad rap as a show, but it's definitely got its moments--and many of them involve Hunt.

He was so cool on The New Avengers that it's really too bad Hunt didn't play more spy roles. His one other major foray into the genre was as Charles Bind in Lindsay Shonteff's parody No. 1: Licensed To Love and Kill (1979). It's a Shonteff movie, which is a spy subgenre unto itself--and definitely an acquired taste--but Hunt is good as ever.

Even without more spy movies under his belt, though, Gareth Hunt left an indelible mark on the genre during his tenure as Mike Gambit. He was an Avenger, and he will be missed.