Callan (TV series) is run by Colonel Hunter. ("Hunter" is a pseudonym for the current Section Chief, like the C of SIS.) The Section removes those who pose a danger to the "innocent" by persuasion, blackmail, extortion or death. David Callan had been the Section's top operator but he had become too curious about his targets and the rationale for their removal. The Section considered him vulnerable, volatile and dangerous and had laid him off to a dead-end book-keeping job for an ungrateful employer. ABC then commissioned a series of six episodes in 1967. In the first episode Callan rejoins the section in
Michael Callan He and his dance partner, Grace Genteel, appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "Chance of a Lifetime". When he was 21, he auditioned for Jerome Robbins for the role of "Riff" in the original Broadway production of "West Side Story" (1957–59). He was seen by talent scout Joyce Selznick, who worked for Columbia Pictures. Columbia was on a "youth talent" drive at the time and signed Callan to a seven-year deal. Columbia Pictures' first role for Callan was in a prestige production, "They Came to Cordura" (1959), starring Gary Cooper. Columbia then considered Callan for a number of projects,