Inspired by British comic strip heroine Modesty Blaise, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. (it stood for United Network Command for Law and Enforcement) was a spin-off from The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and was also responsible for launching the TV career of Stefanie Powers (real name Stefania Zorfja Federkievicz).
Powers (Stefanie, not Austin) took on the role of 24-year-old April Dancer (badge # 22), who came equipped with a bottomless handbag of specially designed weaponry, including a bracelet armed with exploding charms, and an (oft-used) perfume atomiser that sprayed knock-out gas at any attackers.
April sported a Jean Shrimpton look (this was the era of the ‘British Invasion‘ and the meteoric success of Swinging London‘s Carnaby Street), with TV Guide reporting that $1000 was allocated each episode to keep April Dancer kitted out in stretch vinyl jackets, mini skirts and other British mod fashions.
Continuity from the parent series was provided in the form of office-bound chief Alexander Waverly (Leo G. Carroll), who would send April and her English sidekick Mark Slate (Noel Harrison) – an agent (badge #14) who had transferred from U.N.C.L.E.’s London office – in pursuit of the evil T.H.R.U.S.H.
Harrison’s style was all camp Mockney mannerisms and slightly fey womanising, dropping ever-so-English words like “luv” into every line.
The accent appeared to rub off on April, with Powers also adopting a very Chelsea delivery despite Dancer’s American upbringing.
The series featured some distinguished guest villains. A peak of high camp saw Boris Karloff in drag as Mother Muffin, who captured April and Mark, intending to convert them into dummies for her wax museum.
In ‘The Lethal Eagle Affair’, Margaret Leighton played a retired T.H.R.U.S.H. agent, desperate to be back in the fold. In another episode, pioneering jazz singer Peggy Lee played a Mae West-type saloon owner. And in ‘The Moulin Ruse Affair’, Hollywood star Yvonne de Carlo was keen to get her hands on a pill that endowed super-strength.
The series was even more far-fetched than the one that spawned it, and it failed to impress viewers, faring poorly against CBS’s Daktari in the schedules. As a result, April Dancer and Mark Slate were decommissioned after only one season.
Stefanie Powers was not the first actress to play The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. Formerly 1959’s Miss America, Mary Ann Mobley appeared as April Dancer in a Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode entitled ‘The Moonglow Affair’.
Noel Harrison was the son of the famous actor, Rex Harrison. An accomplished singer, Noel hit the charts with The Windmills of Your Mind – the theme to The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). He represented Britain in skiing at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics and could have pursued a career in sports.
Harrison passed away in 2013.
April Dancer Stefanie Powers Mark Slate
Noel Harrison
Alexander Waverley
Leo G. Carroll
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