Apart from Solo, Kuryakin and Waverly, very few characters appeared on the show with any regularity. As a result, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. featured a large number of high-profile guest performers during its three and a half year run.
Among the guest stars who went on to find fame in other TV shows were Star Trek stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy who appeared together in a 1964 episode, “The Project Strigas Affair”. A full two years before Star Trek aired for the first time, Shatner played a heroic civilian recruited for an U.N.C.L.E. mission, and Nimoy played the villain’s henchman. Barbara Feldon, later to become Agent 99 on Get Smart, played an U.N.C.L.E. translator eager for field work in “The Never-Never Affair.” Robert Culp, who later starred in I Spy, played the villain in 1964’s “The Shark Affair”. Another guest star who went on to star in a TV spy series was Martin Landau, who played Rollin Hand in Mission: Impossible.
Woodrow Parfrey appeared five times as a guest performer, although he never received an opening-title credit. Usually cast as a scientist, he played the primary villain in only one episode, “The Cherry Blossom Affair.” Another five-time guest star was Jill Ireland, who at the time was married to David McCallum. “The Five Daughters Affair” featured a cameo appearance by Joan Crawford. Janet Leigh and Jack Palance appeared in “The Concrete Overcoat Affair” and Sonny and Cher made an appearance in the third season episode “The Hot Number Affair”. Other notable guest stars included Vincent Price, Joan Blondell, Eleanor Parker, Joan Collins, Terry-Thomas, Nancy Sinatra, Dorothy Provine, Leslie Nielson, Kurt Russell, Sharon Tate, Kim Darby, Angela Lansbury and Allen Jenkins.
