Charles Langford Modini Stack died on this day in 2003. You might know him better as the actor Robert Stack of “The Untouchables” fame, a show that aired on ABC from 1959 to 1963 (and for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award). Fame is a funny thing because chances are most of you reading this have probably never seen an episode of “The Untouchables,” but many of you have seen the Zucker Brothers’ magnum opus of a film, “Airplane!” (1980). Stack deadpanned the pilot’s role to perfection. Still, another big segment reading this will also remember him for hosting “Unsolved Mysteries,” which dramatized actual crimes and offered a way for viewers to call in with tips. Stack’s grave seriousness, the show’s eerie music, and the possibility that the criminals depicted could be hiding in your own garden shed made the series memorable. Pictured: Stack and his wife, Rosemarie Bowe, at home in 1961 in an ABC publicity photo (public domain). Yes, that’s also him in the portrait wearing the exact same clothes.
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