Robert Vaughn, the original star of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., has said the spy series could never compete with James Bond.

The 82-year-old actor starred as suave playboy spy Napoleon Solo in the 60s TV series, which has now been rebooted for the big screen by Guy Ritchie with Henry Cavill in the lead role.

Napoleon Solo – a smooth-talking action man with an eye for the ladies and a taste for the finer things in life – was meant to be a version of 007 for TV, and Bond creator Ian Fleming was even involved in the early stages of writing the show.

Henry Cavill
Henry Cavill is the new Napoleon Solo in the big screen version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (Ian West/PA)

But Robert told the Daily Mirror: “Bond was the better character. We were quite limited with Napoleon’s character because we had a tiny budget. All of our views were supposedly Paris and Rome, but they were all shot over the MGM parking lot.

“It started to ebb in the ratings. Instead of doing it like Bond, they started doing it like Batman and The Green Hornet. It just became silly. We had scenes where they were shooting cupcakes out of guns.”

If Napoleon couldn’t live up to James Bond’s lifestyle, Robert certainly could back in his heyday.

Steven McQueen
Robert starred with Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven (PA)

The actor recalled his wild playboy life off screen, including romantic encounters with Zsa Zsa Gabor and Judy Garland, and a brush with death when he and The Magnificent Seven co-star Steve McQueen got drunk at a Mexican brothel before realising they didn’t have enough money to pay the bill.

Robert revealed: “Steve was notorious for never carrying money. I didn’t know this as it was the first time we’d ever been out together. He pulled out his Diners Club card, the madam of the house looked at it and went over and got a very tall, big Mexican guy and he shook his head and said, ‘No’.

“We just ran. I jumped out the window and ended up climbing over a wall, and as I dropped down on to a street I thought, ‘This is the end for me’.”