The "scholar" and the "athlete": Which spies are they?

April 7, 2022 11:03 PM

I'm reading One Eyed Jack by Elizabeth Bear and there are references to a lot of historical and pop-culture characters. Who are the spies that she's calling the scholar and the athlete?

This world is vaguely similar to American Gods, in that characters we tell stories about have some reality and are the gods, demi-gods, spirits, genius loci, etc. of our world.

One thread in the novel involves a bunch of spies, and I'm assuming the American and the Russian duo are references to the Man from UNCLE, and the British "widow and scientist" and her partner are Emma Peel and John Steed. But I'm drawing a blank on this last pair, the athlete and scholar.

From context they would be fictional, originally from the sixties and possibly rebooted for a movie around 2000. Any ideas?

posted by mark k to Media & Arts (6 answers total)

John Le Carré's characters from Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (and the related sequels), Bill Haydon and Jim Prideaux, are a pair in this respect. The novel is set in 1973, and has been filmed as a miniseries and movie.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 11:14 PM on April 7, 2022

The Professionals could fit.
One of the characters is definitely more intellectual, while his partner is more physical. And there was a TV remake in late 1999.
posted by gregjones at 11:17 PM on April 7, 2022

Best answer: My guess would be I Spy (1965-1968), starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby. Wikipedia refers to them as such: As a strait-laced Rhodes Scholar fluent in many languages, Cosby's "Scotty" was really the brains of the team. His partner was the athlete and playboy who lived by his wits.
posted by notquitemaryann at 12:48 AM on April 8, 2022 [7 favorites]

Moe Berg
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:28 AM on April 8, 2022

Best answer: It definitely sounds like I Spy to me, like notquitemaryann said. Kelly (Robert Culp) has a cover as a tennis player on the amateur circuit, and Scotty (Bill Cosby) was a Rhodes scholar, reads something like 7 different languages, etc. The show was on in the 60s, and it had an ill-conceived modern movie version in 2002.
posted by theatro at 5:45 AM on April 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Ah ha! It is for sure meant to be an I Spy reference. It fits both the tone and popularity level of other things in the book and some other details click into place (e.g., the athlete has a "broken nose", which is I imagine inspired by Owen Wilson having a role in the 2002 remake.)

Thanks all!
posted by mark k at 6:49 AM on April 8, 2022 [1 favorite]