David McLean (May 19, 1922 – October 12 1995) was an American film and television actor, best-known for appearing in many Marlboro television and print advertisements, starting in the early 1960s. McLean also starred as the title character in the short-lived 1960 Tate, and appeared in numerous television series' and feature films in the '60s and '70s. A lifelong smoker, McLean started suffering from emphysema in 1985, and had a tumour removed in 1994. After he found out that he had cancer, he became an anti-smoking advocate. At a meeting of stockholders of Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro, McLean requested they limit their advertising. He died of lung cancer at the age of 73, on October 12, 1995. In 1996, McLean's widow and son filed suit for wrongful death against Philip Morris, maker of Marlboro, claiming that they encouraged or even required cigarette smoking which caused his lung cancer. A fictitious version of this ironic situation was featured in the comic novel Thank You for Smoking.
