<Li> Skilled in bomb defusal </Li> <Li> Swiss Army Knife and its functions </Li> <P> Angus MacGyver (known as just MacGyver, or Mac) is a title character and the protagonist in MacGyver (1985 TV series). He is played by Richard Dean Anderson . MacGyver works as a problem solver for the fictional Phoenix Foundation in Los Angeles . Educated as a scientist and with a background from a fictional United States government agency, the Department of External Services (DXS), he is a resourceful secret agent able to solve a range of problems . In addition to his scientific knowledge and inventive use of common items, he always carries a Swiss Army knife and a roll of duct tape . He prefers non-violent conflict resolution wherever possible and refuses to carry a gun but will sometimes use one (such as the AK47 rifle that he used briefly in the pilot episode). Lucas Till portrays a younger version of MacGyver in the 2016 reboot of the same name . </P> <P> The character is portrayed as a non-violent problem solver . He eschews the use of guns, although the pilot episode shows him using a gun on a mission shown in the opening gambit . Even in cases where his improvised devices are used to attack hostile opponents, he is always doing so in self - defense and, if possible, subduing or disabling rather than killing . He is often suspicious of militaristic attitudes within the government; he sees his Phoenix Foundation employer as an alternative to the more conventional (and violent) means of law enforcement . </P>

Who played macgyver in the original tv show