Patrick Macnee was born Daniel Patrick Macnee in London, 1922. He began his acting career in Canada, and he later became a U.S. citizen in 1959. However, it was with his return to Britain that he found fame.
Patrick Macnee was best known for playing secret agent John Steed in the 1960s British television series The Avengers, alongside a host of female co-stars.
The show gave Macnee fame and success, before that he had relatively minor role. The original run of The Avengers was between 1961 and 1969, comprising of 161 episodes. Macnee’s co-starts included Honor Blackman and Diana Rigg. The show achieved cult status and a 1998 film was made, starring Uma Thurman as Emma Peel and Ralph Fiennes as John Steed, with Sean Connery as the villain. The movie, unlike the television show, garnered poor reviews.
He later returned to the role in The New Avengers in the 1970s, this time sharing billing with Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt. The second run was broadcast in 120 countries.
Of The Avengers, Macnee said: “It was beautifully written, the ideas were very good, way ahead of their time and they incorporated fantasies for people who dreamed of doing exciting things.”
Aside from his television agent persona, Macnee was in regular demand in theater. He also had a significant role in the James Bond movie A View to Kill.
Macnee’s family have put out statement, part of which reads: “Wherever he went, he left behind a trove of memories.” The statement also adds: “Patrick Macnee was a popular figure in the television industry. He was at home wherever in the world he found himself. He had a knack for making friends, and keeping them.”
Macnee died, The Daily Telegraph reports, with his family around him at Rancho Mirage, California on Thursday, June 26.
