Patrick McGoohan, British actor and star of the 1960s British TV series The Prisoner passed away. He was eighty years old.
The Prisoner was one of the top five coolest TV programs, in my opinion. Still love that show. It didn't really have anything to do with flying saucers or UFOs, but it still counts. Just does. Here's a clip of the opening of the show.
3 comments:
That is very sad. I love that show and have the entire collection on DVD. One of the weirdest and best scifi shows ever!
Still one of those shows full of symbolism and infinite possibilities for interpretation. www.satisfiedsole.com
Afer first hearing about his demise 7 months later right here on this blog I feal out of touch and saddened by our loss as enthusiasts of these shows and the actors who were making ethtes in history =)
Patrick Joseph McGoohan Born (March 19, 1928 Astoria, Queens, New York City. he was American born.
McGoohan left school aged sixteen and returned to Sheffield where he worked variously as a chicken farmer, a bank clerk and a lorry driver before getting a job as a stage manager at Sheffield Repertory Theatre. When one of the actors became ill, Patrick filled in, launching his acting career.
He fell for an actress named Joan Drummond, the woman to whom he reportedly wrote love notes every day. They were married on May 19, 1951. They had three daughters, Catherine (born 1952), Anne (born 1959) and Frances (born 1960).
McGoohan spent some time working for Disney on The Three Lives of Thomasina and The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.[4] He had already turned down the roles of James Bond and Simon Templar (The Saint) when Lew Grade asked him if he would like to give John Drake another try. This time, McGoohan had even more say about the series; it was expanded to an hour and the writing was changed to allow McGoohan more acting range. The popularity of the series exploded. McGoohan became the highest paid actor in the UK[5] and the show lasted almost three more seasons.
McGoohan appeared in many films, including Howard Hughes's favourite, Ice Station Zebra, for which he was critically acclaimed, and Silver Streak, with Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. In 1977 he starred in the TV series Rafferty, playing a former army doctor who has retired and moved into private practice. Many people consider this series a forerunner to House, M.D..[6]
McGoohan received two Emmy Awards for his work on Columbo with his long-time friend Peter Falk. He directed five Columbo episodes (including three of the four in which he played the murderer) and wrote and produced two (including one of these). He also appeared in the 1981 film Scanners, a science fiction/horror film by Canadian director David Cronenberg that has since attained cult movie status.
In 1991, he starred in Masterpiece Theatre's production of The Best of Friends for PBS, which told the story of the unlikely friendship between a museum curator, a nun and a playwright. McGoohan played George Bernard Shaw alongside Sir John Gielgud as Sydney Cockerell and Dame Wendy Hiller as Sister Laurentia McLachlan.
He was most recognized by a later generation of fans as the Machiavellian King Edward "Longshanks" from the 1995 Oscar-winning Braveheart. In 1996, he appeared as Judge Omar Noose in A Time to Kill. He directed Richie Havens in a rock-opera version of Othello called Catch My Soul.
McGoohan died on 13 January 2009 at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, following a brief illness. He was cremated.
At the time of his death, McGoohan had been retired from acting for several years and was living in Los Angeles with his wife of 57 years, Joan Drummond McGoohan. Along with his three daughters, he had five grandchildren (Sarah, Erin, Simon, Nina, and Paddy). On June 11, 2008, he became a great-grandfather to John "Jack" Patrick Lockha
My heart goes out to the family for your loss. God Bless @-,-'---
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