Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Jun 25, 2015 16:25:28 GMT -6
deadline.com/2015/06/avengers-star-patrick-macnee-dies-aged-93-1201456752/
‘Avengers’ Star Patrick Macnee Dies Aged 93
Patrick Macnee, best known for his role as secret agent John Steed in the original 1960’s TV series The Avengers, has died at the age of 93. He died in 93 of natural causes. That program, with glamorous co-stars including the leather catsuit wearing Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman, came to epitomise London in the swinging Sixties. Seeking to capitalise on the success of the James Bond books and films, The Avengers showed a world of derring do and globe trotting capers.
Macnee, with his bowler hat and twirling umbrella came to embody the very spirit of the English gentleman, a knowing smile and pithy quip always close at hand. The series lasted from 1961-1969. Macnee would later reprise his iconic role in 1975 with The New Avengers, this time opposite Joanna Lumley, managing to squeeze another couple of series out of it the concept. He also provided the voice of Invisible Jones for the 1998 feature version starring Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman and Sean Connery.
Macnee spent his early life in Lambourn, Berkshire, England, where his father, Daniel Macnee, was a racehorse trainer, and his mother, Dorothea Henry, was awarded a British Empire Medal for her work with military families. He was educated at Summerfields Preparatory School, where he acted in Henry V at the age of 11, with Sir Christopher Lee as the Dauphin; followed by attending Eton College. Macnee trained at London’s Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where he met and married Barbara Douglas. He served in the coastal forces of the Royal Navy during World War II.
He was a prolific stage actor, appearing in more than 150 plays from his 20s to his 70s, including the Broadway production of Sleuth in the early 1970s and the lead in Killing Jessica on London’s West End. He also enjoyed the rare feat of playing both Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. He starred opposite close friend Sir Roger Moore in A View to a Kill and The Sea Wolves, along with Gregory Peck and David Niven. He starred in a memorable cameo as Sir Denis Eton-Hogg in This Is Spinal Tap.
“So very sad to hear Pat MacNee has left us,” said Sir Roger Moore in a statement. “We were mates from 1950s and I have so many happy memories of working with him. A true gent.”
Macnee was married three times, and leaves behind two children, a son and a daughter, with his first wife Barbara Douglas, as well as one grandson. He spent the last forty years of his life living in California.
‘Avengers’ Star Patrick Macnee Dies Aged 93
Patrick Macnee, best known for his role as secret agent John Steed in the original 1960’s TV series The Avengers, has died at the age of 93. He died in 93 of natural causes. That program, with glamorous co-stars including the leather catsuit wearing Diana Rigg and Honor Blackman, came to epitomise London in the swinging Sixties. Seeking to capitalise on the success of the James Bond books and films, The Avengers showed a world of derring do and globe trotting capers.
Macnee, with his bowler hat and twirling umbrella came to embody the very spirit of the English gentleman, a knowing smile and pithy quip always close at hand. The series lasted from 1961-1969. Macnee would later reprise his iconic role in 1975 with The New Avengers, this time opposite Joanna Lumley, managing to squeeze another couple of series out of it the concept. He also provided the voice of Invisible Jones for the 1998 feature version starring Ralph Fiennes, Uma Thurman and Sean Connery.
Macnee spent his early life in Lambourn, Berkshire, England, where his father, Daniel Macnee, was a racehorse trainer, and his mother, Dorothea Henry, was awarded a British Empire Medal for her work with military families. He was educated at Summerfields Preparatory School, where he acted in Henry V at the age of 11, with Sir Christopher Lee as the Dauphin; followed by attending Eton College. Macnee trained at London’s Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, where he met and married Barbara Douglas. He served in the coastal forces of the Royal Navy during World War II.
He was a prolific stage actor, appearing in more than 150 plays from his 20s to his 70s, including the Broadway production of Sleuth in the early 1970s and the lead in Killing Jessica on London’s West End. He also enjoyed the rare feat of playing both Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson. He starred opposite close friend Sir Roger Moore in A View to a Kill and The Sea Wolves, along with Gregory Peck and David Niven. He starred in a memorable cameo as Sir Denis Eton-Hogg in This Is Spinal Tap.
“So very sad to hear Pat MacNee has left us,” said Sir Roger Moore in a statement. “We were mates from 1950s and I have so many happy memories of working with him. A true gent.”
Macnee was married three times, and leaves behind two children, a son and a daughter, with his first wife Barbara Douglas, as well as one grandson. He spent the last forty years of his life living in California.