Patrick McGoohan was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City on March 19th, 1928. The actor’s Irish parents were from Carrigallen, Leitrim to which they returned shortly after McGoohan’s birth before moving to Sheffield, England.
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McGoohan rose to fame in the early 60s in the Danger Man TV series, renamed Secret Agent for the American market. The actor played John Drake, a secret agent operating on behalf of NATO. Danger Man's success, led to offers as James Bond in Dr No and Simon Templar in The Saint. McGoohan turned down both offers troubled by the characters' sexual promiscuity.
McGoohan left Danger Man after 4 seasons opting to make The Prisoner, a cult classic series where he asserted greater creative control. The 17 episode dystopian series features the actor as Number 6 imprisoned in an idyllic village for quitting his secret agent job.
Following The Prisoner, McGoohan continued to work steadily in both movies and TV including two Emmy winning directorial efforts on the Columbo series which featured his friend Peter Falk. McGoohan’s profile was elevated again following his mesmerizing performance as the psychopathic Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Oscar winning Braveheart.
McGoohan as Edward I in Braveheart
McGoohan retired in 2002 before ultimately passing away in Santa Monica on January 13th, 2009. For more detail on the actor and his career visit his Wikipedia page.
