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R.I.P PATRICK JOSEPH MCGOOHAN
March 19, 1928 – January 13, 2009
The man was eclectic, he was undoubtedly a genius, and he was a man of his time. He is also one of the world’s most recognised cult Television icons, something I am sure he did not expect when he started his career in The Sheffield repatory Theatre in the early 1950's.
From his adopted home in Sheffield, Patrick McGoohan trod the boards across England for ten years, meeting his wife, actress Joan Drummond, and marrying in 1951. McGoohan was a rakish handsome actor, who filled many leading men's roles in English theatre, but who almost had his career soured by a contract signed with The Rank Organisation. The company was initially interested in patrick for his physique, yet was alerted to his talent by Orson Wells. Of course Rank was large and it pushed Patrick into fields of acting he might not have ordinarily gone, such as many 1950's grindhouse flicks such as "Hell Drivers". However, these did not stretch him as an actor. Due to many heated arguments and massive 'creative differences' his contract was dissolved and this gave Patrick time and the ability to pursue television work.
A number of small roles led to Patrick being cast in the first of his iconic roles, that of John Drake in "Danger Man", a cerebral spy series where the fights were staged differently and throughout the entire series Drake did not kiss the girl. The series was released as "Secret Agent" in non-UK markets and the themesong 'Secret Agent Man' becamse a cult hit. After one year, the series, though innovative, faded in U.S ratings and revenue and was cancelled. It was brought back two years later, though, due to re-run fuelled public demand (well before the Star Trek letter-writing campaign of the later 60's), and the emerging public profile of it's star, McGoohan, who had worked extensively on-screen with the Disney corporation but had turned down some other similar leading spy-roles such as Simon Templar in "The Saint" and James Bond in "Dr No". Ironically it was the success of these two franchises which continued to raise new awareness for McGoohan and "Danger Man" returned, with an expended one hour timeslot and with McGoohan having script approval, and was a hit in the U.S, lasting for a further 3 more seasons before Patrick found he was once again no longer being challenged as an actor.
The series creator, and McGoohan's mentor, Sir Lew Grade offered McGoohan something different. A miniseries, with McGoohan as star and Producer - seven connected episodes about a Secret Agent who resigns suddenly and then wakes up to find himself in a prison disguised as a holiday resort. It was called "The Prisoner" and is perhaps McGoohan's most iconic role - the one he will always be remembered for. The mini-series revolved around the agent (who is only ever referred to as a number) trying to escape the island and return to civilisation whilst trying to determine the identity of his nemesis, Number 1. The series was not a hit at the time, though the original seven episodes was increaded to seventeen. It was deemed as too cerebral, yet found favour with the university set, and as such became a cult phenomonen, outranking such cult hits as "The Twilight Zone", "The Outer Limits" and even "Dr Who" in the '25 Best Cult Television Series of All Time' poll in the UK.
After wrapping work on "The Prisoner", Patrick worked on many TV series' such as "Rafferty" (said to be a inspiration for Hugh Laurie's "House"), and "Ice Station Zebra" which was said to be Billionaire Howard Hughes' favourite film. He won two Emmy Awards for his work on "Columbo" with Peter Falk, he appeared in Cronenbergs seminal "Scanners", in "The Phantom" with Billy Zane as The Phantom's father, and in Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" as King Edward Longshanks. He continued to work in television and film until the late 1990's, a classic working actor.
A lot of his work in theatre and television, apart from certain shining roles, was of the supporting variety, yet was constant and of a high consistent quality. Throughout all his years, and fame, he maintained his marriage to his wife Joan Drummond McGoohan, fathering three daughters, Catherine, Anne and Frances. At the time of his death, McGoohan was mostly retired, living in Los Angeles with his wife of 57 years. He leaves A legacy of theatre credits, iconic film roles and some legendary stories on how top manage one's acting career long with his three daughters, he had five grandchildren (Sarah, Erin, Simon, Nina, and Paddy). On June 11, 2008, he became a great-grandfather to Jack Patrick Lockhart.
He was 80, but he will always be Number 6.
Be seeing you.
