In a year that has already seen the demise of Christopher Lee, it does seem that the acting profession is rapidly losing many of its most elder statesmen.Though there was much speculation that it was yet another internet hoax, it now appears that screen legend Patrick Macnee - known to more than one generation as John Steed of the original British show The Avengers - has passed away. His official site, patrickmacnee.com posted the official confirmation later this afternoon, the 93 year old actor passing away of natural causes.
Born in Britain in 1922 he had an early yearning for the theatre and lived a colourful life - his horse-trainer father gambled away the family fortune and left them, Patrick subsequently being raised by his mother and her female partner. After being demobbed after WWII he actively pursued any chance he had to tread the boards or appear on camera. He appeared as the young Marley in the Alistair Sim version of A Christmas Carol but spent much of his early adult life in productions in America and Canada.
The 1960s saw the launch of The Avengers, a distinctly British and sometimes surreal adventure series that was high on style and whimsy - it would arguably become one of Britain's most beloved and timeless exports. It would make stars of Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg and - later, in The New Avengers - Joanna Lumley, but McNee's bowler-hatted Steed was the constant presence... smooth, sophisticated, assured and the international version of a quintessential English gent. Long after the series finished, he helped the campaign to bring the series to a legitimate DVD format and actively created new 'value-added' material for fans.
After The Avengers, he continued his work on stage and screen. He appeared in the 007 outing A View to a Kill, with Roger Moore but was also willing to take on productions such as the mercenary movie The Sea Wolves (again with Moore) and classic horror The Howling. In later years he regularly appeared in guest-roles on popular US series as diverse as Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, The Return of the Man from UNCLE, Magnum, War of the Worlds, Around the World in Eighty Days, Murder She Wrote, Coach, Thunder in Paradise and even 'appeared' as Invisible Jones in the ill-advised big-screen version of The Avengers in 1998 (starring Ralph Fiennes in the Steed role).
Older fans will recall that he also provided the memorable opening monologue (and, ironically the voice of the villainous 'Imperious Leader') in the late 70s version of Battlestar Galactica.
In the last decade McNee retired from the screen, his last formal work being the 2003 film 'The Low Budget Time Machine'.
Macnee was pre-deceased by three wives. According to his official website, donations in Patrick’s honour may be made to the Actors Fund, www.actorsfund.org
