Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow

Subject: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: katlaughing
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 07:26 PM

Patrick McGoohan, TV's 'Secret Agent' and 'Prisoner,' dies CBS Patrick McGoohan in "Danger Man" on CBS in 1961. The British actor, 80, often played villains on TV and in movies. But he gained his greatest fame as the TV spy John Drake. He also won two Emmys for 'Columbo.'

More HERE. NPR did a nice piece including fading out with the song. (I had to use it for the thread title!)

He was one of my VERY favourite actors, for both shows and his other roles. Thanks, Mr. McGoohan and RIP.

To any mods who might be thinking of combining threads:

What I posted to the other thread:

I started the obscure titled other thread and I could combine them, but I think I will leave them separate. While it is musical, sort of, I did move it below the line. I didn't realise it would be American-centric, but that is one reason I am going to leave it, as is. Secret Agent was the American version of Danger Man. Spaw put in a great bunch of info in the other thread about all of McGoohan's accomplishments. Well worth the read and, sorry, but the title was too good not to use!:-)

With all due respect for a fine gentleman,

kat

Thanks!

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 07:53 PM

I remember seeing him on Colombo, where he won two Emmy's. He was a very smooth bad guy. And Prisoner, such a great one, up there with Twilight Zone (Rod Serling was also an "original") for examining the world around us.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: wysiwyg
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 08:04 PM

Secret, AYjunt mayan, he's given you a number... and taken 'WAY your name.... [guitar interlude]

You know you are getting old when all the people who die seem like your siblings, culturally.

However I know now that Heaven will be even cooler than I thought. Hope the Prisoner re-runs are done by then tho. :~)

~S~

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 09:09 PM

I hope I have a rerun there....

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 09:24 PM

Great guy..........He did several episodes of Columboo and directed and produced quite a few as well. The last screen work he did was an episode of Columbo where he did all three. Would it surprise you to learn he was a great friend of Peter Falk? Sometimes the greats just seek each other out don't they?


FROM HIS PAGE IN THE IMDB.COM------

Mini Biography
Though born in America, Irish actor Patrick McGoohan rose to become the number-one British TV star in the 1950s to 1960s era. His parents moved to Ireland when he was very young and McGoohan acquired a neutral accent that sounds at home in British or American dialogue. He was an avid stage actor and performed hundreds of times in small and large productions before landing his first TV and film roles. McGoohan is one of few actors who has successfully switched between theater, TV, and films many times during his career. He was often cast in the role of Angry Young Man. In 1959, he was named Best TV Actor of the Year in Britain. Shortly thereafter, he was chosen for the starring role in the "Secret Agent" TV series (AKA "Danger Man" (1960)), which proved to be an immense success for three years and allowed the British to break into the burgeoning American TV market for the first time. McGoohan became bored with the limiting role of spy and turned in his resignation right after the first episode of the fourth year had been filmed ("Koroshi"). McGoohan set up his own production company and collaborated with noted author and script editor George Markstein to sell a brand new concept to ITV's president, Lew Grade. McGoohan starred in, directed, produced, and wrote many of the episodes, sometimes taking a pseudonym to reduce the sheer number of credits to his name. Thus, the TV series "The Prisoner" (1967) came to revolve around the efforts of a secret agent, who resigned early in his career, to clear his name. His aim was to escape from a fancifully beautiful but psychologically brutal prison for people who know too much. The series was as popular as it was surreal and allegorical and its mysterious final episode cause such an uproar that McGoohan was to desert England for more than 20 years to seek relative anonymity in LA, where celebrities are "a dime a dozen."

During the 1970s, he appeared in two episodes of the TV detective series "Columbo," for which he won an Emmy Award. His film roles lapsed from prominence until his powerful performance as King Longshanks in Mel Gibson's production of Braveheart (1995). As such, he has solidified his casting in the role of Angry Old Man.


Spouse
Joan Drummond (19 May 1951 - present) 3 children


Trivia
Best known for his starring role as Number 6 in the surreal science fiction allegory series, "The Prisoner" (1967)

Used his real birthdate and publicity photo for the character he played ("No. 6") in the TV series "The Prisoner" (1968)

He was the first choice for the roles of Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy (which went to Ian McKellen) and Dumbledore in the "Harry Potter" films (which went to Richard Harris and later to Michael Gambon after Harris' death) but turned them down.

Was at one point considered to replace Peter Falk as Columbo.

Appeared in three different productions with the same name: the "Danger Man" (1960) episode "The Prisoner", The Prisoner (1963) (TV), and "The Prisoner" (1967). Although they were all completely unrelated, the latter two had many similarities.

Father of Catherine McGoohan and Anne McGoohan.

Played the same regular character (John Drake) in two different series of Danger Man: "Danger Man" (1960) and "Danger Man" (1964). His "The Prisoner" (1967) character, Number Six, may also have been intended to be Drake (although McGoohan has always denied this while George Markstein, who co-created the series with McGoohan, continually said he was).

Directed at least one episode of all four series in which he starred: "Danger Man" (1960), "Danger Man" (1964), "The Prisoner" (1967), and "Rafferty" (1977).

Was the title character of all four series in which he starred: "Danger Man" (1960) (John Drake), "Danger Man" (1964) (John Drake), "The Prisoner" (1967) (Number Six), and "Rafferty" (1977) (Dr. Sid Rafferty).

Two of his most famous characters, Number Six in "The Prisoner" (1967) and the Warden in Escape from Alcatraz (1979), were not given names.

Reprised his "The Prisoner" (1967) character (Number Six) in "The Simpsons" (1989) episode "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes."

Played four different murderers in four different episodes of "Columbo": Columbo: By Dawn's Early Light (1974) (TV), Columbo: Identity Crisis (1975) (TV), Columbo: Agenda for Murder (1990) (TV), and Columbo: Ashes to Ashes (1998) (TV). He also directed all of them except the first, as well as Columbo: Last Salute to the Commodore (1976) (TV) and Columbo: Murder with Too Many Notes (2000) (TV).

Turned down two roles that eventually went to Roger Moore: Simon Templar in "The Saint" (1962) and James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973).

Has worked with two actors with a glass eye: Leo McKern in "The Prisoner" (1967) episodes "The Chimes of Big Ben", "Once Upon A Time" and "Fall Out" and Peter Falk in Columbo: By Dawn's Early Light (1974) (TV), Columbo: Identity Crisis (1975) (TV), Columbo: Last Salute to the Commodore (1976) (TV), Columbo: Agenda for Murder (1990) (TV), Columbo: Ashes to Ashes (1998) (TV), and Columbo: Murder with Too Many Notes (2000) (TV).

His parents' names were Thomas McGoohan and Rose Fitzpatrick McGoohan.

Has been the honourary president of Six of One, the official appreciation society for "The Prisoner" (1967), since its foundation in 1977.

Is a close friend of Peter Falk.

Has appeared in four different productions with Aubrey Morris: The Quare Fellow (1962), "Danger Man" (1964) (three episodes), "The Prisoner" (1967), and Columbo: Ashes to Ashes (1998) (TV).

He has five grandchildren.

His granddaughter Sarah was born in 1976.

Likes to drink Irish whiskey at 217 bar in Santa Monica, owned by burlesque great Betty Rowland.

In his youth, considered becoming a Catholic priest.

Grew up partly in and around Sheffield, England.

The son of an Irish-born farmer, he left school at 16 to work in a rope factory. He subsequently worked on a chicken farm but had to seek other employment because of an allergy to chicken feathers.

His first show business job, at age 19, was as a stage hand/manager with the Sheffield Repertory Theatre. At 21, he was given his first lead role in one of their productions.

For "The Prisoner" (1967), he sometimes used "Joseph Serf" for directing credits and "Paddy Fitz" for writing credits. "Paddy" is a nickname for "Patrick" while "Fitz" was derived from his mother's maiden name, Fitzpatrick.

In the 1960s, he told TV Guide that it was his idea that his character, John Drake, should never carry a gun. The only time that Drake uses a gun is when he takes one away from another character. He also did not allow Drake to have casual sexual relationships, even implicitly.

As a youth he lived in the rural parish of Drumreilly in county Leitrim, Ireland. Although the house is still there, it is unlived in and in a bad state of repair.

He has five grandchildren, Sarah, Erin, Simon, Nina and Paddy.

On June 11, 2008, he became a great-grandfather to Jack Patrick Lockhart.

Along with William Shatner, Robert Culp, Jack Cassidy and George Hamilton, he is one of only five actors to play two or more unrelated murderers in episodes of "Columbo". He played four in total, more than anyone else - specifically Colonel Lyle C. Rumford in Columbo: By Dawn's Early Light (1974) (TV), Nelson Brenner in Columbo: Identity Crisis (1975) (TV), Oscar Finch in Columbo: Agenda for Murder (1990) (TV) and Eric Prince in Columbo: Ashes to Ashes (1998) (TV). He also directed all but the first of these.

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: catspaw49
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 09:31 PM

And they are dropping like flies..........Ricardo Montalban on the same day. Out of the many things he did, oddly enough my favorite was an episode of Columbo where he played an over-the-hill bullfighter.

Here's his IMDB page as well...........

Trivia
Wife Georgiana's sister was actress Loretta Young.

In 1993, he had a 9 1/2 hour surgical operation on his spine to repair an old back injury he received while filming Across the Wide Missouri (1951). He has been in constant pain ever since and confined to a wheelchair as a paraplegic.

Brother of actor Carlos Montalbán.

For years, was a commercial spokesman for Chrysler Corp. automobiles.

Half-brother-in-law of Polly Ann Young, Sally Blane and Loretta Young, half-uncle of Judy Lewis and Christopher Lewis.

Agreed to reprise his role of "Khan" in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) for only $100,000 because he loved the role so much.

Was nominated for Broadway's 1958 Tony Award as Best Actor (Musical) for "Jamaica."

Is the only "Star Trek" movie villain who previously appeared on "Star Trek" (1966). He played Khan Noonien Singh in the "Star Trek" (1966) episode "Space Seed" and Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982).

Appeared in episodes of three different series with Madlyn Rhue: "Bonanza" (1959), "Star Trek" (1966) and "Fantasy Island" (1978). They played husband and wife in the first two of these.

In 1970, he founded the non-profit organization "Nosotros" whose goal is "to help fulfill the goals of persons of Spanish-speaking origin in the motion picture and television industry." (www.nosotros.org).

In 1999, he purchased an old Hollywood theater designed by the well-known architect John C. Austin which was built in 1927: "...conceiving a plan to rebuild this theater to benefit the diverse community and to build a state-of-the-art school to compliment this live theater.".

He plays a Japanese gangster in the "Hawaii Five-O" (1968) episode "Hawaii Five-O: Samurai (#1.4)" (1968). The eye makeup is so binding Montalban cannot blink. As a result the continuous shots of Montalban are always short. The effect is a little jarring. Most people blink when they move their head to readjust their eyes. Montalban never does when moving his head on camera, giving the character a sort of drugged or Zombie appearance. In any case, he neither looks nor sounds Japanese.

Best remembered by the public for his starring role as "Mr. Roarke" on "Fantasy Island" (1978).

Had four children with Georgiana Young. Sons: Victor Montalban, Mark Montalban (b. 1947); Daughters: Laura Montalban (clothing designer, b. 1949) and Anita Montalban (b. 1952).

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: SINSULL
Date: 14 Jan 09 - 09:57 PM

HAs anyone ever explained the giant bubble?

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 01:04 AM

Methane bubbles form the Bermuda Triangle?:-)

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: katlaughing
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 01:10 AM

Here is the link to the Talk of the Nation tribute to him: Click.

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 05:45 AM

Awww..not Ricardo as well.

Yes, it was on the BBC news this morning that Patrick had died.

I once visited the village where The Prisoner was filmed..It's a very beautiful place, but strange, being amongst so many run down Welsh villages..It's in a spectacular place though, right on the bay there..and you can stay in the cottages, all of which are brightly painted in pink, yellows and blues, which gives some light relief from the dark and depressing greyness of so many of the villages around..It's a hard life, for many, in that part of Wales..

Portmeirion

Portmeirion Tour

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: jacqui.c
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 08:52 AM

My lasting memory of Patrick is as Longshanks in Braveheart. I was recently reading a book in which Edward was featured and it was Patrick's face that came to mind for the character.

A wonderful actor.

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 09:18 AM

Although a long-time fan of The Prisoner, my favourite memories are of him as Dr Syn (The Scarecrow) in an adaptation of the books by Russell Thorndyke.

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 10:09 AM

With Ricardo taking a powder too, Fantasy Island now merges with the Prisoner merging with Heaven. They take turns as star (all 5).

~S~

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: Charley Noble
Date: 15 Jan 09 - 12:58 PM

Sinsull and Kat-

Methane bubbles, which may sink ships, were also discussed in the thread titled "The Blow at Witch's Hole" and there is a lovely ditty which commemorates such events there as well.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: Donuel
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 11:58 AM

While Patrick came up with the idea to cash in on the Secret agent Bond phenomenon, Harold Pintner wrote scripts that took the idea above and beyond with a profound social consciousness of the repurcussions of shadow governments.

Subject: RE: Obit: Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jan 09 - 12:23 PM

More recently he played Judge Omar Noose (what a name) in the movie "A Time To Kill"(1996) ..which was chock full of stars - from the lead roles on down through the supporting cast.