Patrick McGoohan will forever be Danger Man and The Prisoner. After turning down the parts of James Bond (prior to Sean Connery) and Simon Templar (prior to Roger Moore) McGoohan turned John Drake (aka Danger Man, aka Secret Agent) into one of the biggest
and coolest TV heroes of sixties television. He did this by creating a character complexly charismatic and deeply intelligent who more often used his wits to get out of a sticky situation than his fists or a gun. And he never kissed on screen, which might partly explain his 58-year marriage.
In 1967 he moved on from Danger Man to a mini-series that he largely developed, acting as executive producer and writing & directing several episodes including the contentious final episodes. The Prisoner is the biggest true cult TV show today and certainly worthy of that mantel. Very original, very clever, thoroughly enigmatic and very playful, the series knew how to use paranoia as a multi-layered narrative tool to develop intrigue, satire, intellectual puzzles and social commentary. And the center and drive, the dynamo heart, was Patrick McGoohan as Number 6. He played a character of sharp wit, fierce intelligence and unbreakable of will. And one couldn't help feel the real Patrick McGoohan was not far underneath the ever-cool Number 6 veneer.
But besides all of Patrick McGoohan's cult accolades, he had a long and illustrious career as an actor on stage, film and television. He left behind a huge and loving family. And that is as a good an epitaph as he could have wished for.
Patrick McGoohan March 19, 1928 - January 13, 2009
He'll be sadly missed. One of the few actors who's intelligence on-screen was palpable. I first encountered him as Dr. Ruth in Cronenberg's "Scanners" and remember thinking "who is that guy?" Later watching The Prisoner and Danger Man, I found out!
RIP
Number Six has escaped The Village...
The Prisoner is one of TV's few genuine highlights. It treated its audience as thinking beings, didn't feed them stale ideas, and as a result is still watchable forty years after it was made.
Be seeing you, Mr McGoohan. Save me a place at the dreamy party.
I first encountered McGoohan as a kid while watching "Ice Station Zebra". I thought he was the coolest, toughest customer in the whole show. Interesting that having since watched Danger Man you can easily imagine it is the same character some years on.
I wish I had met Patrick McGoohan. I grew up watching Danger Man, Secret Agent, and The Prisoner in England. He was, and still is, one of my top favorite actors. I have all of The Prisoner. I wish I could get all of Danger Man, Secret Agent.
RIP Patrick!
Umbrella in Australia has made all of Danger Man available. You can check Planet's database for the details.