CT: Rest In Peace Patrick Macnee
Internet friends, we lost one of the greats this week. Patrick Macnee passed away on Thursday at 93 year old. Since The Avengers was one of the shows that made me want to be a writer, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share a little bit this week about Macnee and his career.
Patrick Macnee started his career as an uncredited extra in Pygmalion in, I kid you not, 1938. And he worked steadily in TV and film until 2003. That is one hell of a career. But by far his most famous work was in The Avengers, where he played the suave spy John Steed. He rocked a bowler hat in a way that I'm not sure anyone else has in the history of hats.
Beyond The Avengers, Macnee's career was basically every actor's wildest fantasy. He played both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on several occasions, he was in Murder She Wrote, Alias Smith And Jones, The Twilight Zone. He was even a character voice on Battlestar Galactica for pete's sake.
In his personal life, Patrick Macnee was the gentleman's gentleman. He had a wife and children, and he wasn't fond of violence. In his role as John Steed, he insisted that his character rarely use a gun (favoring a totally baller umbrella/sword combination). Macnee said that he'd seen enough violence during his military service in WWII. He wanted John Steed to feel as far away as possible from James Bond, because he felt like Bond was sadistic, violent, and disrespectful to women.
It's always sad when we lose someone whose art has touched us, but I think that there's also a joy in a full life well-lived. And in every respect Patrick Macnee's life was full and successful. So I think that in honor of his life, I'll do a little binge-watching of The Avengers this weekend.
Happy watching,
CT
Patrick Macnee started his career as an uncredited extra in Pygmalion in, I kid you not, 1938. And he worked steadily in TV and film until 2003. That is one hell of a career. But by far his most famous work was in The Avengers, where he played the suave spy John Steed. He rocked a bowler hat in a way that I'm not sure anyone else has in the history of hats.
Beyond The Avengers, Macnee's career was basically every actor's wildest fantasy. He played both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on several occasions, he was in Murder She Wrote, Alias Smith And Jones, The Twilight Zone. He was even a character voice on Battlestar Galactica for pete's sake.
In his personal life, Patrick Macnee was the gentleman's gentleman. He had a wife and children, and he wasn't fond of violence. In his role as John Steed, he insisted that his character rarely use a gun (favoring a totally baller umbrella/sword combination). Macnee said that he'd seen enough violence during his military service in WWII. He wanted John Steed to feel as far away as possible from James Bond, because he felt like Bond was sadistic, violent, and disrespectful to women.
It's always sad when we lose someone whose art has touched us, but I think that there's also a joy in a full life well-lived. And in every respect Patrick Macnee's life was full and successful. So I think that in honor of his life, I'll do a little binge-watching of The Avengers this weekend.
Happy watching,
CT
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