RIP, Patrick McGoohan

Number Six has finally left the village. Actor, writer, director, and producer Patrick McGoohan died on January 13, 2009, after a life rich in legacies. Born on March 19, 1928, in America to Irish parents, McGoohan grew up in Ireland and England, where he rose to fame as the lead actor in the TV show Danger Man. He turned down the lead characters in the James Bond and The Saint movies on moral grounds, and in the middle of Danger Man's fourth season proposed a new show, for which he will remain indelibly linked—The Prisoner.

Although this show ran only 17 episodes, McGoohan's role as the former secret agent who awakes in the colorful village (filmed in Portmeiron, Wales) and the moniker “Number Six,” held prisoner until he bows to the will of the people in charge. First aired between 1967 and 1968, The Prisoner has since reached a cult status, virtually trapping McGoohan within his most famous and visible role.

McGoohan later went on to act in movies like Escape From Alcatraz, Silver Streak, David Cronenberg's early sf movie Scanners, The Phantom, the TV show Columbo (for which he won two Emmys), and others. He appeared as the intimidating King Edward Longshanks in Braveheart. He received the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award in 2002 for his work on The Prisoner, which he originated, produced, and wrote for under his own name and pseudonyms. His role epitomized the refusal of an individual to let his will be bent by others, enduring optimism, and the immortal words, “I am not a number—I am a free man!”