There were only ever 17 episodes of The Prisoner - but they were enough to create a cult and typecast Patrick McGoohan forever. Whatever his other triumphs as an accomplished stage actor, screenwriter and director, McGoohan, who has died aged 80 in Los Angeles, will always be associated with the role of the mysterious Number Six in the 1960s TV series.
Between 1967 and 1968, McGoohan dedicated himself to this surreal series which was filmed in the North Wales village of Portmeirion, starring in it, producing it and writing and directing a number of episodes. We never saw this series on TV in Australia, as far as I know, but Patrick McGoohan was well known for other roles on stage and screen.
His last big role was as the devilish King Edward ‘Longshanks’ in Mel Gibson’s 1995 Academy Award-winning Braveheart. In his review of the film for the Los Angeles Times critic Peter Rainer said: ‘McGoohan is in possession of perhaps the most villainous enunciation in the history of acting.’
He is survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren, and one great grandchild.
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