Patrick McGoohan
19 March 1928 - 13 January 2009
Actor, Director, Writer, Husband and Father.
To many, Patrick McGoohan was the guy you loved to hate: Longshanks, King Edward I in "Braveheart," the Warden in "Escape from Alcatraz," Richard Devereau in "Silver Streak," or perhaps one of the arrogant villainous characters he played in "Columbo."
In reality, Patrick McGoohan had a long, varied, and impactful career as an actor spanning nearly 50 years, in which he played both villains and heroes. In addition to those titles I mentioned above, other highlights from McGoohan's film career include "A Time to Kill," "The Phantom," Cronenberg's twisted "Scanners," "Mary, Queen of Scots," "Ice Station Zebra," and even 1955's "The Dam Busters," in which he had an uncredited role as a guard.
Patrick McGoohan also had a long and rich television career as an actor and director. There were the unforgettable appearances on "Columbo," but he also starred in several series, including "Rafferty," "Danger Man," and of course, "The Prisoner."
Some consider "The Prisoner" to be the pinnacle of McGoohan's career. If you're not familiar with "The Prisoner," then you've missed out on one of the most unique social commentaries ever made, in addition to a really well written and crafted sci-fi drama that remains one of the greatest legacies of McGoohan's career and of the sixties.
Here's the story in a nutshell: A bond-like spy resigns in anger over an incident that remains unexplained. While packing to escape to some tropical locale on holiday, our secret-agent man is overcome by some noxious gas.
When he awakes, he awakes in a perfect replica of his home. But this version of his house is no longer in London, but in some unknown place - a quaint little community called, The Village.
The Village is a bureaucrat's paradise. Run by Number 2 (a role played by a new special guest each week) The Village is an inescapable prison that is operated by an unknown geo-political force.
An unseen No. 1 orders No. 2 to extract information from our hero, who is known to us only as No. 6. Ultimately, No. 2 is to discover the reason for No. 6 resigning in the fashion that he did. But No. 6 doesn't know who runs The Village and simply won't cooperate. Is it operated by his previous employer or is it run by the "other side?" They want information. They won't get it. Yet with every new episode, No. 2 and his Village cronies devise some new method to derive the information they want. When the new No. 2 fails, he is replaced by another, new No. 2.
This goes on for 17 episodes in all. Many of them are simply great. There are only one or two in the bunch that don't measure up to the overall caliber of the series. No argues that "Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darling" is probably the weakest episode, mostly because McGoohan isn't in it. They have another actor stand in for him who supposedly has No.6's intellect transferred into his body. Scheduling conflicts forced the production to come up with this cockamamie scheme to account for McGoohan's absence.
Some of the more memorable bits of the series are the huge underground domes that make up parts of the facility, the white, spinning, spherical chair in No. 2's office, the Rover - a large white sphere that chases down escapees - and The Village itself, which is the real life resort town of Portmeirion, in North Wales.
Two of the guest stars who play No. 2 are Leo McKern and Patrick Cargill, both stars of the Beatles' "Help," one of my all-time favorite movies.
The whole "The Prisoner" series is available on DVD - in 5 sets or one Megaset. You can watch the actual episodes online at http://www.amctv.com/videos/the-prisoner-1960s-video/.
While I may remember Mr. McGoohan mainly for his role in "The Prisoner," it would be unfair to sum up his career in one role. He brought a lot of hours of entertainment to millions as many different characters. There are many who would be envious of his career and his life.
Mr. McGoohan, hopefully, someday, we'll BCNU.
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