Patrick Macnee
| Patrick Macnee | |
|---|---|
Macnee in an episode of Columbo, May 1975
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|
| Born |
Daniel Patrick Macnee 6 February 1922 Paddington, London, England |
| Died | 25 June 2015 (aged 93) Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1938−2005 |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 2 |
| Website | patrickmacnee |
Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015), known professionally as Patrick Macnee, was a British actor. He was best known for his role as the secret agent John Steed in the British television series The Avengers.
The elder of two sons, Macnee was born in Paddington, London in 1922 to Daniel Macnee (1877-1952) and Dorothea Mabel Macnee (née Henry) (1896-1984). His father trained race horses in Lambourn, and was known for his dress sense; he had served as an officer in the Yorkshire Dragoons in the First World War. His maternal grandmother was Frances Alice Hastings (1870-1945), who was the daughter of Vice-Admiral George Fowler Hastings and granddaughter of Hans Francis Hastings, 12th Earl of Huntingdon. His younger brother James, known as Jimmy, was born five years later.
Macnee's parents separated after his mother began to identify as a lesbian. His father later moved to India, and his mother began to live with her wealthy partner, Evelyn Spottswood, whose money came from the Dewar's whisky business. Macnee referred to her in his autobiography as "Uncle Evelyn", and she helped pay for his schooling. He was educated at Summer Fields School and Eton College, where he was a member of the Officer Training Corps and was one of the guard of honour for King George V at St George's Chapel in 1936. He was later expelled from Eton for selling pornography and being a bookmaker for his fellow students.
Macnee studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, but shortly before he was to perform in his first West End leading role, which would have had him acting alongside Vivien Leigh, he was called up for the United Kingdom Armed Forces. He joined the Royal Navy as an ordinary seaman in October 1942 and was commissioned a sub-lieutenant in June 1943, becoming a navigator on Motor Torpedo Boats in the English Channel and North Sea. Reassigned as first lieutenant on a second MTB, Macnee caught bronchitis just before D-Day; while he was recuperating in hospital, his boat and crew were lost in action. Two of the crew received the Distinguished Service Medal. He left the Navy in 1946 as a lieutenant.
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