15 Jan 2009

Death of Patrick McGoohan

10:46 am on 15 January 2009

Emmy-winning actor Patrick McGoohan, has died at the age of 80 in Los Angeles after a short illness.

He was best known for the cult 1960s TV show The Prisoner set in a prison colony for people who know too much.

McGoohan played the character Six in the surreal 1960s show, filmed in the north Wales village of Portmeirion.

He also won two Emmy awards for his work on the TV detective series Columbo, playing different characters.

McGoohan also played King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart.

Other films included Ice Station Zebra, Escape from Alcatraz, Scanners and A Time to Kill.

The actor, who was born in New York and raised in England and Ireland, came to screen prominence in the Danger Man TV series, in which he played a Secret Service agent.

He was later considered for the role of James Bond for the movie Dr No.

The BBC reports McGoohan wrote some of the episodes of The Prisoner himself, under a different name.

His character spent the entire time attempting to escape from The Village and finding out the identity of his captor, the elusive Number One.

He repeatedly declared: "I am not a number - I am a free man!"