RIP John Steed (Patrick Macnee)

[uppityperson]

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/patrick-macnee-star-of-the-1960s-tv-series-the-avengers-dies-at-93/

Patrick Macnee, star of "The Avengers" TV series, dies at 93

Patrick Macnee, the British-born actor best known as dapper secret agent John Steed in the long-running 1960s TV series "The Avengers," has died. He was 93.

Macnee died Thursday of natural causes with his family at his bedside in Rancho Mirage, his son Rupert said in a statement.

The clever spy drama, which began in 1961 in Britain, debuted in the United States in 1966. It ran for eight seasons and continued in syndication for decades afterward.

Macnee's character appeared in all but two episodes, accompanied by a string of beautiful women who were his sidekicks. The most popular was likely Diana Rigg, who played sexy junior agent Emma Peel from 1965 to 1968. Honor Blackman played Catherine Gale from 1962 to 1964, and Linda Thorson was Tara King from 1968 to 1969....

[Gregorian]

1. Mrs. Peel, You're Needed.

I loved those series.

So long...

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. RIP.

[TDale313]

3. Aww. Sad news.

Loved The Avengers. Gonna have to watch some tonight.

[hifiguy]

4. I fell in love with The Avengers

when I was 11 or 12. It was so utterly English, and I was a dyed-in-the-wool Anglophile then thanks to the Beatles.

Steed so dapper and calm (and the owner of a 1929 Blower Bentley - you'd never see that now million-dollar cars in a TV show these days). Emma Peel so incredibly cool and sexy, even though I didn't really understand what that meant at that age, whatever "sexy" was, she was IT.

RIP Mr Macnee. You had a damn good run.

[joeybee12]

5. Aw, sorry to hear this...but 93 is a good age to get to

RIP

[Angry Dragon]

6. 93 is a long run

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. He was actually second billing in the 1st series of The Avengers

and the 1st series explained the name:

In 1960, the series Police Surgeon, produced by ABC with Ian Hendry as its star, had come to an end. The writer Brian Clemens was asked to devise a show on similar lines, but more light-hearted, and came up with The Avengers, in which Hendry would be a doctor, David Keel, being helped in his search for revenge on the drug-dealer killers of his lover by a shady and enigmatic man, John Steed, from some mysterious intelligence service.

The show was immediately popular, with Hendry and Macnee investigating assassinations, lethal radioactivity, missing scientists and political extremists. Macnee was told to develop the character of Steed in any way he fancied. “They were very sweet people and they just gave me the name,” he recalled. “They said: ‘Have you read the James Bond books? Go away and make up a character.’”

When Hendry left the show after the first series, the emphasis shifted towards the flamboyant Steed. From the time the series took root in 1961 until 1969 when it was wound up, and by which time a third female sidekick, Tara King (played by Linda Thorson) had joined him, Macnee as Steed was the constant factor.

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/jun/25/patrick-macnee

I saw 1 episode with Hendry and Macnee - it would have been fairly forgettable, I think. Pairing him with a glamourous but independent woman was the masterstroke that made it work.

He had a good innings, as I think Steed would have said.

[Beartracks]

8. On final assignment. RIP.

I loved The Avengers when I was growing up. My siblings and I would watch the reruns late at night. He was so cool and dapper, and I think Steed and Peele were my introduction to witty repartee (and probably classy double entendre, too)!

Thanks for the fond memories, Mr. Macnee.

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