Patrick Macnee

His parents, who were 19 years apart, Dorothea Mabel married Daniel Macnee, in June 1920, nearly 2 years before Patrick was born.

British actor Patrick Macnee was born on February 6, 1922 in London, England into a wealthy and eccentric family. His father, Daniel Macnee, was a race horse trainer, who drank and gambled away the family fortune, leaving young Patrick to be raised by his lesbian mother, Dorothea Mary, and her partner.

In 1929, when young Patrick was 7, the Macnee's were separated when Daniel went to India to take up an appointment at the Bombay racecourse, while Dorothea and her son Patrick moved to live with Evelyn at Rooksnest.

Shortly after graduating from Eton (from which he was almost expelled for running a gambling ring), Macnee first appeared on stage and made his film debut as an extra in Pygmalion (1938). His career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Royal Navy. After military service, Macnee attended the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art in London on scholarship.

In WWII he was a naval commander on MTB's 1942 -46.

He was the last surviving cast member of Hamlet (1948).

He also resumed his stage and film career, with bit parts such as Young Jacob Marley in A Christmas Carol (1951). Disappointed with his limited roles, Macnee left England for Canada and the United States.

In 1954, he went to Broadway with an Old Vic troupe and later moved on to Hollywood, where he made occasional television and film appearances until returning to England in 1959.

Played a knighted character various times; Sir Percy in Les Girls (1957), Sir John Raleigh in The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Fifteen Years Later Affair (1983), Sir Denis Eton-Hogg in This Is Spinal Tap (1984), Sir Godfrey Tibbett in A View to a Kill (1985), Sir Cyril Landau in Shadey (1985), Sir Geoffrey Rimbatten in Lime Street (1985), Sir Wilfred in Waxwork (1988) and Waxwork II: Lost in Time (1992), Sir Colin in The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991), and Sir Thomas Matthews in Family Law (1999).

Became a United States citizen in 1959. In addition to his acting career, Macnee worked as a television producer in Britain, the United States and Canada. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of Canadian television.

Once back home, he took advantage of his producing experience in Canada to become co-producer of the British television series Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years (1960).

Shortly thereafter, Macnee landed the role that brought him worldwide fame and popularity in the part of John Steed, in the classic British television series The Avengers (1961).

His close identification with this character limited his career choices after the cancellation of the series in 1969, prompting him to reprise the role in The New Avengers (1976), which, though popular, failed to recapture the magic of the original series.

For many years he smoked 80 cigarettes a day and drank a bottle of Scotch whisky every night. He was forced to give up drinking after being diagnosed with liver disease in the mid-1980s.

He was born, the elder of two brothers, to a wealthy and extraordinarily eccentric English-Scottish family. In 1925, aged 3, he and his family moved to College House in Lambourn, Berkshire. As his father (Daniel Macnee), a race horse trainer, had drank and gambled the family's money away, his mother (Dorothea Mary, nee Henry; died November 29, 1984) took young Patrick to live with her female lover, Evelyn, in a huge mansion in southern England, where he wore kilts until the age of 11. He was encouraged to call his mother's partner, who paid for his schooling through Eton, as "Uncle Evelyn".

Was considered for the roles of Dr. Hans Fallada, Sir Percy Heseltine and Dr. Armstrong in the science fiction horror film Lifeforce (1985).

He was considered to voice Dr. Dawson in The Great Mouse Detective (1986).

He was a spokesperson for Sterling Motor Car Company in 1991.

His maternal grandmother was Frances Alice Hastings, who was the daughter of Vice-Admiral George Fowler Hastings and granddaughter of Hans Francis Hastings, 12th Earl of Huntingdon.

He passed away on June 25, 2015, at age 93, just 2 days after [Dick Van Patten], and within one year of three other television legends, also born in 1922, either 92 or 93: [Ellen Vogel], [Haskell Wexler] (who also shared the same birthday with Macnee) and [Lizabeth Scott].