Patrick Macnee

Daniel Patrick Macnee (6 February 1922 – 25 June 2015) was a British-American actor, best known for his breakthrough role as secret agent John Steed in the television series ''The Avengers'' (1961–1969). Starting out as the assistant to David Keel (Ian Hendry), he became the lead when Hendry left after the first series, and was subsequently partnered with a succession of female assistants. He later reprised the role in ''The New Avengers'' (1976–1977).

Born in London as the eldest son of socialite Dorothea Macnee, he served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War before starting his career as an actor in Canadian television. He appeared in numerous television series up until 2001, including the ''Twilight Zone'' episode "Judgement Night" (1959), ''Columbo'', ''Magnum, P.I.'', ''Hart to Hart'', ''Murder, She Wrote'', ''The Love Boat'', and ''Frasier''. In 1984, he was the subject of the British television series ''This Is Your Life''.

Macnee also appeared in Oasis's music video for "Don't Look Back in Anger" (1996). He and ''Avengers'' co-star Honor Blackman had a UK Top 10 hit in 1990 when their 1964 song "Kinky Boots" received renewed interest from being played on BBC Radio One.

Notable film roles included Young Jacob Marley in ''Scrooge'' (1951), Sir Denis Eton-Hogg in ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), and Sir Godfrey Tibbett in ''A View to a Kill'' (1985). He is one of the few actors to have played both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson in different productions.

Macnee was married three times and had two children. He became a US citizen in 1959, and from the mid-1970s, he lived at Rancho Mirage, California, where he died in 2015 at the age of 93. Provided by Wikipedia