‘Avengers’ actor Patrick Macnee dies aged 93

Patrick Macnee, the 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 today of natural causes with his family at his bedside in Rancho Mirage, California, his son Rupert said in a statement.

The spy drama, which began in 1961, ran for eight seasons and continued in syndication for decades afterwards.

Macnee’s character appeared in all but two episodes, accompanied by a string of beautiful women who were his sidekicks.

The most popular was 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.

"We were in our own mad, crazy world," Macnee told the Wichita Eagle in 2003 when The New Avengers was being issued on DVD. "We were the TV Beatles. We even filmed in the same studio."

But while he made his name internationally playing a smart, debonair British secret agent, Macnee was never a fan of the James Bond movies.

“I think their stories aren’t that realistic,” he told Salt Lake City’s Deseret News in 1999.

“I think the sadism in them is horrifying ... On the other hand, the books – the James Bond books – were fascinating.”

As he noted in his droll 1992 autobiography Blind in One Ear, Macnee's early life matched that of his famed character John Steed in many ways.

The fictional John Wickham Gascoyne Berresford Steed was born in the mid-1920s to a noble family, educated at Eton and served in the military during the Second World War.

Daniel Patrick Macnee was born on February 6th, 1922, in London to a pair of eccentrics and he also attended Eton, although he claimed to have been thrown out for dealing in horse-race bets and pornography.

He also served in the military during the Second World War, captaining torpedo boats that sought to destroy German U-boats in French waters.

Before he left Eton, Macnee had discovered acting. He apprenticed in the British theatre, toured in provincial venues and made his screen debut as an extra in the 1938 film Pygmalion.

At 19, he married Barbara Douglas, and they had two children, Rupert and Jenny.

After the war, Macnee graduated from drama school but he had trouble finding work, moving to Canada at one point to hunt for acting jobs.

“I did desert my family,” he admitted to the Sunday Mail.

“I left when my son Rupert was five and my daughter Jenny was three, and I will always feel bad about that.”

He married actress Kate Woodville in 1965 but they divorced in 1969. His final marriage was to Baba Majos de Nagyzsenye in 1988.

Macnee became an American citizen in 1959 and moved to Palm Springs in 1967, saying the dry desert air benefited his daughter, who suffered from asthma.

Before The Avengers, he had appeared in TV shows including The Twilight Zone, Rawhide and Playhouse 90.

But it was The Avengers that provided a permanent living for Macnee. He owned 2.5 per cent of the profits and the series continued to play worldwide into the 21st century.

He explained why in an interview: “It’s a very simple reason: It’s extremely good. I feel very justified and delighted in seeing after all these years that the show works.”