Scenes from The Prisoner
Legendary cult actor, Patrick McGoohan has died at the age of 80. While he appeared in many films, including Scanners (David Cronenberg, 1981), A Time To Kill (Joel Schumacher, 1996), and Braveheart (Mel Gibson, 1995), as well as winning Emmys for his work on Columbo, he is best known for the surreal spy series he created, wrote, directed and starred in, The Prisoner. After being in back to back spy series, Danger Man and Secret Agent, he was considered to play James Bond. However, Mr. McGoohan declined the role as the character and stories were too violent. He went on to develop the series, The Prisoner, which went beyond being a simple sequel/follow up to the previous series, and more than just a spy thriller. In it, Mr. McGoohan played an unnamed spy who quiets the espionage game in the opening sequence and is soon taken captive to an unknown location referred to as "The Village". There, his opponent, Number 2, christens him as "Number 6" and repeatedly attempts to discover the secrets in his head, particularly why he quit. The series has influenced countless homages and imitators, as well as a huge cult following. His presence will be missed, but at least Number 6 is free.
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