About Patrick McGoohan
Patrick Joseph McGoohan (; March 19, 1928 – January 13, 2009) was an Irish-American actor, director, producer, and writer of film, television, and theatre. Born in New York City to Irish parents, he was raised in Ireland and the United Kingdom. He began his career in Britain during the 1950s and became well known for the titular role of secret agent John Drake in the ITC espionage programme Danger Man (1960–68). He then created and produced the surrealistic ITV series The Prisoner (1967–68), in which he starred as former British intelligence agent Number Six. Beginning in the 1970s, McGoohan maintained a long-running association with the television series Columbo, writing, directing, producing and appearing in several episodes. His notable film roles included David Jones in Ice Station Zebra (1968); James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray in Mary, Queen of Scots (1971); the Warden in Escape from Alcatraz (1979); Dr. Paul Ruth in Scanners (1981); King Edward I in Braveheart (1995); Judge Omar Noose in A Time to Kill (1996); and the voice of Billy Bones in Treasure Planet (2002). During the height of Danger Man's fame in the 1960s, McGoohan was the highest-paid actor on British television. McGoohan won the 1960 BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor, and twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, including its inaugural 1975 entry, for roles on Columbo. He was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role in the Broadway play Pack of Lies. McGoohan's first television appearance was as Charles Stewart Parnell in "The Fall of Parnell" for the series You Are There (1954). He began his career in England during the 1950s and became well-known for the titular role of secret agent John Drake in the ITC/ITV espionage programme Danger Man (1960–1968). He then created and produced the surrealistic series The Prisoner (1967–1968), again for ITC and ITV, in which he starred as former British intelligence agent Number Six. He won the 1960 BAFTA Television Award for Best Actor for Danger Man, and twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, for Columbo.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.