Trivia

Was a reclusive celebrity, hardly ever giving interviews.

For The Prisoner (1967), he sometimes used "Joseph Serf" for directing credits and "Paddy Fitz" for writing credits. "Paddy" being a nickname for "Patrick" while "Fitz" was derived from his mother's maiden name, Fitzpatrick.

Liked to drink Irish whiskey at 217 bar in Santa Monica, owned by burlesque great Betty Rowland.

In 1977 he was considered to replace Peter Falk as Columbo. However, McGoohan turned the part down because he was a close friend of Falk, and believed that only Falk should play Columbo. In addition he did not want to be the star of another TV series but only make guest appearances.

Was reportedly so devoted to his wife, he often refused to kiss or perform love scenes with other women in films.

Two of his most famous characters, Number Six in The Prisoner (1967) and the Warden in Escape from Alcatraz (1979), were not given names.

He was the first choice for the roles of Gandalf in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy (which went to Ian McKellen) and Dumbledore in the "Harry Potter" films (which went to Richard Harris and later to Michael Gambon after Harris' death) but turned them down.

The son of an Irish-born farmer, he left school at 16 to work in a rope factory. He subsequently worked on a chicken farm but had to seek other employment because of an allergy to chicken feathers that reactivated the asthma from which he had suffered in childhood. He also worked as a bank clerk at National Provincial Bank and a lorry driver before getting a job as a stage manager at Sheffield Repertory Theatre.

Turned down two roles that eventually went to Roger Moore: Simon Templar in The Saint (1962) and James Bond in Live and Let Die (1973).

Reprised his The Prisoner (1967) character (Number Six) in The Computer Wore Menace Shoes (2000).

Is the only Columbo (1971) guest star to have won two Emmy Awards. In fact, these were the only times he was ever nominated for an Emmy.

Orson Welles was so impressed by his performance in the 1955 West End play "Serious Charge" that he cast him as Starbuck in his production of "Moby Dick Rehearsed".

Used his real birthdate and publicity photo for the character he played ("No. 6") in the TV series The Prisoner (1967).

He was considered for the role of James Bond in Dr. No (1962) before his Hell Drivers (1957) co-star Sean Connery was cast. He turned it down due to the amount of sexual content.

Owned the rights to an audioclip that metal band Iron Maiden wanted to use in their song "The Prisoner" (1982). He gave them the permission to use it in a telephone conversation with their manager.

In one scene in Ice Station Zebra (1968) he was supposed to dive into the flooded torpedo room of the nuclear sub to rescue a trapped naval officer. Being a strong swimmer he insisted on doing the scene himself rather than use a stuntman. A change was made to the script so allowing Olympic swimming champion Murray Rose, who'd been cast in another role, to do the scene with him in case anything happened. It was only after the scene was completed that Murray revealed that while he and Pat were standing up to their necks in the rising water just before the cameras rolled Pat had whispered to him "Now I've done it, my foot's stuck". Murray dived down and freed his foot which had become wedged tight in the torpedo rack.

Played the same regular character (John Drake) in two different series of Danger Man: Danger Man (1960) and Secret Agent (1964). His The Prisoner (1967) character, Number Six, may also have been intended to be Drake (although McGoohan has always denied this while George Markstein, who co-created the series with McGoohan, continually said he was).

Along with William Shatner, Robert Culp, Jack Cassidy and George Hamilton, he is one of only five actors to play two or more unrelated murderers in episodes of Columbo (1971). He played four in total, more than anyone else - specifically Colonel Lyle C. Rumford in By Dawn's Early Light (1974), Nelson Brenner in Identity Crisis (1975), Oscar Finch in Columbo: Agenda for Murder (1990) and Eric Prince in Columbo: Ashes to Ashes (1998). He also directed all but the first of these.

In his youth, considered becoming a Catholic priest.

He suffered a number of health problems during his childhood, mostly as a direct result of acute bronchial asthma.

He died at Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, after a brief illness. His remains were cremated.

Was the title character of all four series in which he starred: Danger Man (1960) (John Drake), Secret Agent (1964) (John Drake), The Prisoner (1967) (Number Six), and Rafferty (1977) (Dr. Sid Rafferty).

Retired from acting after Columbo: Ashes to Ashes (1998), returning only to provide voice-over work in Treasure Planet (2002).

His first show business job, at age 19, was as a stage hand/manager with the Sheffield Repertory Theatre. At 21, he was given his first lead role in one of their productions.

As a youth he lived in the rural parish of Drumreilly in county Leitrim, Ireland. Although the house is still there, it is unlived in and in a bad state of repair.

Played four different murderers in four different episodes of "Columbo": By Dawn's Early Light (1974), Identity Crisis (1975), Columbo: Agenda for Murder (1990), and Columbo: Ashes to Ashes (1998). He also directed all of them except the first, as well as Last Salute to the Commodore (1976) and Columbo: Murder with Too Many Notes (2001).

Appeared in three different productions with the same name: the The Prisoner (1960), The Prisoner (1963), and The Prisoner (1967). Although they were all completely unrelated, the latter two had many similarities.

Variety Club of Great Britain ITV personality Award for 1965 for Danger Man (1960).

Directed at least one episode of all four series in which he starred: Danger Man (1960), Secret Agent (1964), The Prisoner (1967), and Rafferty (1977).

Was the honourary president of Six of One, the official appreciation society for The Prisoner (1967), from its foundation in 1977 until his death in 2009.

On The Prisoner (1967), McGoohan also contributed to the writing and directing of the series.

Valued his own privacy and rarely granted interviews.

While working as part of Sheffield Repertory, he quickly became one of its leading actors, appearing in more than 200 plays over the following four years. Further repertory work took him to Coventry and Bristol.

Had no desire or intention of becoming a huge movie star.

Became close friends with Peter Falk after working with him on "Columbo". In fact, Falk spoke of McGoohan in very high regard --more than any other person (not just actor) of the series, calling him the "most underrated and under-appreciated talent on the planet".

In 1948 he worked as a a stage manager at the Sheffield Repertory.

Father of Frances McGoohan, Catherine McGoohan and Anne McGoohan.

His parents' names were Thomas McGoohan and Rose Fitzpatrick McGoohan.

Appeared in four different productions with Aubrey Morris: The Quare Fellow (1962), Secret Agent (1964) (three episodes), The Prisoner (1967), and Columbo: Ashes to Ashes (1998).

Grew up partly in and around Sheffield, England.

He made his mark in gritty films like Hell Drivers (1957), which gave him his bad boy persona on screen.

He was considered for the role of Charles Shaughnessy in Ryan's Daughter (1970). His The Prisoner (1967) Leo McKern appeared as Thomas Ryan.

He had five grandchildren, Sarah, Erin, Simon, Nina and Paddy.

Best known for his starring role as Number 6 in the surreal science fiction allegory series, The Prisoner (1967).

He was originally offered the role of Knight Two in And the Sky Full of Stars (1994), but although he wanted to accept, he was unable to fit the filming into his schedule.

He had an intense dislike of guns, so much so that he insisted his characters in The Prisoner (1967) and Danger Man (1960 never use them with John Drake explicitly voicing a disdain for them that reflected McGoohan's own feelings.

He was considered for Hardy Krüger's role in Hatari! (1962).

He left school at 16 and joined Sheffield Rep at 19 then Bristol Old Vic.

He was offered the role of Dr. Alan Hewitt in Prudence and the Pill (1968).

He was considered for Abraham Whistler in Blade (1998).