Hollywood Loses Two Of The Greats

News today that two of the legends of Hollywood have passed on.

The first loss came this morning with word that Patrick McGoohan had died at the age of 80. McGoohan gained his fame during the James Bond mania of the 1960’s when he starred in two spy series, first the show Secret Agent and then leapt to superstardom in The Prisoner.

Once described in The Times as an “espionage tale as crafted by Kafka,” “The Prisoner” starred McGoohan as a presumed British agent who, after resigning his top-security job, is abducted in London and taken to a mysterious prison resort called the Village.

Known only as No. 6, he is interrogated by a succession of officials who are known as No. 2. But he refuses all methods of breaking him down to reveal his past or why he resigned, and he repeatedly makes failed attempts to escape.

He was also reportedly one of the finalists to play James Bond in Dr. No, a role he lost to Sean Connery.

On television he played the bad guy in three episodes of Columbo with his close friend, actor Peter Falk and won an Emmy for two of his perfomances (the first in 1975 as a crooked spy and the second in 1990 as an equally corrupt attorney).

He also starred in a number of films such as “The Three Lives of Thomasina,” “Mary, Queen of Scots,” “Silver Streak,” “Escape From Alcatraz,” “Scanners” and Gibson’s “Braveheart,” in which he played England’s sadistic King Edward I.

Later today we learned that Ricardo Montalban, best known for Fantasy Island, died at the age of 88 in Los Angeles. Although he was known to many as either Mr. Roarke of Fantasy Island or Khan from the Star Trek movies, he had a long career in both television and film and was one of the first major Hispanic leading men.

In the 1970’s he started working as an activist for Hispanic rights, a move that won him many admirers but may have cost him parts.

He also hid from many a secret about his health. In 1951 he suffered a back injury that would reportedly leave him in pain for the rest of his life.

According to his family the cause of death was simply complications from old age. Our best wishes go out to his loved ones at this time of loss.

Please feel free to comment on your memories of these two great stars.