A BIRTHDAY REMEMBRANCE FOR PATRICK McGOOHAN & NUMBER SIX

"He has gloriously vindicated the right of the individual to be individual.

And this assembly rises to you - Sir!"
President
'The Prisoner'

Today would have been Patrick McGoohan's 85th birthday. He is my all-time favorite actor and the star of my all-time favorite TV series, 'The Prisoner'.

And the same date is shared by his character of Number Six from that show.

If you follow Inner Toob regularly, then you might know that in the Toobworld Dynamic Number Six was actually John Drake of 'Danger Man' and 'Secret Agent'.

That combined character was inducted into the TV Crossover Hall Of Fame in March of 2005.

On his last birthday on this Earth, McGoohan was saluted by Keith Olbermann on 'Countdown'.

Here's the transcript from March 19, 2008:

OLBERMANN: On this date 80 years ago, the actor Patrick McGoohan was born. Inscrutable tough guy, star of 'Secret Agent Man', twice an Emmy winner for guest shots on 'Columbo'. He was also the creator and star of what is, 40 years after its last episode, one of the most challenging TV series ever created, 'The Prisoner'.

OLBERMANN imitates the famous line (voice-over): "You, arrrrre number six."

If you‘ve never been sure if that accent of his means he was born in Ireland or Scotland or South Africa or England,....wrong on all counts. 

He was born in Astoria, in Queens, near Laguardia Airport, NY.

There are a lot of TV shows out there now which make you think; they don't just wash over you, but instead engage you. Much of that can be attributed to the work McGoohan put into 'The Prisoner' because he didn't want the audience to turn into "rotten cabbages".

As I always say about the show: it was first broadcast more than forty years ago and is still twenty years ahead of its time.

Good night, Sir, and may God bless.......