Prominent British actor Patrick Macnee has died. The Avengers star, who played the iconic role of John Steed in the 1960s British television series, was 93.
According to a statement posted to his website, the actor died from natural causes at his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., on Thursday, June 25.
Macnee’s character in The Avengers, which later debuted in the US in 1966, was accompanied by a slew of famous female sidekicks, including most famously Diana Rigg, who played catsuit-clad junior agent Emma Peel from 1965 to 1968.
“We were in our own mad, crazy world,” Macnee told the Wichita Eagle in 2003. “We were the TV Beatles. We even filmed in the same studio.”
Macnee reprised his role as the dapper secret agent in The New Avengers in 1976 and went on to write several books, including The Avengers and Me. His film credits include Hamlet, A Christmas Carol, Until They Sail, Young Doctors in Love, and Sweet 16, among others.
Macnee is survived by his son Rupert and daughter Kate Woodville.