'Prisoner' actor Patrick McGoohan dies at 80

LOS ANGELES – Patrick McGoohan, the Emmy-winning actor who created and starred in the cult classic television show "The Prisoner," has died in Los Angeles after a short illness. He died at the age of 80 years old.

Born in New York on March 19, 1928, McGoohan was raised in England and Ireland, where his family moved shortly after his birth. He had a busy stage career before moving to television, and won a London Drama Critics Award for playing the title role in the Henrik Ibsen play "Brand."

He married stage actress Joan Drummond in 1951. The oldest of their three daughters, Catherine, is also an actress.

McGoohan won two Emmys for his work on the Peter Falk detective drama "Columbo," and more recently appeared as King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 Mel Gibson film "Braveheart."

McGoohan famous as Number Six in "The Prisoner," a sci-fi tinged 1960s British series in which a former spy is held captive in a small enclave known only as The Village, where a mysterious authority named Number One constantly prevents his escape.

His agent, Sharif Ali, said Wednesday that McGoohan was still active in Hollywood, with two offers for wide-release films on the table when he died. "The man was just cools,It was an honor to have him here and work with him. ... He was one of those actors, a real actor. He didn't have a lie." Ali said.

In his review of the film for the Los Angeles Times critic Peter Rainer said "McGoohan is in possession of perhaps the most villainous enunciation in the history of acting."

McGoohan is survived by his wife and three daughters.