Patrick Macnee

FROM 1961 TO 1977, PATRICK MACNEE PLAYED WITH ELEGANCE AND EASE THE MOST DISTINGUISHED SECRET AGENT ON THE SMALL SCREEN, JOHN STEED, IN "BOWLER HAT AND LEATHER BOOTS" (The Avengers), WHICH BECAME A CULT SERIES. ALL EPISODES - IN EIGHTEEN CASSETTES – HAVE BEEN RERELEASED ON VIDEO. TO MARK THIS OCCASION, THE CELEBRATED BRITISH ACTOR, LIVING IN CALIFORNIA, RECEIVED "PARIS MATCH" IN HIS PALM SPRINGS HOUSE

For millions and millions of viewers in one hundred and thirty countries around the world, you will forever remain Jonathan Steed, the elegant and phlegmatic hero of the famous British serial.

It's better to be remembered, even for an old television series, than be totally forgotten.

Are you saying that you are not very proud to have acted for sixteen consecutive years in this cult series?

I hope you are joking. I am thrilled to have played Jonn Steed, to have survived all his adventures and to have met four delightful female partners. Thanks to it, I am now, at 71, a historical monument that one can come to visit.

Did you feel like you were embarking on an exceptional adventure on the first day of filming?

Not, at all. On first reading, the scenario was total idiocy. At that time, in 1960, I worked as a producer in Canada. I had decided to give up my career as an actor in Britain, which no longer allowed me to live comfortably.

So you were penniless?

Perhaps not totally penniless, but when the producer of this new series - who I had known in Toronto - offered me the part of the main character’s partner, Steed not being, at the beginning, the hero of the story, I accepted straight away, because he promised me 50 pounds a week.

In short, it was originally what it was on arrival: a crazy thing. I looked so chic, and even a bit stuck up.

What do you mean, "stuck up"?

I mean on the screen. You act facetiously, but you always keep a dignified bearing. A bit like you had a broomhamdle, or rather an umbrella, stuck on your spine...

Think again! On many occasions I have seen individuals being tripped and walking even on the sides of their shoes. Contrary to what one can imagine, I am very at ease in this kind of composition.

Where did you learn to be so cool on-screen?

It's by birth, I dare say.

You say in the book that you wrote about your life, titled "Blind in One Ear", that you are descended from Robin Hood.

That is true. By my mother. But I must also remind you that my father was an alcoholic. It’s true. He boasted of having pissed while drunk on almost the whole of the British Crown in India. I was an alcoholic too. This is no longer true. My mother, who did not hate alcohol, did not remember the place where she had brought me into the world: in a clinic, in the gutter or in a hackney-coach? She had settled in a household with a wealthy heiress who hated me, wanted me to call her "my uncle" and wanted me to wear dresses because she thought it was more elegant than pants. "We'll make a good little woman of that boy," she repeated incessantly. Distraught, I wore kilts. I do not know if it made me more facetious, but it certainly disturbed my brain.

It's kind of funny, though.

With hindsight, yes, but my childhood filled with overexcited women and muscular spankings, like those I received at Eton College, meant I didn’t experience many pleasant moments. Certainly it had an effect.

When you have embraced the role, at 39, you immediately established a style.

I was obligated to do so. After accepting my contract, I was given three days to compose the character of Steed and dress him. I invented everything myself.

And you had his suit made to measure?

Absolutely. I thought of my grandfather and my father, who were fashion plates. I had the idea of putting on a three-piece gray suit and never looked back. I find that his dress puts Steed's boldness on display. I also provided the character - this was my choice, and mine alone - with a special bowler hat. Not a real bowler, but a rider's hat, as well as an umbrella. Remember: he has neither rifle nor revolver. Never. He is a seventeenth century man coexisting with a twenty-first century woman. In a series that is nothing but the story of a man wearing a bowler hat and a woman wearing leather outfits throwing gentlemen over her shoulder, John Steed is a true gentleman, an authentic dandy. I try to conform to this image, here under a still blue sky, with eternally green palm trees and at the foot of beautiful mountains covered with snow in winter. Nine months a year, the temperature is at 25 degrees. I go and swim in the pool. I take care of my fruit trees and I forget the bitter follies of my childhood. The life of an artist and the role of Steed brought me salvation.

Caption on page 3: With his wife Barbara, widow of director Steve Sekely, whom he calls Baba and whom he married five years ago, in the living room of their home in Palm Springs. On their knees: Edward, a York Papillon, Victoria, a Griffon Bruxellois.

Captions on page 4: On the right, Patrick Macnee in front of what he calls "the wall of glory": photoshoot pictures of "Bowler Hat and Leather Boots", with Diana Rigg, his favorite partner; photos from movies with David Niven, Roger Moore and John Huston. At his desk he responds to fan letters he receives from around the world, beside a divan which reminds him of his long therapy sessions.

Boxout: HIS PREFERRED PARTNER: DIANA RIGG In "Bowler Hat and Leather Boots", Patrick Macnee has had at his side four pretty British actresses. First, Honor Blackman, James Bond girl in “Goldfinger”, who was the first to wear catsuits. Then, throughout the rest of the 187 episodes: Diana Rigg (left), Linda Thorson (above) and Joanna Lumley (below).

With thanks to Denis of Steedumbrella for the translation. (Back to Patrick Macnee articles)