This Is Interesting

Patrick McGoohan died last Tuesday. He was the actor who played No. 6 in "The Prisoner" television series, and he also played Longshanks in Braveheart, the warden in Escape From Alcatraz, and the bad guy in Silver Streak. This article details some of the roles McGoohan turned down:

Having early in his career deprived himself of an annuity by passing on Bond (and "The Saint," whose Roger Moore became Bond), he more recently turned down both the roles of Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" and Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films. This might have been for reasons of health, as has been reported, but I prefer to think of him once again exercising his right to be perverse: "I am not a wizard," he might well have said, "I am a free man."

Maybe he just didn't like playing good guys. I knew that a lot of actors besides Ian McKellen wanted to play Gandalf -- including Patrick Stewart and Christopher Lee -- but I had no idea McGoohan actually turned down that role. I think he would have made a great wizard.

Interestingly, Ian McKellen will be playing "Number 2" in the upcoming remake of The Prisoner on AMC.