Editing Patrick Macnee (section)

==Early life and career==
The elder of two sons, Daniel Patrick Macnee was born in [[Paddington]], London, England, on 6 February 1922;<ref name="filmreference">[http://www.filmreference.com/film/54/Patrick-Macnee.html Patrick Macnee profile], filmreference.com; accessed 14 April 2014.</ref> to Daniel Macnee (1878–1952) and British socialite [[Dorothea Macnee|Dorothea Mabel Macnee]] (née Henry) (1896–1984). His father, who was a grandson of the Scottish artist [[Daniel Macnee|Sir Daniel Macnee]], trained race horses in [[Lambourn]], and was known for his dress sense;<ref name="filmreference"/><ref name=Telegraph/> he had served as an officer in the [[Yorkshire Dragoons]] in the [[First World War]].<ref name=wise>[https://books.google.com/books?id=d_mUJebJ4uwC&pg=PA123 International Stars at War]; James E. Wise, Scott Baron; Naval Institute Press, 2002; {{ISBN|1557509654}}; pp. 123–26</ref> His maternal grandmother was Frances Alice Hastings (1870–1945), who was the daughter of [[Vice-Admiral (Royal Navy)|Vice-Admiral]] [[George Fowler Hastings]] and granddaughter of [[Hans Francis Hastings, 12th Earl of Huntingdon|The 12th Earl of Huntingdon]]. His younger brother James, known as Jimmy, was born five years later.<ref>Macnee, P. and Cameron, M. (1988), ''Blind in One Ear: The Avenger Returns''</ref> Macnee saw himself as a Scot.<ref>{{cite web |title='Avengers' Patrick Macnee on being John Steed |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtY_MUfQmHE |website=YouTube |publisher=CNN |access-date=29 August 2022}}</ref>

Macnee's parents separated after his mother [[coming out|came out]] as a lesbian. His father later moved to India, and his mother began to live with her wealthy partner, Evelyn Spottiswoode, whose money came from the [[Dewar's]] whisky business.<ref name=scotsman>[http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary-patrick-macnee-actor-1-3814225 Obituary: Patrick Macnee, actor], The Scotsman, 29 June 2015</ref> Macnee referred to her in his autobiography as "Uncle Evelyn", and she helped pay for his schooling. He was educated at [[Summer Fields School]] and [[Eton College]], where he was a member of the [[Officer Training Corps]] and was one of the [[guard of honour]] for [[King George V]] at [[St George's Chapel]] in 1936. He was later expelled from Eton for selling pornography to and being a [[bookmaker]] for his fellow students.<ref name=Telegraph>{{cite news |title=Patrick Macnee, actor – obituary |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=26 June 2015 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11699769/Patrick-Macnee-actor-obituary.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11699769/Patrick-Macnee-actor-obituary.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Macnee studied acting at the [[Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art]], but shortly before he was to perform in his first West End leading role, which would have had him acting alongside [[Vivien Leigh]], he was called up for the [[Royal Navy]].<ref name=Telegraph/> He joined as an [[Ordinary seaman (rating)#United Kingdom|ordinary seaman]] in October 1942<ref name=Telegraph/> and was commissioned a [[sub-lieutenant]] in June 1943, becoming a navigator on [[Motor Torpedo Boats]] in the [[English Channel]] and [[North Sea]].<ref name=wise/> Reassigned as first lieutenant on a second MTB, Macnee caught [[bronchitis]] just before [[Normandy landings|D-Day]]; while he was recuperating in hospital, his boat and crew were lost in action. Two of the crew received the [[Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Service Medal]].<ref name=Telegraph/> He left the Royal Navy in 1946 as a lieutenant.<ref name=Telegraph/><ref name=wise/>

Macnee nurtured his acting career in Canada early on, but he also appeared as an uncredited extra in the British films ''[[Pygmalion (1938 film)|Pygmalion]]'' (1938), ''[[The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp]]'' (1943) and [[Laurence Olivier]]'s ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]'' (1948), as well as some live TV dramas<!-- IMDb has them as 'TV movies', which is inaccurate for the era. --> for the BBC, before graduating to credited roles in such films as ''[[Scrooge (1951 film)|Scrooge]]'' (US: ''A Christmas Carol'', 1951), as young Jacob Marley; the [[Gene Kelly]] vehicle ''[[Les Girls]]'' (1957), as an [[Old Bailey]] barrister; and the war film ''[[The Battle of the River Plate (film)|The Battle of the River Plate]]'' (1956). Between these occasional movie roles, Macnee spent the better part of the 1950s working in dozens of small roles in American and Canadian television and theatre, including an appearance in an episode of ''[[Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond|One Step Beyond]]'' ("Night of April 14th") and ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' ("[[Judgment Night (The Twilight Zone)|Judgment Night]]") in 1959. Disappointed in his limited career development, by the late 1950s Macnee was smoking 80 cigarettes and drinking a bottle of whisky on a daily basis.<ref name=HeraldScotland2015>{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/comment/obituaries/patrick-macnee.130205213|title=Patrick MacNee|work=heraldscotland.com|date= 26 June 2015|access-date=11 July 2015}}</ref>

In the early 1960s, before his career-making role in ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'', Macnee took a break from acting and served as one of the London-based producers for the classic documentary series ''[[The Valiant Years]]'', based on the Second World War memoirs of [[Winston Churchill]].<ref name=MacNee>{{cite web|title=encyclopedia.com|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3069600107.html|access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref><ref name=MacNee2>{{cite web|title=avengers.tv|url=http://theavengers.tv/forever/keel-prod-dp2.htm|access-date=21 March 2012}}</ref>