SNIPPET: Patrick Joseph McGOOHAN, an Emmy-winning actor who created and starred in the cult classic television show "The Prisoner," has died. McGOOHAN, 80, died Tuesday, January 13, 2009, in Los Angeles after a short illness, according to his son-in-law, film producer Cleve LANDSBERG. 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." He was also well known as the title character Number Six in "The Prisoner," a surreal 1960s British series in which a former spy is held captive in a small village and constantly tries to escape. McGOOHAN was born to Irish parents in the Astoria section of Queens in NYC. He moved to Ireland as an infant and was raised on the family farm until economic hardship prompted a move to England in 1938. On his own by age 16, McGOOHAN soon began acting in several amateur theater companies. He eventually received professional training and began making a name for himself on the English stage. A notable West End credit was the role of Starbuck in Orson WELLES' production of "Moby Dick". His greatest success was the starring role in an acclaimed London production of IBSEN's "Brand" in 1959. McGOOHAN won the London Drama Critics Award for his powerful portrayal of a principled pastor. Though born in America, Irish actor Patrick Joseph McGOOHAN rose to become the number-one British TV star in the 1950s to 1960s era. McGOOHAN acquired a neutral accent that sounded at home in British or American dialogue. He was an avid stage actor and performed hundreds of times in small and large productions before landing his first TV and film roles. McGOOHAN was one of few actors who successfully switched between theater, TV, and films many times during his career. Located in the north western region, dividing the provinces of Ulster, Leinster and Connacht, Leitrim has the smallest coastline in Ireland, just 5km, but is mostly an inland county. Leitrim is divided into north and south by the waterways of the River Shannon and Lough Allen. The county originally formed part of the old Gaelic Kingdom of Breifne and was ruled by the O'ROURKE Clan. When the Anglo Normans invaded in the 13th Century they secured south Leitrim, but the O'ROURKE's held the north of the county for another two centuries. A quiet and sparsely populated county, its soil quality is said to be the worst in Ireland. Leitrim has one of the lowest population densities in the country. It has a collection of small market towns the largest is the county town Carrick-on-Shannon and Jamestown, built by 17th Century settlers loyal to KING JAMES I of Britain. The Shannon-Erne Waterway, opened in 1994, runs through much of Leitrim, from the upper Shannon, by Carrick-on-Shannon to upper Lough Erne at Belleck in County Fermanagh. This is Europe's longest navigable inland waterway. Famous people with Leitrim connections include actors James CAGNEY, Patrick McGOOHAN, descended from the county and Sean MacDIARMUDA, one of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising born in Kiltyclogher, Co. Leitrim.