Happy Birthday, John Steed!

That is, let us all rise in applause for veteran English actor Patrick Macnee, who starred as suave Steed in the 1961-1969 UK TV series The Avengers, during three years of which he played opposite the captivating (and oft-catsuited) Diana Rigg.

Macnee--who turns 90 years old today--went on to feature in a short-lived revival of The Avengers, do a fine turn as Doctor John Watson in the 1976 teleflick Sherlock Holmes in New York (with Roger Moore portraying Holmes), appear beside Robert Urich in the TV crime-adventure drama Gavilan, act in the 1985 James Bond film A View to a Kill (again billed with Roger Moore) as Agent 007’s ally Sir Godfrey Tibbett, guest-star in an unusual episode of Columbo, accept a less-than-career-making role in Dennis Weaver’s The Return of Sam McCloud, live to regret his involvement in the Hulk Hogan action-adventure series Thunder in Paradise, and ... well, let’s just say that his résumé runs to more than a mere page or two.

Wherever you are, Mr. Macnee, we wish you the best today.