When I took it out of its plastic wrap, I was pleasantly surprised to find an article about rising star Vicki Lawrence, from The Carol Burnett Show. Then after I had read *that* article, I stumbled upon THIS headline:
Wait, what? The Avengers, too!?! Well...sort of.
Yes, there is a one-page profile of Kate Woodville, living in Hollywood while her husband was still in England filming The Avengers. Who could believe my luck!?
The article and the photograph are uncredited. The cover photo is by Phillippe Hallsman.
Several years ago I had bought and read Patrick Macnee's autobiography, The Avengers And Me. In it, he had said several disparaging things about his wife. I dug out a copy of the book and have it in front of me right now. On pages 72-73 he has this to say about his wife, as he and Diana Rigg are in the United States on a PR tour for their show:
Stephanie Powers had lent us a house for two weeks in Malibu and Kate joined me there.....During that time Kate got to know all of my friends in California, and met a neurosurgeon. On the last day of our holiday, she arrived with this chap and told me she was leaving me for him....Devastated, I returned to England and plunged into the depths of despair.
I should have divorced her right away, of course, but I didn't. I bit the bullet and threw myself into my work.
Atleast a year later, after a very unhappy Diana Rigg tells Patrick Macnee that she was definitely not going to renew her contract, he writes on pages 89-90:
I felt wretched, but once again, because of my own psyche, my lack of courage, I didn't say anything. I was too wound up in my own personal heart-ache. Kate had entered my life again. The neurosurgeon had walked out on her, she was left alone, so I welcomed her back. Why, I'll never know....
Sometime later, she (Diana) said to me, "Pat, if only you had been stronger with me, more forceful, and said, 'No! You've got to stay!' and forgotten your own troubles with your damn stupid wife, we could have gone on and done another two years together... and it would have been great!"
She's absolutely right; they WOULD have been great. I can only imagine more Macnee-Rigg Avengers!! Sigh....
When I read this TV Guide article about Kate Woodville, I had no idea I knew who she was. I mean, besides knowing her as Mrs. Patrick Macnee, of course. I didn't recognize her in the accompanying photograph.
However, when I did a Google search of her, I realized that she was the actress in one of the better third season Star Trek episodes, For the World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky. So I knew who she was, after all.
The Macnees eventually divorced in 1969. Kate later married Edward Albert, Jr, the actor-singer son of Eddie Albert of Green Acres fame.
Kate Woodville died of cancer in 2013. Patrick Macnee died on June 25, 2015.
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