Story highlights Patrick Macnee is best known for portraying "Avengers" secret agent John Steed

The actor was familiar debonair presence on UK, American screens for years

(CNN) Patrick Macnee, the British actor who played bowler-hatted secret agent John Steed on the 1960s spy series "The Avengers," died Thursday. He was 93.

Born to an upscale family in Berkshire, England -- his father was a horse trainer -- Macnee, a World War II naval veteran, spent years in the trenches of theater, film bit parts and TV guest roles before hitting it big as Steed when "The Avengers" premiered in 1961 on UK television.

JUST WATCHED 1986: Patrick Macnee on being John Steed Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 1986: Patrick Macnee on being John Steed 01:35

Originally, Steed was the assistant to the lead, Dr. David Keel, a physician who solves crimes. But he soon became the lead and was paired with several beautiful and intelligent women: first Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), later Tara King (Linda Thorson) but perhaps most notably, from 1965-68, Emma Peel (Diana Rigg).

Steed and Peel had a notable chemistry: Macnee in bespoke suit and characteristically British hat and umbrella , Rigg in fashionable outfits and the occasional catsuit. She was nobody's fool, a speedy sports car driver and martial arts expert; he was suitably impressed, if more staid. The two routinely engaged in witty banter while keeping the world safe from supervillains.