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The Avengers TV series star Patrick Macnee has died in California at the age of 93.

The British actor, best known for playing John Steed in the 1960s television spy series, died at home with his family at his bedside, his son Rupert has announced.

Patrick Macnee also played roles in theatre, appearing on Broadway, and served in the Royal Navy during World War Two.

A statement on Patrick Macnee’s website read: “Wherever he went, he left behind a trove of memories.”

The actor died peacefully at his home in California’s Rancho Mirage on June 25, Rupert Macnee said.

Born in London, Patrick Macnee grew up in Berkshire and was educated at Summerfields Preparatory School and Eton.Patrick Macnee dead at 93

He played a number of minor roles – including one in Laurence Olivier’s 1948 film version of Hamlet – before rising to fame in the original Avengers series between 1961 and 1969.

Patrick Macnee returned when that series was reprised as The New Avengers in the 1970s, appearing alongside Joanna Lumley’s Purdey and Gareth Hunt’s Mike Gambit.

He also appeared in the 1985 James Bond movie A View to a Kill, playing an ally of Roger Moore’s Bond character, and was a guest star in dozens of British, American and Australian TV productions.

Patrick Macnee had two children, son Rupert and daughter Kate Woodville, and one grandson.

He was married three times, including to actress Katherine Woodville, with whom he acted in The Avengers.

Patrick Macnee had been a US citizen since 1959, according to the AP news agency.

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The custody of Spider-Man will be shared by Sony Pictures and the Walt Disney after the companies signed a deal that means the web-slinging superhero could appear in a future Avengers movie.

The deal comes after Sony’s Amazing Spider-Man 2 under-performed at the box office last year.

Despite a respectable $709 million box office haul, it was the lowest-grossing of Sony’s five Spider-Man films so far.

The character could now appear Marvel films such as Iron Man and Thor.

However, the timing of the deal makes it likely his first outing will be in 2017’s Captain America: Winter Soldier. The character already appears in the comic book version of the story.

Marvel will then co-produce the next solo Spider-Man outing, financed by Sony Pictures, which will be released in 2017.

Kevin Feige, the Marvel boss who has overseen 10 consecutive box office blockbusters, including Avengers Assemble and Guardians of the Galaxy, will be involved in all future creative decisions about Spider-Man.

He will work alongside Amy Pascal, the Sony executive who recently stood down following a cyber-attack that saw her private emails leaked.Spider-Man Marvel Cinematic Universe

Fans have been clamoring for Spider-Man to join Marvel’s roster on the big screen for more than a decade.

The character is part of the Marvel’s comic book empire, but Sony has owned the film rights since 1999, when it paid a reported $7 million.

Evil Dead director Sam Raimi first brought the character to the big screen, with Tobey Maguire in the lead role.

More recently, the series was rebooted, with Andrew Garfield inside the iconic red and blue suit and Marc Webb directing.

The new deal effectively spells the end for Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Peter Parker and his superhero alter-ego, reported the LA Times.

Sony had been casting around for ways to re-invigorate the franchise after his second outing failed to break the $1 billion mark at the box office last May.

A third Amazing Spider-Man film was postponed to 2018, while a spin-off film, The Sinister Six, focusing on Spider-Man’s most notorious enemies, was slated for 2016.

There was also discussion of introducing a female set of heroes in their own films; and a potential film based around Peter Parker’s Aunt May.

At the same time, Sony was holding discussions with Marvel – as revealed in emails leaked as a result of last year’s cyber-attack.

Those emails showed that Marvel was pushing for Spider-Man to appear in the next Captain America movie; while Sony Pictures president Doug Belgrad wanted a Marvel-produced Spider-Man movie in which Sony retained “creative control, marketing and distribution.”

Although those talks were said to have stalled in December, the new announcement effectively fulfils all of those criteria.

It has also led to Marvel reshuffling the release dates of its upcoming movies.

The next Thor movie would have gone head-to-head with a new Spider-Man movie in the summer of 2017. It will now move to November of that year, shunting a film based on the Black Panther character into the following year.

The two-part Avengers: Infinity War movies, however, will not budge.

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James Spader has been cast as the villain Ultron in the second Avengers movie.

Avengers: Age of Ultron will see the Marvel Comics superhero team battle a rebellious artificial intelligence which creates an android to attack them.

James Spader has been cast as the villain Ultron in the second Avengers movie

James Spader has been cast as the villain Ultron in the second Avengers movie

The sequel will be released in May 2015.

Joss Whedon returns as director for the sequel and Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo will reprise their roles as Iron Man and The Hulk.

The first Avengers film was a huge global hit last year, taking more than a billion dollars at the box office.

It also starred Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America and Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow.

James Spader has won three Emmy awards for his role as attorney Alan Shore, who appeared in both Boston Legal and The Practice.

James Spader has also starred in the American Office and last year’s Oscar-winning film Lincoln.

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Superhero movie The Avengers has broken the record for the biggest US opening weekend, taking $200 million, early figures show.

The previous best opening weekend was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which opened in July 2011 with $169 million.

Included in the top five of biggest openers are The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3.

The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, took $158 million in its opening weekend in 2008, while Spider-Man 3 took $151 million.

Both superheroes will once again be seen on screen during the summer.

Superhero movie The Avengers has broken the record for the biggest US opening weekend, taking $200 million

Superhero movie The Avengers has broken the record for the biggest US opening weekend, taking $200 million

The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, failed to beat the final Harry Potter’s first day takings record of $91 million but surpassed it over the following two days.

No other big films dared go up against it, with only the British film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel being released on the same day.

The Avengers has so far taken $641 million worldwide.

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