TV's best-dressed man 'a nudist in real life'

"He was quite a paradox - he was a nudist in real life and of course the best dressed man on television," said Linda Thorson of her Avengers co-star Patrick Macnee.

"You would go to his house for parties and he would open the door with nothing on!"

The actor best known for playing John Steed in The Avengers, died at his home in California on Thursday, aged 93.

Sir Roger Moore said he had "happy memories" of working with him, saying he was "a true gent".

His character Steed was a quintessential Englishman, whose weapons of choice in his battles with criminal masterminds were his wits and his umbrella - never a gun.