Oops! He did it before!

[Moor Larkin]

In 1957 Patrick McGoohan was offered the part of McLintock in a
television play named 'Requiem for a Heavyweight'. This play had been
an award-winning hit on American television, with Jack Palance in that
role. As was then customary, the BBC was to broadcast its own version
of the play and had actually retained Mr. Palance to reprise his role.
Alvin Rakoff recalled that the US star withdrew from the project at
very short notice.

The producer felt that the part was a difficult one to cast and he was
very short on time. He evidently saw Patrick McGoohan as one
possibility; whether the project could not fit with his Rank schedule
is unclear but Mr. McGoohan evidently returned the script, declining
the part, to the increasingly desperate producer.

Mr. Rakoff remembers grudgingly paying the £35 fee to an actor of whom
he remarks, "his ability was limited. But his presence, stature and
self-belief were evident." A review I've come across, of that same
actors' career up to 1963, reads: "the major turning point in his
career came when the BBC invited him to play the leading role in the
television production, 'Requiem for a Heavyweight'. The audience
response was fantastic. Sean Connery had arrived!"

http://theatrical-mcgoohan.mysite.orange.co.uk/page5.html scroll
halfway down the page

Before there was Bond, there was Drake...... and McLintock!
;-)))