Occupation: Special Agent for the Phoenix Foundation

Known Relatives: James (father, deceased), Ellen (mother, deceased), Harry Jackson (grandfather, deceased), Sean Angus Malloy (son, “Sam”)

Base of Operations: Los Angeles, California; sometimes Mobile

First Appearance: MacGyver - ABC TV Series (1985-1994)

History: MacGyver was born March 23, 1950 in Mission City, Minnesota where he was raised. As a youth, he was blessed with a gifted IQ and a photographic memory as he excelled in mechanical aptitude and inventive prowess, but he also developed an intense dislike for guns after one of his best friends was nearly killed by one. Only his quick thinking saved his friend’s life. When he was twelve, however, he lost his father and grandmother in a car accident and had to be raised by his mother and grandfather. As a teenager, MacGyver was a camp counselor at Camp Arawak and a role model for future ghost hunter, William Collins.

After graduating from Western Tech, he worked several odd jobs with and without Jack Dalton, an associate who considers MacGyver his best friend despite the scrapes he is always getting them into. MacGyver’s knack for helping people helped him make the best friend he ever had: Peter Thornton, an agent from the U.S. Department of External Affairs When Peter left the DXS to become Director of Operations for the government think-tank known as the Phoenix Foundation, he remembered MacGyver and gave him a full time position in the agency. It was while he was stuck on an assignment over seas that he learned his mother passed away from complications from a stroke. Upset that he couldn’t be with her in her final minutes pushed MacGyver away from other people and he became a loner.

While returning from another job for the foundation, MacGyver became embroiled in an adventure with would-be actress Penny Parker, a vivacious and exuberant beauty for whom he often acts as a big brother. With Penny, MacGyver investigated the Parker House, an old edifice that she had inherited, and even explored the claims of it being haunted. He also had a near-death experience with the mortal incarnation of the Egyptian god, Anubis , while in a hospital in Cairo, Egypt. It is unclear, though, if this was just a dream or a real encounter with the former deity. His fear of romantic entanglement, however, has stifled many of his would-be relationships. In spite of his track record with members of the opposite sex, MacGyver is often pushed through the boundaries of his fears to make the world a better place by helping one person at a time.

In recent years, MacGyver has learned he has a son, Sean Angus Malloy (aka Sam) after a brief romance he had had several years prior. He has developed a very good relationship with the young man as they travel and share their lives getting to know each other. In recent years, MacGyver has uncovered evidence that the island of Santorini, known in ancient times as Thera, might have been the basis for the legend of Atlantis.

Comments: MacGyver was played by Richard Dean Anderson. Pete Thornton, Jack Dalton and Penny Parker were played by, respectively, Dana Elcar, Bruce McGill and Teri Hatcher.

The name “Angus” is a modernized spelling of Oengus, the Celtic God of Light. Nevertheless, it’s a name that MacGyver refuses to admit. He refuses to even acknowledge it at times.