Patrick McManus, an islander who parlayed his startling resemblance to Albert Einstein into a brilliant mid-life career, died suddenly on Aug. 21. He was 74 years old.

His death, which occurred at his island home, was caused by a heart attack, said his daughter, Halla McManus.

As an Einstein look-alike, Patrick traveled the world, appearing as the famed German physicist in short films, television spots, print ads and commercials filmed in the United States, Monaco, Cuba, Turkey, South Korea and European countries.

But he also shared his talents generously on the island where he lived for almost 40 years, bringing his Einstein act to “My Brilliant Life,” a one-person show at Vashon Center for the Arts in 2008, performing school and library presentations, and playing the role with gusto, for years, in freewheeling editions of the annual Islewilde Festival on Vashon.

In portraying Einstein, he said in a video on his YouTube channel, he hoped to help others find their own genius.

“I’m on the trail of genius all over the planet,” he said. “And guess what? I’m discovering it everywhere, and I’m helping other people do the same thing — discover their own genius and get it out into the world. All of us, we’re all born geniuses.”

According to his longtime friend, Hans Nelsen, playing Einstein was a perfect fit for Patrick, because it was just that — play.

“He thought we should spend more time doing the things we loved,” Nelsen said. “Play was a sacred thing for him.”

Patrick was born in Chicago on November 21, 1949, the middle of nine children making up the Catholic family of Dennis Duncan and Josephine McManus.

As a child, Patrick served, for a time, as an altar boy, Halla said — but also pondered mysteries far removed from his religious upbringing, developing an insatiable curiosity about science, gadgets and technology.

“He was very into the sciences as a child, taking radios apart, taking electronics apart and rebuilding them,” said Halla. “He loved tinkering, and that stayed true throughout his life.”

In high school, he studied electronics and worked as a door-to-door salesman, and then interned as a technician in an electronics factory. By age 20, he was testing instruments for nuclear reactors and NASA Apollo spacecraft by day, and continuing to study engineering at night.

This same era marked some of the most fierce fighting of the Vietnam War and a time of social upheaval in the United States. Patrick, who had grown into a dedicated pacifist, chose to become a conscientious objector. This led him to San Francisco, where he had been assigned to serve at a Planned Parenthood clinic in lieu of military service.

There, he met his former wife, Mary Hendley, and within a few years, had adopted her young son, William.

The small family moved to Oregon, where Patrick promoted energy conservation programs and workshops in the nascent solar and alternative energy fields. During this time in his life, he also, at last, attended college, earning a Bachelors of Arts degree in Environmental Design from Evergreen State College.

Soon after his marriage ended in the 1980s, his life on Vashon began — a place Nelsen said Patrick had heard about “by word of mouth.” The island, which at that time had become a mecca for young artists and dreamers living alternative lifestyles, seemed the perfect fit for Patrick. Far from the tumult and tall buildings of his native Chicago, McManus found a home and community he loved on Vashon.

On the island, he worked as a contractor and also taught the Feldenkrais Method, a type of movement therapy that uses movement to teach self-awareness and improve function.

He also became a parent again, after meeting islander Linda Ayala at a concert performed by the Vashon band, Subconscious Population. Their daughter, Halla, was born in 1994. The two never married.

Halla recalled her father as a devoted and creative parent, involving her in his most playful interests, which included elaborate annual preparations for the Islewilde Festival.

During the festival, Islewilde participants — including Halla and Patrick — camped together, spending long days and starry nights devoted to brainstorming ideas for performances and building masks, sets, props and puppets for the shows.

She also recalled how her father’s career as an Einstein impersonator began when she was still a young child. As her father’s wild mop of hair began to turn white, people would stop him on the street to ask if he would pose for a picture with them, she said.

Halla recalled that he received the request so many times that he eventually said, “I should start charging for this.” At that time, he devoted himself to the study of Einstein, learning all he could about the scientist’s life and work.

In playing the role, Nelsen said, McManus stepped beyond the largely supportive roles he had played in other island arts enterprises. In reminding others of Einstein’s genius, he found his own and urged others to do the same.

“He was an artist in the real sense — of life as an art,” said Nelsen.

In a Beachcomber notice announcing Patrick’s death, Halla shared one of her father’s favorite quotes by Einstein — one that seemed to mirror Patrick’s philosophy of life as closely as his hair and visage matched that of the famous scientist:

“The important thing is not to stop questioning,” Einstein said. “Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one merely tries to contemplate a little of these mysteries each day.”

Patrick McManus is survived by William and Halla McManus, his son and daughter.

A GoFundMe account has been organized to assist Halla McManus as she navigates the financial burden of her father’s death and to help pay for a celebration of Patrick’s life to be held in the future. To donate, visit tinyurl.com/yeywdupa.