Kenneth MacDonald (English actor)
Kenneth MacDonald | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | 20 November 1950 Manchester, England |
| Died | 6 August 2001 (aged 50) Hawaii, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1966–2001 |
| Spouse | Sheila MacDonald |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent | Bill MacDonald |
Kenneth MacDonald (20 November 1950 – 6 August 2001) was an English actor who was best known for the parts of Gunner Nobby Clark in It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Mike Fisher in Only Fools and Horses.[1]
Early life
[edit]MacDonald was born in Manchester, the son of Scottish heavyweight wrestling champion Bill MacDonald, who died of kidney failure at the age of 43 when Kenneth was 13.[2]
He attended Xaverian College preparatory school in Fallowfield, Manchester, St Anthony's preparatory school in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, and went on to St Bernardine's Franciscan College in Buckingham, where he took part in school productions, notably The Business of Good Government, in which he played Herod, and Arsenic and Old Lace. Ken left school at eighteen to help support his mother Emily. He took a job at a Kellogg's cornflakes factory.[3] During night shifts he would perform Hamlet and other Shakespeare plays that he had learned at school, earning the nickname "Hamlet".[2]
Career
[edit]MacDonald's first television role was as Red Whiskers in the Television film Billy Budd in 1966. MacDonald would not act professionally for another six years before playing Benny in an episode of Softly, Softly in 1972.He moved to London in 1972 and joined the National Youth Theatre.[4] He appeared in a 1977 episode of Dad's Army.[5]
MacDonald featured regularly in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, running from 3 January 1974 to 3 September 1981.[6] It was set in the jungles of Burma and India during the Second World War and MacDonald played the character Gunner "Nobby" Clark, a member of a Royal Artillery Concert Party.
In 1975, he made a guest appearance in series 2, episode 1, of Last of the Summer Wine.
When he landed the part of pub landlord Mike Fisher in the Only Fools and Horses episode "Who's a Pretty Boy?" in 1983, it was initially believed to be a one-episode role.[7] However, the character became a series regular, appearing until Christmas 1996.[8] Also in 1996 he played Inspector Jennings in Heartbeat series 6 episode 16.
MacDonald also appeared in the Granada Television Rentals television adverts of the late 1970s and made a cameo appearance in one episode of Goodnight Sweetheart, playing Mr Jones alongside his Only Fools and Horses co-star Nicholas Lyndhurst.[9] He also appeared in an episode of The Thin Blue Line as a club owner.[10] In 1996 he played DI McCluskey in Crocodile Shoes II alongside Jimmy Nail.[11] In 1992, MacDonald had a brief appearance on the Channel 4 soap Brookside as George Webb, a racist owner of a petrol station.[12]
His last role to air before his death was as a Minder in a 2001 episode of Time Gentlemen Please.
Posthumous releases
[edit]Seven days after his death, MacDonald's guest appearance on BBC television drama Merseybeat was aired, with the episode dedicated to his memory.[13] His last film role, as Pete in the film Dream, was first released to theatres on 26 August.[14] His character Mike in Only Fools and Horses was not killed off; when the programme was revived for three episodes from 2001, after MacDonald's death, Mike was imprisoned for trying to embezzle money from the brewery.[15] The last of his roles to be aired was as Stephen Pearce in an episode of The Last Detective aired in 2003.
Personal life
[edit]MacDonald met his wife Sheila while he was appearing in panto in Crewe in 1976.[16] She was the costume designer at the time. They had two children, Charlotte and William, who were fourteen and fifteen at the time of his death.[17]
Death
[edit]MacDonald died suddenly on 6 August 2001 at the age of 50 after suffering from a heart attack while on holiday with his family in Hawaii to celebrate the birthdays of his wife and daughter.[1][17][18] He was buried in a private family-only funeral[18] on 16 August 2001 in Section Z, Grave 140 at Teddington Cemetery, Teddington, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.[19]
Only Fools and Horses star David Jason said of MacDonald's death: "It is like losing a member of the family, because he was one of the warmest, kindest people that I have had the good fortune to meet."[17]
A few months before MacDonald's death, in February 2001, fellow It Ain't Half Hot Mum co-star Christopher Mitchell died of cancer aged 52.
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Breaking Glass[20] | Security Man[21] | |
| 1984 | Laughterhouse [22] | Peter Armitage | |
| 1997 | My Night with Reg | Benny | |
| 2001 | Dream | Pete; Posthumous release[21][14] |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Billy Budd | Red Whiskers[21] | TV movie |
| 1972 | Softly, Softly: Task Force | Benny[21] | Episode: "Execution" |
| 1973 | Coronation Street [20] | Mr. Worsley[21] | 2 episodes |
| Z-Cars[20] | Len Fordham[21] | Episode: "Routine" | |
| 1974 | Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt | Buzz[21] | Episode: "Oh No- It's Selwyn Froggit" |
| Upstairs, Downstairs | Soldier[21] | Episode: "If You Were the Only Girl in the World" | |
| 1974–1981 | It Ain't Half Hot Mum | Gunner 'Nobby' Clark[21] | 56 episodes |
| 1975 | Last of the Summer Wine | Mechanic[21] | Episode: "Forked Lightning"[23] |
| 1975–1981 | Play for Today[20] | School Teacher / John[21] | 2 episodes |
| 1977 | Dad's Army | The Army Sergeant[21] | Episode: "Number Engaged"[23] |
| 1977–1979 | The Dick Emery Show | 3 episodes[21] | |
| 1978 | Come Back Mrs. Noah | Space Hen[21] | Voice; Episode: "In Orbit"[23] |
| 1979 | The Famous Five | Policeman[21] | 2 episodes |
| 1980–1981 | BBC2 Playhouse | Albie Warren / Bar Steward[21] | 2 episodes |
| 1983 | The All Electric Amusement Arcade | Cllr. Hogan[21] | Episode: "Episode #1.4" |
| Farmers Arms | Alvin[21] | TV movie | |
| Cannon and Ball | Ship Crew Member[21] | Episode: "Episode #5.3" | |
| 1983–1996 | Only Fools and Horses | Mike Fisher[21] | 30 episodes |
| 1984 | Tenko[20] | Corporal[21] | Episode: "Episode #3.7" |
| 1985 | Shine on Harvey Moon | Spiv 1[21] | Episode: "Love Is Blind"[23] |
| Silas Marner | Bryce[21] | TV movie | |
| 1987 | One by One | Sergeant Barnes[21] | Episode: "Remember the Humble Guinea-Pig" |
| 1987–1990 | Boon | Arthur Dixon / Moses Wilson[21] | 2 episodes |
| 1988 | Brush Strokes | Reg[21] | Episode: "Episode #3.4"[23] |
| 1990 | Chain | Hickman[21] | Episode: "Lennox" |
| 1991 | About Face | Customs Supervisor[21] | Episode: "Monkey Business"[23] |
| 1992 | Press Gang | Marvin Bixby[21] | Episode: "Love and War" |
| Surgical Spirit | Clifford[21] | Episode: "The Fence"[23] | |
| Brookside | George Webb[21] | 24 episodes | |
| 1994 | Capital Lives | Governor[21] | Episode: "Joan" |
| Zig & Zag: Entertainment Cops | Mike Fisher[21] | TV Movie | |
| 1996 | And the Beat Goes On | Lance Corporal Peck[21] | Episode: "Episode #1.7" |
| No Bananas | Foreman[21] | Episode: "Dunkirk" | |
| Crocodile Shoes II | D.I. McClusky[21] | 4 episodes | |
| Heartbeat | Inspector Jennings[21] | Episode: "Old Friends" | |
| The Thin Blue Line | Nightclub Manager[21] | Episode: "The Green Eyed Monster"[23] | |
| 1997 | The Bill[20] | Graham Francis[21] | Episode: "A Policeman's Lot" |
| Performance | Benny[21] | Episode: "My Night with Reg" | |
| Touching Evil[20] | Cyril[21] | 4 episodes | |
| 1998 | The Vanishing Man | Police Officer[21] | Episode: "Out on a Limb" |
| A Rather English Marriage | Barman[21] | TV movie | |
| 1999 | Goodnight Sweetheart | Mr. Jones[21] | Episode: "Something Fishie"[23] |
| David Copperfield | Littimer[21] | Episode: "Episode #1.2" | |
| 2000 | The Mrs Bradley Mysteries | Alf Wolstenholm[21] | Episode: "Laurels Are Poison" |
| The Peter Principle | Ian Kopas[21] | Episode: "Greyhound Day"[23] | |
| Cor, Blimey! | Eddie[21] | TV Movie | |
| Heartburn Hotel | O'Hare[21] | Episode: "Siege"; credited as Kenneth Macdonald[23] | |
| The Sins | Oy[21] | 7 episodes | |
| 2001 | Time Gentlemen Please | Ms. Jackson's Minder[21] | Episode: "All the World's a Stag"; last role shown while still alive[23] |
| Merseybeat | Rob Eliot[21] | Episode: "Dead Time"; Posthumous release | |
| Peak Practice | Neil Jones[21] | Episode: "Unhappy Will / Claire's Revenge"; Posthumous release | |
| 2003 | The Last Detective | Stephen Pearce[21] | Episode: "Pilot"; Posthumous release |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Kenneth MacDonald". The Telegraph. 9 August 2001.
- ^ a b Barzey, Whelan (11 February 2021). "The Only Fools and Horses star who died tragically young on holiday in Hawaii". MyLondon.
- ^ "Kenneth MacDonald". The Independent. 21 February 2014.
- ^ "Kenneth Macdonald | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
- ^ "Dad's Army Series 9, Episode 5 - Number Engaged". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974-81) Credits". www.screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ "Only Fools And Horses Series 3, Episode 7 - Who's A Pretty Boy?". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Only Fools and Horses (1981-96) Credits". www.screenonline.org.uk.
- ^ "Something Fishie (1999)". BFI. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021.
- ^ "The Thin Blue Line Series 2 - The Green Eyed Monster". British Comedy Guide.
- ^ "Broadcast - BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 19 December 1996. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021.
- ^ "Brookside[07/11/92] (1992)". BFI. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021.
- ^ "Broadcast - BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. 13 August 2001. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021.
- ^ a b Dream (2001) - Release info - IMDb. Retrieved 5 September 2025 – via www.imdb.com.
- ^ "Only Fools And Horses to return". BBC News. 8 August 2001.
- ^ Clark, Steve; Paphitis, Theo (30 August 2011). Only Fools and Horses - The Official Inside Story. Splendid Books Limited. ISBN 9780956950536 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Dodd, Vikram (9 August 2001). "Del Boy's comic colleague dies". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
- ^ a b "Only Fools barman Mike dies". 8 August 2001. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
- ^ "Burial Registers Search". London Borough of Richmond on Thames. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f g "notreCinema connect step 1". connect.notrecinema.com. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb "Kenneth MacDonald | Actor, Music Department". IMDb. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
- ^ Cunliffe, Mark (8 September 2020). "Laughterhouse, aka Singleton's Pluck (1984): Ealing for the Eighties". The Penny University. Retrieved 5 September 2025.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Guide, British Comedy. "Kenneth MacDonald". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 5 September 2025.