Kurt at 20:25, 19 February 2023

2023-02-19T20:25:00Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:25, 19 February 2023
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	~~{{Short description\|Actor, best known for playing Mike Fisher in Only Fools and Horses}}~~
	~~{{for\|the American actor\|Kenneth MacDonald (American actor)}}~~
	~~{{Use dmy dates\|date=April 2022}}~~
	~~{{More citations needed\|date=March 2020}}~~
	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\| image = Kenneth_MacDonald_(English_actor).jpg		\| image = Kenneth_MacDonald_(English_actor).jpg
	\| name = Kenneth MacDonald		\| name = Kenneth MacDonald
	\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1950\|11\|20\|df=~~yes~~}}		\| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1950\|11\|20\|df=y}}
	\| birth_place = [[Manchester]], England		\| birth_place = [[Manchester]], England
	\| death_date = {{Death date and age~~\|df=y~~\|2001\|8\|6\|1950\|11\|20}}		\| death_date = {{Death date and age\|2001\|08\|06\|1950\|11\|20\|df=y}}
	\| death_place = [[Hawaii]], U.S.		\| death_place = [[Hawaii]], U.S.
	\| occupation = Actor		\| occupation = Actor
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	==External links==		==External links==
	* {{IMDb name\|0531811\|Kenneth MacDonald}}		* {{IMDb name\|0531811\|Kenneth MacDonald}}

	~~{{authority control}}~~

	{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Kenneth}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Kenneth}}

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en>Pikemaster: /* Acting career */ Rewrite first para of section and add some more detail

2022-06-15T19:07:57Z

Acting career: Rewrite first para of section and add some more detail

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{{Short description|Actor, best known for playing Mike Fisher in Only Fools and Horses}}
{{for|the American actor|Kenneth MacDonald (American actor)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Kenneth_MacDonald_(English_actor).jpg
| name = Kenneth MacDonald
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1950|11|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Manchester]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2001|8|6|1950|11|20}}
| death_place = [[Hawaii]], U.S.
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1972–2001
| spouse = Sheila MacDonald
| children = 2
| parents = [[Bill MacDonald (wrestler)|Bill MacDonald]]
}}

'''Kenneth MacDonald''' (20 November 1950 – 6 August 2001) was an English actor who was best known for the parts of [[Gunner (rank)|Gunner]] Nobby Clark in ''[[It Ain't Half Hot Mum]]'' and [[Mike Fisher (Only Fools and Horses)|Mike Fisher]] in ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]''.<ref name="telegraph_2001"/>

==Personal life==
MacDonald was born in [[Manchester]], the son of Scottish heavyweight wrestling champion [[Bill MacDonald (wrestler)|Bill MacDonald]], who died of kidney failure at the age of 43 when Kenneth was 13.<ref name=mylondon>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/celebs/only-fools-horses-star-who-19817276|title=The Only Fools and Horses star who died tragically young on holiday in Hawaii|first=Whelan|last=Barzey|date=February 11, 2021|website=MyLondon}}</ref>

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 (play)|Arsenic and Old Lace]]''. Ken left school at eighteen to help support his mother Emily. He took a job at a [[Kellogg's]] [[cornflake]]s factory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/kenneth-macdonald-9142937.html|title=Kenneth MacDonald|date=February 21, 2014|website=The Independent}}</ref> During night shifts he would perform ''[[Hamlet]]'' and other [[Shakespeare]] plays that he had learned at school, earning the nickname "Hamlet".<ref name=mylondon/> MacDonald met his wife Sheila while he was appearing in [[Pantomime|panto]] in [[Crewe]] in 1976.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsacAgAAQBAJ&dq=kenneth+MacDonald+met+wife+Sheila+while+in+panto+in+Crewe+in+1976.&pg=PT148|title=Only Fools and Horses - The Official Inside Story|first1=Steve|last1=Clark|first2=Theo|last2=Paphitis|date=August 30, 2011|publisher=Splendid Books Limited|isbn=9780956950536|via=Google Books}}</ref> She was the costume designer at the time. They had two children: William (born 1986) and Charlotte (born 1989).

==Acting career==
MacDonald's first television role was Benny in ''[[Softly, Softly (TV series)|Softly, Softly]]'' in 1972. In 1975, he made a guest appearance in series 2, episode 1, of ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]''. A year later he moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre. He appeared in a 1977 episode of ''[[Dad's Army]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/dads_army/episodes/9/5/|title=Dad's Army Series 9, Episode 5 - Number Engaged|first=British Comedy|last=Guide|website=British Comedy Guide}}</ref>

MacDonald featured regularly in the BBC sitcom ''[[It Ain't Half Hot Mum]]'', running from 3 January 1974 to 3 September 1981.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/479586/credits.html|title=BFI Screenonline: It Ain't Half Hot Mum (1974-81) Credits|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> 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.

He also had a minor part as Jacko's brother in the comedy series ''[[Brush Strokes]]'' which ran from 1986 to 1991, in which he was married to the less than faithful Gloria.

When he landed the part of pub landlord Mike in the ''Only Fools and Horses'' episode "[[Who's a Pretty Boy?]]" in 1983, it was initially believed to be a one-episode role.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/only_fools_and_horses/episodes/3/7/|title=Only Fools And Horses Series 3, Episode 7 - Who's A Pretty Boy?|first=British Comedy|last=Guide|website=British Comedy Guide}}</ref> However, the character became a series regular, appearing until Christmas 1996.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/576679/credits.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Only Fools and Horses (1981-96) Credits|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

MacDonald also appeared in the [[Granada plc#Red Arrow (later Granada) TV Rental|Granada Television]] Rentals television adverts of the late 1970s and made a cameo appearance in one episode of ''[[Goodnight Sweetheart (TV series)|Goodnight Sweetheart]]'', playing Mr Jones alongside his ''Only Fools and Horses'' co-star [[Nicholas Lyndhurst]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b82f58828|title=Something Fishie (1999)|website=BFI}}</ref> He also appeared in an episode of ''[[The Thin Blue Line (British TV series)|The Thin Blue Line]]'' as a club owner.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/the_thin_blue_line/episodes/2/7/|title=The Thin Blue Line Series 2 - The Green Eyed Monster|first=British Comedy|last=Guide|website=British Comedy Guide}}</ref> In 1996 he played DI McCluskey in ''[[Crocodile Shoes II]]'' alongside [[Jimmy Nail]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/e08123419f1e47a4a13d65ef7066f790|title=Broadcast - BBC Programme Index|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> In 1992, MacDonald had a brief appearance on the [[Channel 4]] soap ''[[Brookside (television programme)|Brookside]]'' as George Webb, a racist owner of a petrol station.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7c272a49|title=Brookside[07/11/92] (1992)|website=BFI}}</ref>

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 the brewery.<ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1479805.stm
|date=8 August 2001
|title=Only Fools And Horses to return
|publisher=BBC News
}}</ref>

==Death==
MacDonald died suddenly on 6 August 2001 at the age of 50 after suffering a massive heart attack while on holiday with his family in Hawaii.<ref name="telegraph_2001">
{{cite news
|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1336782/Kenneth-MacDonald.html
|title=Kenneth MacDonald
|work=The Telegraph
|date=9 August 2001
}}</ref> Seven days after his death, MacDonald's guest appearance on BBC television drama [[Merseybeat (TV series)|''Merseybeat'']] was aired, with the episode dedicated to his memory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a5bcdb78837c4e0494e4bc09d9d1f00d|title=Broadcast - BBC Programme Index|website=genome.ch.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> He was buried on 16 August 2001 at [[Teddington Cemetery]] in [[Teddington]] in the [[London Borough of Richmond upon Thames]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.richmond.gov.uk/lbrburials/%28S%28jqmwbq552slzlaz2rzbkgk55%29%29/DeceasedDetails.aspx?t=dec&id=289511|title=Burial Registers Search|publisher= London Borough of Richmond on Thames|accessdate=1 August 2010}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1980|| ''[[Breaking Glass (film)|Breaking Glass]]'' || Security Man ||
|-
|1984|| ''Laughterhouse'' || Peter Armitage ||
|-
|1997|| ''[[My Night with Reg (film)|My Night with Reg]]'' || Benny ||
|-
|2001|| ''Dream'' || Pete ||
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0531811|Kenneth MacDonald}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Kenneth}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century English male actors]]
[[Category:British male comedy actors]]
[[Category:Burials at Teddington Cemetery]]
[[Category:English male television actors]]
[[Category:Male actors from Manchester]]
[[Category:National Youth Theatre members]]

Kenneth MacDonald (English actor) - Revision history

Kurt at 20:25, 19 February 2023

Kurt: 1 revision imported

en>Pikemaster: /* Acting career */ Rewrite first para of section and add some more detail