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
''It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'' is a BBC television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the last months of the Second World War. It was written by Jimm ...
'' and
Mike Fisher in ''
Only Fools and Horses
''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until t ...
''.
Personal life
MacDonald was born in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, the son of Scottish heavyweight wrestling champion
Bill MacDonald
Bill Macdonald is an American professional sportscaster who is currently the TV play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Spectrum SportsNet alongside color commentator Stu Lantz.
Car ...
, who died of kidney failure at the age of 43 when Kenneth was 13.
He attended Xaverian College preparatory school in Fallowfield, Manchester, St Anthony's preparatory school in
Stony Stratford,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, and went on to St Bernardine's Franciscan College in
Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
, 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
The Kellogg Company, doing business as Kellogg's, is an American multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. Kellogg's produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaste ...
cornflakes factory. During night shifts he would perform ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' and other
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
plays that he had learned at school, earning the nickname "Hamlet".
[ MacDonald met his wife Sheila while he was appearing in ]panto
Panto may refer to:
* Pantomime, a genre of musical comedy stage production, developed in England and mostly performed during Christmas and New Year season
* American pantomime, theatre entertainments in North America derived from the English ente ...
in Crewe
Crewe () is a railway town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. The Crewe built-up area had a total population of 75,556 in 2011, which also covers parts of the adjacent civil parishes of Willaston ...
in 1976. 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'' in 1972. In 1975, he made a guest appearance in series 2, episode 1, of ''Last of the Summer Wine
''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes foll ...
''. A year later he moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre. He appeared in a 1977 episode of ''Dad's Army
''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...
''.
MacDonald featured regularly in the BBC sitcom ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum
''It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'' is a BBC television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the last months of the Second World War. It was written by Jimm ...
'', running from 3 January 1974 to 3 September 1981. It was set in the jungles of Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
and India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
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
''Brush Strokes'' is a British television sitcom, broadcast on BBC television from 1986 to 1991. Written by Esmonde and Larbey and set in south London, it depicted the (mostly) amorous adventures of a wisecracking house painter, Jacko (Karl H ...
'' 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. However, the character became a series regular, appearing until Christmas 1996.
MacDonald also appeared in the Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
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
Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst (born 20 April 1961) is an English actor. He began his career as a child actor and became best known for his role as Rodney Trotter in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' (1981–2003). He also had major roles in other ...
. He also appeared in an episode of '' The Thin Blue Line'' as a club owner. In 1996 he played DI McCluskey in ''Crocodile Shoes II
''Crocodile Shoes II'' is a British six-part television series made by the BBC and screened on BBC One in 1996. The follow-up to ''Crocodile Shoes'', it was written by Jimmy Nail with Nick Mead as script associate.
Where ''Crocodile Shoes'' fol ...
'' alongside Jimmy Nail
James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' a ...
. In 1992, MacDonald had a brief appearance on the Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
soap ''Brookside Brookside may refer to:
Geography Canada
* Brookside, Edmonton
* Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador
* Brookside, Nova Scotia
United Kingdom
* Brookside, Berkshire, England
* Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England
United States
* Br ...
'' as George Webb, a racist owner of a petrol station.
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.
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.[
] Seven days after his death, MacDonald's guest appearance on BBC television drama ''Merseybeat'' was aired, with the episode dedicated to his memory. He was buried on 16 August 2001 at Teddington Cemetery
Teddington Cemetery is a Grade II listed municipal cemetery in the north of Teddington in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Opened in 1879 it has many tall, eclectic trees and its nucleus was the outcome of a competition for designs b ...
in Teddington
Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...
in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...
.
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Kenneth
1950 births
2001 deaths
20th-century English male actors
British male comedy actors
Burials at Teddington Cemetery
English male television actors
Male actors from Manchester
National Youth Theatre members