Kenneth MacDonald (English actor)
| Kenneth MacDonald | |
|---|---|
| Born |
20 November 1950 Manchester, England |
| Died | 6 August 2001 (aged 50) Hawaii, United States |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1972–2001 |
| Spouse(s) | Sheila MacDonald (?–2001) (his death) |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent(s) | 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.
He was born in Manchester, England, the son of Scottish heavyweight wrestling champion Bill MacDonald, who died of kidney failure at the age of 43, when Kenneth was 13.
He attended 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. During night shifts he would perform Hamlet and other Shakespeare plays that he had learned at school, earning the nickname "Hamlet". MacDonald met his wife Sheila while he was appearing in panto in Crewe in 1976. She was the costume designer at the time. They had two children: William (b. 1986) and Charlotte (b. 1989).
Kenneth MacDonald died shortly after midnight 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 TV drama Merseybeat was aired, with the episode dedicated to his memory. He was buried ten days later on 16 August 2001 at Teddington Cemetery in Teddington in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
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