Kenneth MacDonald, (20 November 1950 — 6 August 2001), was a British actor best known for playing Gunner Clark in It Ain't Half Hot, Mum and Mike Fisher in Only Fools and Horses.
While at St Bernardine's Franciscan College, he appeared in many school productions. He had to leave school when he turned eighteen and work at a cornflakes factory to support his widowed mother but kept acting in mind as he would recite plays like Hamlet during the night shifts.
MacDonald made his first TV appearance in 1972, appearing in an episode of Softly, Softly. He also made small appearances in Coronation Street and Z Cars before being cast in It Ain't Half Hot, Mum as Gunner "Nobby" Clark. While Gunner Clark was arguably the least important of the regular characters in the concert party (in later years, David Croft would regret never being able to write a better part for MacDonald), he still appeared in all 56 episodes during the series' run.
The rest of The '70s had small roles for MacDonald, but this all changed in 1983 when he played barman Mike Fisher in "Who's a Pretty Boy?", an episode of the third series of Only Fools and Horses. Mike was intended to be a One-Shot Character, but became a regular, making frequent appearances until the original finale in 1996. MacDonald knew his role was on the smaller side but was extremely committed to it, as he was honoured to be a part of what he considered to be one of the funniest series ever made.
He died of a heart attack at the age of 50, right before filming was due for a final trilogy of OFAH Christmas Episodes. Mike was Put on a Bus following the news, with the explanation that he had been imprisoned for embezzlement.
Not to be mistaken for the American actor of the same name.
Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:
Series- Coronation Street, 2 episodes (1973) — Mr. Worsley
- Z Cars, episode "Routine" (1973) — Len Fordham
- It Ain't Half Hot, Mum, 56 episodes (1974-81) — Gunner "Nobby" Clark
- Upstairs Downstairs, episode "If You Were the Only Girl in the World" (1974) — Soldier
- Last of the Summer Wine, episode "Forked Lightning" (1975) — Mechanic
- Play for Today, 2 episodes:
- "Keep an Eye on Albert" (1975) — John
- "Chance of a Lifetime" (1980) — School Teacher
- Dad's Army, episode "Number Engaged" (1977) — Army Sergeant
- Come Back Mrs. Noah, episode "In Orbit" (1978) — Space Hen
- Only Fools and Horses, 30 episodes (1983-96) — Mike Fisher
- Tenko, 1 episode (1984) — Corporal
- Press Gang, episode "Love and War" (1992) — Marvin Bixby
- Surgical Spirit, episode "The Fence" (1992) — Clifford
- Heartbeat, episode "Old Friends" (1996) — Inspector Jennings
- The Thin Blue Line, episode "The Green Eyed Monster" (1996) — Nightclub Manager
- The Bill, episode "A Policeman's Lot" (1997) — Graham Francis
- Touching Evil, 4 episodesshow list (1997) — Cyril
- Goodnight Sweetheart, episode "Something Fishie" (1999) — Mr. Jones
- The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, episode "Laurels Are Poison" (2000) — Alf Wolstenholm
- Time Gentlemen Please, episode "All the World's a Stag" (2001) — Ms. Jackson's Minder
- Peak Practice, episode "Unhappy Will/Claire's Revenge" (2001) — Neil Jones
