Kenneth MacDonald 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, the son of Scottish heavyweight wrestling champion Bill MacDonald, who died of kidney failure 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 in '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 him the nickname "Hamlet". In 1975 he appeared in Last of the Summer Wine.

A year later he moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre. He got a couple of small television parts: Softly, Softly and Z-Cars.

Ken met his wife Sheila while he was appearing in panto in Crewe in 1976. She was the costume designer at the time.

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 assumed to be a one episode role. However, the character made regular appearances until Kenneth's death in 2001.

His first television role was Benny in Softly, Softly in 1972. His last (posthumous) role was as Stephen Pearce in The Last Detective in 2003. He had also appeared in the Granada Television Rentals television adverts of the late 1970s.

He died in August 2001 after suffering a heart attack while on holiday with his family in Hawaii. He was 50 years old.

Kenneth MacDonald (September 8, 1901 - May 5, 1972), was an American film actor. Born in Portland, Indiana, MacDonald made over 220 film and television appearances between 1931 and 1970.

MacDonald began his career as a stage actor, and came to Hollywood in the early 1930. He found a few bit parts at first, finally finding steady work in a series of Durango Kid westerns at Columbia Pictures.

Modern viewers will remember as a perfect foil in several Three Stooges films. MacDonald perfected the cool, debonair demeanor, while maintaining an underlying evil side as a con man, outlaw, or thief. His extra flair for physical comedy certainly helped, as he made memorable appearances in such films as Monkey Businessmen, Hold That Lion!, Crime on Their Hands, and Loose Loot.

After leaving the the Columbia shorts department, MacDonald had a recurring role as Judge Carter on Perry Mason between 1957 and 1966.

MacDonald died in Woodland Hills, California, on May 5, 1972.

Kenneth MacDonald began his career as a stage actor in the 1920s. In the early 1930s he came to Hollywood to break into motion pictures, but after several bit parts, he found employment difficult to come by. He hit upon the idea of a little self-promotion, and wrote a pamphlet called "The Case of Kenneth MacDonald," and distributed it to as many producers as he could find. The ploy worked; he started getting jobs at most of the studios in Hollywood, and became a regular fixture in Columbia's Charles Starrett series of "Durango Kid" westerns. He is probably best remembered, however, as a foil for many of Columbia's comedy teams in the studio's two-reelers, particularly The Three Stooges. His suave demeanor and rich, booming voice fit perfectly the role of the con man, crooked lawyer or criminal gang leader he often played, and he showed a surprising flair for physical comedy, taking a two-finger poke in the eyes from Moe Howard (I), a pie in the face from Larry Fine (I) or an iron bar on the head from Curly Howard with the best of them. He left the Columbia shorts department in 1955 and semi-retired. He had a recurring role as a judge in the "Perry Mason" (1957) television series.

Born in Manchester, England in 1950, Kenneth MacDonald became one of British television's most appealing character actors in a career that spanned a quarter of a century. But his greatest claim to fame was in the role of the publican, "Mike Fisher," in the hugely successful sitcom series, "Only Fools and Horses," which ran for 15 years, 1981-1996. MacDonald played the barman foil to two street-wise London black marketeers who used the pub as their base of operations. MacDonald died of a heart attack while on holiday in Hawaii. Ironically and sadly, on the day his death was announced, it was reported that an additional series of "Only Fools and Horses" would be filmed.