Kenneth MacDonald
Kenneth MacDonald was born in Portland, Indiana, MacDonald made more than 220 film and television appearances between 1931 and 1972. His name is sometimes seen as Kenneth McDonald; his later roles sometimes credited him as Kenneth R.
Kenneth MacDonald

Film screenshot (Colombia Pictures) · The Phantom on the Internet Archive · Public domain
- Name
- Kenneth MacDonald
- Born
- 8 September 1901
- Birthplace
- Portland, Indiana, U.S.
- Died
- 5 May 1972
- Place of death
- Woodland Hills, California, U.S.
- Birth Name
- Kenneth Dollins
- Spouse
- LaMee Nave MacDonald (1930–1972) (his death) (3 children)
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- actor
- Education
- Richmond High School
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Kenneth MacDonald was born in Portland, Indiana, MacDonald made more than 220 film and television appearances between 1931 and 1972. His name is sometimes seen as Kenneth McDonald; his later roles sometimes credited him as Kenneth R.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Kenneth MacDonald (1901–1972) was an actor, of American nationality. The actor was born in Portland and died in Los Angeles. Kenneth MacDonald was educated at Richmond High School. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Kenneth MacDonald. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q6390409
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Kenneth MacDonald • Born — 8 September 1901 • Birthplace — Portland, Indiana, U.S. • Died — 5 May 1972 • Place of death — Woodland Hills, California, U.S. • Resting Place — Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) • Years Active — 1931–1972 • Birth Name — Kenneth Dollins • Spouse — LaMee Nave MacDonald (1930–1972) (his death) (3 children)
Career
Career
MacDonald began his career as a stage actor. In 1923, he appeared in his first feature film, Slow as Lightning. He came to Hollywood in the early 1930s, where he played small roles in low-budget, independent productions. In 1939, Kenneth MacDonald was signed by Columbia Pictures for the studio's Charles Starrett westerns. MacDonald perfected a cool, debonair demeanor, which usually masked an evil side as a con man, outlaw, or thief. His speaking voice was rich and well modulated, often being gentle and ominous at the same time, in the Boris Karloff manner. Also, like Karloff, he seldom raised his voice, making his characters both dominant and dangerous. This quality made MacDonald an effective villain in Columbia's adventure serials like Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom, and Black Arrow. He was also adept at playing sympathetic roles, usually as calm authority figures (police official, prison psychiatrist, judge, etc.). Actors in Columbia's stock company almost always worked in the studio's two-reel comedy shorts as well as features and serials, but Kenneth MacDonald did not join the short-subject fraternity until 1945, when he appeared opposite comedy stars Gus Schilling and Richard Lane. He is probably best known today for his work with The Three Stooges. MacDonald developed a flair for comedy, and he made memorable appearances in comedy shorts starring The Three Stooges including Monkey Businessmen, Hold That Lion!, Crime on Their Hands, Punchy Cowpunchers, and Loose Loot. Beginning in 1953, the comedy in the Columbia shorts became even more physical under producer-director Jules White, and MacDonald obligingly got plastered with pies, fruit, and other missiles. He also returned to Columbia's serial unit, which was then filming low-budget remakes of his older serials using much of the original footage; MacDonald appeared in new scenes to match his old ones. He left the Columbia shorts department in 1955, but still appeared occasionally in feature films; he played a member of the court martial board in The Caine Mutiny (1954), and had a bit role as Jerry Lewis's father in The Ladies' Man (1961).
Television
Television
MacDonald began working in television in 1949, in The Lone Ranger (episode eight; he would return to the series in episode 173, 1955). From 1951 to 1953, MacDonald was a frequent guest star, mostly as a sheriff, in the syndicated television series, The Range Rider, with Jock Mahoney and Dick Jones. He appeared six times as Colonel Parker in the ABC western series Colt.45. In 1960, MacDonald appeared as Duggan on the TV western Laramie in the episode titled "Duel at Parkinson Town.". He also appeared in a number of episodes of the TV western Bat Masterson with Gene Barry (MacDonald appeared with Dyan Cannon in "The Price of Paradise" in 1961.) MacDonald's most prolific work in television was in 32 episodes of CBS's Perry Mason. He played the recurring role of a judge (sometimes named Carter, sometimes named Hartley, other times unnamed) between 1957 and 1966.
Death
Death
MacDonald died of brain and lung cancer at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 70. He was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.
Partial filmography
Partial filmography
• The Last Mile (1932) • Cocktail Hour (1933) • Two-Fisted Rangers (1939) • The Taming of the West (1939) • The Durango Kid (1940) • The Wildcat of Tucson (1940) • Confessions of Boston Blackie (1941) • Stand By All Networks (1942) • The Phantom (1943) • West of the Rio Grande (1944) • Cornered (1945) as Incza's henchman (uncredited) • Back to Bataan (1945) Maj. McKinley (uncredited) • Crossfire (1947) as Major (uncredited) • Dark Passage (1947) as Humphrey Bogart character before facial surgery (uncredited) • Frontier Agent (1948) • Return of the Bad Men (1948) • Train to Alcatraz (1948) • The Caine Mutiny (1954) as a Court-Martial Board Member (uncredited) • The Fastest Gun Alive (1956) uncredited • 40 Guns to Apache Pass (1966) Harry Malone • Fantastic Voyage (1966) Henry - heart monitoring
Three Stooges short subjects
Three Stooges short subjects
• Monkey Businessmen (1946) • Hold That Lion! (1947) • Shivering Sherlocks (1948) • Crime on Their Hands (1948) • Vagabond Loafers (1949) • Punchy Cowpunchers (1950) • Studio Stoops (1950) • Hula-La-La (1951) • Three Dark Horses (1952) • Booty and the Beast (1953) • Loose Loot (1953) • Of Cash and Hash (1955) • Hot Ice (1955) • Blunder Boys (1955) • Scheming Schemers (1956)
Television
Television
• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1949-1955 — The Lone Ranger — Deputy Zack/Sheriff Mason — 4 episodes • 1954-1955 — The Cisco Kid — Marshal/Frank Guthrie — 5 episodes • 1954 — Captain Midnight — John Sawyer — S1.E5, "Death Below Zero" • 1955 — Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe — Dispersal Station Superintendent — 3 episodes • 1955 — The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin — Agent — S1.E24, "The Guilty One" • 1956 — Crossroads — Doctor Edwards — S2.E2, "Circus Priest" • 1956 — My Friend Flicka — Brady — S1.E36, "The Foundlings" • 1956 — Steve Donovan, Western Marshal — Chief Marshal — S1.E23, "Stone River" • 1956 — Broken Arrow — Lowrie — 3 episodes • 1956-1958 — Navy Log — Admiral/Captain — 3 episodes • 1956-1960 — Cheyenne — Indian Agent Clum/Sheriff Gaffey — 3 episodes • 1957 — The Gray Ghost — Judge Advocate — S1.E7, "The Brothers" • 1957 — Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre — Jury Foreman — S1.E23, "There Were Four" • 1957-1958 — Colt.45 — Col. Parker — 5 episodes • 1957-1966 — Perry Mason — Judge Carter/Hartley — 32 episodes • 1958 — Wanted Dead or Alive — Sheriff — S1.E17, "Drop to Drink" • 1958-1961 — Sugarfoot — Sheriff/Mayor/Mr. Smith — 4 episodes • 1958-1961 — Bronco — Sheriff/Sheriff Elliot — 3 episodes • 1959 — The Restless Gun — Russ Cantrell — S2.E29, "One on the House" • 1959 — Maverick — Sheriff — S3.E15, "A Cure for Johnny Rain" • 1959 — The Rough Riders — Oliver Wentworth — S1.E17, "Wilderness Trace" • 1959 — Frontier Doctor — Sheriff Quinn — S1.E29, "Danger Valley" • 1959 — The Texan — Ed Grover — S1.E23, "The Marshal of Yellow Jacket" • 1959-1961 — Bat Masterson — Sam Jansen/Tack Colby — 2 episodes • 1959-1961 — The Deputy — Sheriff/Charlie — 2 episodes • 1959-1961 — Rawhide — Townsman/Morgan Shaw/Bartender — 3 episodes • 1959-1960 — Laramie — Captain Reeves/Zeke/Duggan — 4 episodes • 1960 — Checkmate — Elmer — S1.E1, "Death Runs Wild" • 1960 — Bonanza — Sheriff — S1.E18, "A House Divided" • 1960 — The Man from Blackhawk — Jess — S1.E27, "The Search for Cope Borden" • 1960-1962 — Wagon Train — General Collins/Wagon Train Member — 2 episodes • 1961 — The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp — Howard Stacey — S6.E20, "Casey and the Clowns" • 1961 — Gunslinger — Sheriff Ed Harkness — S1.E12, "New Savannah" • 1961 — Angel — Mr. Nicks — S1.E15, "Happy Marriage" • 1962 — Going My Way — Captain — S1.E12, "A Dog for Father Fitz" • 1962 — Surfside 6 — Major Croton — S2.E24, "The Green Beret" • 1962 — Ripcord — Dr. Page — S1.E19, "Double Drop" • 1962 — Frontier Circus — Canfield — S1.E22, "The Good Fight" • 1963 — Wide Country — Doctor (uncredited) — S1.E18, "Speckle Bird" • 1963-1964 — The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters — Army Captain/Miner — 2 episodes • 1963-1964 — Temple Houston — Jury Foreman/Election Officer — 2 episodes • 1964 — Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea — Surgeon — S1.E13, "The Blizzard Makers" • 1964 — 77 Sunset Strip — Police Chief (uncredited) — S6.E15, "Lovers' Lane" • 1964 — Valentine's Day — Principal Melvin R. Roberts — S1.E8, "The Old School Tie" • 1965 — Daniel Boone — Hamer — 2 episodes • 1966 — This Is the Life — unknown — S6.E33, "Man Adrift" • 1969 — Then Came Bronson — The Banker — S1.E7, "The 3:13 Arrives at Noon" • 1969 — Judd, for the Defense — Judge Waylan — S2.E24, "Visitation" • 1972 — The F.B.I. — Davis — S7.E22, "The Test"
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Portland.
Birth place
Los Angeles.
Death place
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Kenneth MacDonald.
- 2.Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. (2 volume set). McFarland. 464. 2016. 9781476625997.
- 3.Katchmer, George A. A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland. 246. 2002. 9780786446933.
- 4.Duel At Parkinson Town. 12. December 13, 1960.
- 5.Mayer, Geoff. Encyclopedia of American Film Serials. McFarland. 198. 2017. 9780786477623.
- 6.Okuda, Ted. The Columbia Comedy Shorts. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. 1998. 0-89950-181-8.
- 7.Blottner, Gene. Wild Bill Elliott: A Complete Filmography. McFarland & Company. 150–151. 2011. 9780786480258.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 17 September 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
37,604 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Kenneth JohnsonPerson
- Kenneth Kit LamugPerson
- Kenneth LonerganPerson
- Kenneth MaPerson
- Kenneth MacKennaPerson
- Kenneth MarsPerson
- Kenneth MarshallPerson
- Kenneth MorePerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Kenneth MacDonald?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.