Fulton Mackay

William Fulton Beith Mackay (12 August 1922 – 6 June 1987) was a Scottish actor and playwright, best known for his role as prison officer Mr Mackay in the 1970s television sitcom Porridge.

Early life Mackay was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He was brought up in Clydebank by a widowed aunt after the death of his mother from diabetes. His father was employed by the NAAFI.

On leaving school, Mackay trained as a quantity surveyor and later volunteered for the Royal Air Force in 1941, but was not accepted because of a perforated eardrum. He then enlisted with the Black Watch and he served for five years during the Second World War, which included three years spent in India.

Career

Theatre work After being demobbed, Mackay began training as an actor at RADA. His first work was with the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow, where he performed in nine seasons between 1949 and 1958. He also worked at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh before gaining notice at the Arts Theatre Club, London, where in 1960, he played the part of Oscar in The Naked Island, a play about POWs in Singapore.

In 1962, Mackay appeared at the same theatre, in Russian playwright Maxim Gorki's play The Lower Depths for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He then acted with the Old Vic company and the National Theatre, performing in such productions as Peer Gynt and The Alchemist. Other roles for the RSC included Mr Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby and the drunken gaoler in Die Fledermaus. In 1972, he played the part of Hughie in the Royal Lyceum Theatre Company's production of Bill Bryden's play, Willie Rough.

Mackay was a director of the Scottish Actors' Company and, in 1981, a founder of the Scottish Theatre Company, playing Willie Souden in the company's production of Bill Bryden's play, Civilians, set in wartime Greenock.

Television work Mackay was acknowledged as a strong character actor in various television series. He is best remembered for his namesake role from 1973 to 1977 as the comically ferocious prison officer, Mr Mackay, in the British sitcom Porridge, alongside Ronnie Barker. He also appeared in the film version of the series. The ensemble playing of Mackay, Barker, Richard Beckinsale and Brian Wilde, and the writing by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, made Porridge one of the most successful comedy series of the 1970s. He returned to the role of Mr Mackay, now nearing retirement from HM Prison Service, in the first episode of Going Straight (1978), the sequel series to Porridge.

Before coming to prominence in Porridge, Mackay made several appearances in The Avengers, one particular episode being Return of the Cybernauts in which he played Professor Chadwick; he also played Det. Supt., later Det. Chief Supt. Inman in Special Branch (1969–71).

Mackay played a regular officer running a training course in the Dad's Army episode "We Know Our Onions" (1973), a doctor in "The Miser's Hoard" (1977), and a detective in a Wodehouse Playhouse episode (1978).

Film work Despite his status, he appeared in few films. After his screen debut in the film I'm a Stranger (1952), his most notable roles were those in Gumshoe (1971), Porridge (1979), Britannia Hospital (1982), Local Hero (1983), and Defence of the Realm (1985). He also appeared in Laxdale Hall 1952.

Playwriting Under the pseudonym of Aeneas MacBride, Mackay wrote plays for the BBC. His Dalhousie's Luck, a drama set at the time of the siege of Aberdeen by the Marquess of Montrose in 1644, produced by Pharic Maclaren and with Brian Cox in the title role, was broadcast as part of the BBC2 Playhouse series on 3rd August 1980.

Personal life and Death

Mackay was married to Irish actress Sheila Manahan. "They were an incredible welcoming, inclusive couple", recalled actor Brian Cox in 2022. "They were like my real family, my surrogate parents in many ways."

In 1984, Mackay was awarded an OBE. He greatly enjoyed oil painting.

Mackay died from stomach cancer on 6 June 1987, at the age of 64. He was buried at East Sheen Cemetery in southwest London. His widow, Sheila, died in 1988 and was buried with her husband.

Theatre

Partial filmography

Film

TV