Fred MacDonald

{{Short description|Australian actor}} {{for|the professor of history|J. Fred MacDonald}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} '''Fred MacDonald''' (1895–1968), was an Australian actor best known for playing Dave Rudd opposite Bert Bailey on stage and screen, starting with the original 1912 production of ''On Our Selection''. He also played a similar role, Jim Hayseed, several times on screen for director Beaumont Smith.

==Biography== MacDonald was born in Scotland and moved to Australia when he was four.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17485200 |title=MACDONALDS CHARACTER STUDY OF "DAVE.". |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=18 August 1938 |accessdate=15 August 2012 |page=29 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He established himself as a matinee idol on stage, acting with the Allan Wilkie Shakespeare Company. He first appeared opposite Bert Bailey in a comic part in ''The Shamrock and the Rose''. He hit it off with Bailey, who cast him in ''On Our Selection''.

Bailey and MacDonald also appeared on stage together in ''The Sentimental Bloke'', playing Ginger Mick and the title role respectively. MacDonald also featured in ''Possum Paddock'' originating the role of Bill McQuade.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article25550748?searchTerm=%22the%20broken%20melody%22%20cinesound&searchLimits=l-category=Article%7Ccategory%3AArticle|||sortby=dateAsc 'DAD & DAVE Come to Town', ''The Mercury (Hobart)'', Saturday 3 September 1938 p 5]</ref>

In addition to his stage and film performances, MacDonald worked extensively in Melbourne radio.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article65855107?searchTerm=%22dad%20rudd%20mp%22&searchLimits=l-category=Article%7Ccategory%3AArticle|||sortby=dateAsc '"Dave" Was Once a Matinee Idol. FRED McDONALD FOUND FILM FAME BY LUCK', ''Morwell Advertiser (Morwell)'', Thursday 8 May 1941 Edition: morning. p 12]</ref>

==Select filmography== *''The Hayseeds' Back-blocks Show'' (1917) *''The Hayseeds Come to Sydney'' (1917) *''The Hayseeds' Melbourne Cup'' (1918) * ''On Our Selection'' (1932) *''The Squatter's Daughter'' (1933) *''The Silence of Dean Maitland'' (1934) * ''Grandad Rudd'' (1935) * ''Dad and Dave Come to Town'' * ''Dad Rudd, MP'' (1940)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0531720|name=Fred MacDonald}} * [http://www.ausstage.edu.au/indexdrilldown.jsp?xcid=59&f_contrib_id=235937 Fred MacDonald] at AusStage * [http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/summary/summary.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;page=0;parentid=;query=Person%3A%22%2FPerson%2Fkey%2F22157-1%22;querytype=;resCount=10 Fred MacDonald] at National Film and Sound Archive

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Fred}} Category:Australian male stage actors Category:Australian male film actors Category:20th-century Australian male actors Category:1895 births Category:1968 deaths Category:British emigrants to Australia