Malcolm McFee
{{Short description|English actor (1949–2001)}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Malcolm McFee
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1949|08|16}}
| birth_place = Forest Gate, Essex, England, UK
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|2001|11|18|1949|08|16}}
| death_place = Braintree, Essex, England, UK
| othername =
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1967–2001
| children = 3
}}
Malcolm Raymond McFee (16 August 1949 – 18 November 2001) was an English actor best known for his role as Peter Craven in the TV series Please Sir!, the film of the same name, and the spin-off TV series The Fenn Street Gang.
Career
Malcolm McFee made his first appearance on television in 1967. In 1968, he began a three-season stint in the London Weekend Television situation comedy series Please Sir! playing the part of smooth wide-boy{{cite web | title = Please Sir! / The Fenn Street Gang | work = Television Heaven |url=http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/pleasesir.htm | accessdate=8 October 2011}} Peter Craven. He continued the role into the 1971 feature film comedy version, also called Please Sir!. McFee had made his film debut in the 1969 satirical anti-war musical Oh! What a Lovely War.{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064754/fullcredits#cast | title=Full cast and crew for Oh! What a Lovely War | publisher=IMDb | accessdate=22 November 2011}}
The Please Sir! TV series spawned a comedy sequel called The Fenn Street Gang, which ran from 1971 to 1973. McFee was unavailable for season one as he was appearing in the West End play Forget-Me-Not-LaneDaily Mirror, 7 August 1971 and the part of Craven was played for that season by Leon Vitali. McFee returned for seasons two and three. He appeared on television many times in the 1970s but was only rarely seen after this, until 1993.
After turning to the stage, McFee made a career as an actor and director, working as a theatre director in small theatres in Greater London and the provinces.
His last TV role was in an episode of the long-running Thames Television police drama series The Bill,{{cite web| url=http://www.tv.com/people/malcolm-mcfee/| title=Malcolm McFee Biography | publisher=tv.com uk | accessdate=12 October 2011}} in 1997.
McFee also appeared as a guest on This is Your Life for John Alderton in 1974, and presented three episodes of BBC pre-school programme You and Me in 1978.{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397225/combined | title=You and Me | publisher=IMDb | accessdate=17 November 2011}} He was the reporter and clown in the 1980s BBC schools science programme Science Workshop.{{cite web | url=http://www.tvcream.co.uk/?tag=roger-sloman | title=Programmes for Schools and Colleges, Module 3 | publisher=TV cream | accessdate=5 April 2013}}
Music journalist Simon Goddard has suggested that McFee is the subject of Morrissey's song "Little Man, What Now?" from his 1988 album Viva Hate,{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O3pEsVdZWUoC&q=%22Roger+Tonge%22+morrissey&pg=PA224 | title=Google books, Mozipedia | isbn=9780091927103 | accessdate=9 April 2013| last1=Goddard | first1=Simon | year=2012 | publisher=Ebury }}{{cite book | first=Simon | last=Goddard | title=Mozipedia | page=224 }} although previous opinions have suggested Jack Wild{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4766430.stm | title=Obituary: Jack Wild | work=BBC News | date=2 March 2006 | accessdate=9 April 2013}} or Roger Tonge{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cqtgBBHkbpsC&q=%22Roger+Tonge%22+morrissey&pg=PA109 | title=Google books, Morrissey: Scandal and Passion | isbn=9781861059680 | accessdate=9 April 2013| last1=Bret | first1=David | date=April 2007 | publisher=Pavilion Books }}{{cite book | first=David | last=Bret | title=Morrissey: Scandal and Passion | page=109 }} as the subject. The song mentions an ATV series axed after four years, and Morrissey watching it on a Friday night (season 1 of Please Sir! was indeed broadcast on Friday nights although subsequent seasons went out on Saturday or Sunday nights), and tells of the fall of a TV star of the 1960s who later became unknown.{{cite web | url=http://www.lyricsfreak.com/m/morrissey/little+man+what+now+_20096128.html | title=Little Man, What Now? Lyrics | publisher=Lyrics Freak | accessdate=9 April 2013}}
Television appearances
Apart from Please Sir! and The Fenn Street Gang, McFee appeared in the following television programmes:{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0568849/filmotype | title=Filmography by type for Malcolm McFee | publisher=Internet Movie Database ("IMDb") | accessdate=13 November 2011}}
Personal life
From 1960 to 1965, McFee attended Plaistow County Grammar School. He was briefly the drummer in a band called The Abstracts with some schoolfriends before devoting himself to acting.
In 1971, he married Margaret Kearnan.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} They divorced in 1995.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} McFee had three children, including a daughter, Victoria, born to Margaret in 1980.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}}
In an interview in 1973, McFee said that he owned a Ford Capri and had a cat called Perdita Pusscat.Pink, issue 25, 8 September 1973{{cite web | url=http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/actors-actresses/110029-malcolm-mcfee.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130419223615/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/actors-actresses/110029-malcolm-mcfee.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=19 April 2013 | title=Malcolm McFee, entry No. 17 | publisher=Britmovie | date=25 September 2011 | accessdate=3 October 2012 }}
McFee died suddenly on 18 November 2001, at the age of 52, at his home in Braintree, Essex, shortly before he was due to appear as a dame in a pantomime of Beauty and the Beast at the Elgiva Theatre in Chesham. He had been suffering from cancer.{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0568849/bio | title=Biography for Malcolm McFee | publisher=IMDb | accessdate=3 April 2013}} McFee had been raising money for the Oncology Department of Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex as a "Thank you" for the treatment he received from them. David Barry and Penny Spencer, who both appeared with McFee in Please Sir!, attended his funeral.{{cite web | url=http://www.classictelly.com/programme.php?Programme=Please_Sir | title=Please Sir Classic TV Show, Please Sir Fan Tributes, Item 5 by Victoria McFee| publisher=Classic Telly | accessdate=9 November 2011}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Oh! What a Lovely War | Frederick Percy 'Freddie' Smith | |
| 1971 | Please Sir! | Peter Craven |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0568849}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McFee, Malcolm}}
Category:Actors from the London Borough of Newham
Category:Male actors from Essex
Category:English male television actors
Category:English male film actors