Jeffery Neill MacKay (October 20, 1948 – August 22, 2008)Obituary
Variety.com; accessed August 27, 2008. was an American

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

. MacKay was born in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Career

MacKay played Gordie Masterson, one of the shrunken protagonists, on the fantasy adventure series ''

Dr. Shrinker ''Dr. Shrinker'' was a segment during the first season of the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network's ''The Krofft Supershow'' in 1976. Plot Dr. Shrinker (Jay Robinson) is a mad scientist who creates a shrinking ray that can miniaturize any ...

'', a segment of the Saturday morning children's TV show ''

The Krofft Supershow ''The Krofft Supershow'' is a Saturday morning children's variety show, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. It aired for two seasons from September 11, 1976, to September 2, 1978, on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Background The show was compo ...

''. He may be best remembered as Magnum's friend Mac on '' Magnum, P.I.'', but he was also featured in recurring roles in '' Baa Baa Black Sheep'', as First Lieutenant Donald "Don" French, '' JAG'', ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. It began with the original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel series, '' Galactica 1980'', a line of book adaptat ...

'', ''

Airwolf ''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series. It centers on a high-technology attack helicopter, code-named '' Airwolf'', and its crew. They undertake various exotic missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War the ...

'', ''

The Greatest American Hero ''The Greatest American Hero'' is an American comedy-drama superhero television series that aired on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour pilot movie on March 18, 1981, and ran until February 2, 1983. The seri ...

'' and '' Tales of the Gold Monkey''. He also voiced Fireflight in ''

Transformers ''Transformers'' is a media franchise produced by American toy company Hasbro and Japanese toy company Tomy, Takara Tomy. It primarily follows the heroic Autobots and the villainous Decepticons, two Extraterrestrials in fiction, alien robot fac ...

''.

Death

MacKay died of

liver failure Liver failure is the inability of the liver to perform its normal synthetic and metabolic functions as part of normal physiology. Two forms are recognised, acute and chronic (cirrhosis). Recently, a third form of liver failure known as acute- ...

on August 22, 2008, in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, aged 59.

Partial filmography

*'' Hot Summer in Barefoot County'' (1974) – Culley Joe *''

Axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

'' (1974) – Radio and Television Shows (voice) *''The Brass Ring'' (1975) – Teddy *''

All the President's Men ''All the President's Men'' is a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for ''The Washingto ...

'' (1976) – Reporter *''

'' (1976–1977, TV Series) – Gordie Masterson *'' Baa Baa Black Sheep'' (1976–1978, TV series) – 1st Lt. Donald French *''

'' (1978–1979, TV Series) – CPI Komma / 2nd Crewman *'' Tales of the Gold Monkey'' (1982–1983, TV Series) – Corky *''

'' (1984, TV series) – Sgt. Willie Nash – S1.E11 "To Snare a Wolf" *''

Songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

'' (1984) – Hogan *''

'' (1984, TV Series) – Buddy – S2.E1 "Sweet Britches" *'' Hardcastle and McCormick'' (1985, TV Series) – Nick Farrell – S2.E21 "The Game You Learn from Your Father" *'' Magnum, P.I.'' (1980–1988, TV Series) – Lieutenant McReynolds / Jim 'Mac' Bonnick / Ski / TV News Reporter (voice, uncredited) *''Frame Up'' (1991) – Bob Sprague *''Frame-Up II: The Cover-Up'' (1992) – Deputy Bob Sprague *'' JAG'' (1995–2005, TV Series) – Master Chief Petty Officer 'Big Bud' Roberts, Sr., USN *''

December December is the twelfth and final month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. December's name derives from the Latin word ''decem'' (meaning ten) because it was originally the tenth month of the year in t ...

'' (2010) – Larry Carter (final film role)

References

External links

* 1948 births 2008 deaths Male actors from Dallas American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Deaths from liver failure 20th-century American male actors {{US-tv-actor-1940s-stub