Lee MacDonald (born 21 June 1968) is an English actor, who is known for his role as Zammo McGuire in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

drama ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

''. Since then, he has made cameo appearances on '' Birds of a Feather'' and ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

''. In 2019, he began appearing in the BBC soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' as Terry.

Career

MacDonald became introverted at age five after his elder sister died, which led to a teacher at his primary school suggesting he attend an after-school drama club. This was the

Anna Scher Theatre The Anna Scher Theatre is an independent and co-educational performing arts school based in Islington, Greater London. It was founded in 1968 by Anna Scher. It is considered among the first schools of its kind geared towards working class stud ...

and resulted in minor television roles before an audition for ''Grange Hill''. He appeared in ''

'' ("A Willing Victim" (S09 E66)) as Martin Buckley, a boxer, with Melissa Wilks playing his wife Sandra. He appeared in the Sky 1 show ''

Cirque de Celebrité ''Cirque de Celebrité'' is a celebrity reality television show broadcast on Sky One. The show features celebrities training for and then performing various circus acts. The winner of the series of 2006 was Grace Adams-Short. A second series ...

'' until he was voted out on the fourth show. He was, however, invited back when

Sophie Anderton Sophie Louise Balinska-Jundzillova (born 14 May 1977) is an English model and reality television personality. Her modelling career included a campaign for Gossard bras in 1996, and later included appearances for a range of other brands. Sinc ...

left due to injury, but was again voted out on the seventh show. MacDonald filmed a pilot for a series entitled ''Cabbies'' for ITV: he also appeared as a travel correspondent on BroadbandTV. In October 2008, MacDonald appeared in

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

's ''

Celebrity Scissorhands ''Celebrity Scissorhands'' is a reality television show that is part of the BBC's ''Children in Need'' charity campaign, in which celebrities attempt to cut people's hair to raise money for the campaign while trained and watched by professional h ...

'', where celebrities learned to cut hair and do other beauty treatments, raising money for BBC

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

. In November 2015, MacDonald took part in a "Child Stars" edition of ''

Pointless Celebrities ''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but ob ...

'', with fellow ''Grange Hill'' star

Erkan Mustafa Erkan Mustafa (born 14 May 1970) is a British actor and television presenter of Turkish Cypriot descent, most noted for the part of Roland Browning in ''Grange Hill'' (BBC 1982–1987). Other parts include "Enormous Orphan" in '' Blackadder's ...

as his teammate. In September 2016, he appeared on an edition of ITV's '' Who's Doing the Dishes?''. In April 2019, it was announced that MacDonald would appear in the BBC soap opera ''

'' as Terry. In July 2019, MacDonald appeared as a guest artist on a single called "We Are London". The song was by British band The Knowledge. The video for the song also featured British actress

Maureen Lipman Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, columnist and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakesp ...

and BBC Radio presenter and journalist Duncan Barkes. On 30 November 2019, MacDonald surprised

Robert Rinder Robert Michael Rinder (; born 31 May 1978), sometimes known as Judge Rinder, is a British criminal barrister and television personality. In 2014, while still a practising barrister, he began hosting the reality television#Reality court shows, r ...

as a guest in the "Midnight Gameshow" of ''

Michael McIntyre's Big Show ''Michael McIntyre's Big Show'' is a British variety and stand-up comedy television series, presented by British comedian Michael McIntyre, and broadcast by BBC One. The show was originally a one-off Christmas special in 2015, ''Michael McInty ...

''. In a special Christmas Day episode of podcast ''White Wine Question Time'', released in December 2020, MacDonald told host

Kate Thornton Kate Thornton (born 7 February 1973) is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known as the first presenter of ''The X Factor'' (2004–2006) and for presenting daytime shows including '' Loose Women'' (2009–2011) and '' This Morning'' (2 ...

how the role of Zammo had typecast him in his acting career and that he was jealous of other ''Grange Hill'' colleagues like John Alford doing so well. In addition to acting, MacDonald has worked for many years as a locksmith in Wallington, Surrey. In June 2024, MacDonald announced that he had been diagnosed with a form of

skin cancer Skin cancers are cancers that arise from the Human skin, skin. They are due to the development of abnormal cells (biology), cells that have the ability to invade or metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. It occurs when skin cells grow ...

after noticing an "unusual spot" on his face.

References

External links

We Are London featuring Lee MacDonald.
*

AGENT - CHERRY PARKER MANAGEMENT 1968 births Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School Living people English male television actors English male child actors {{England-actor-stub