Philip Charles MacKenzie

Philip Charles MacKenzie is an American actor and television director. He is best known for his role as Donald Maltby on Brothers, and as Ted Nichols on Open House, which he worked on with his current wife, Alison La Placa. Career MacKenzie was born in Brooklyn, New York. He made his on-screen debut in Sidney Lumet's 1975 crime drama Dog Day Afternoon. He then began doing numerous television guest roles and co-starring roles in afterschool specials and made-for-TV movies. MacKenzie guest starred on such shows as Three's Company, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Lou Grant (which co-starred his future Brothers castmate, Robert Walden), The Love Boat, The Jeffersons, Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, and WKRP in Cincinnati. In 1980, he appeared as Dr. LaFleur in The Heartbreak Winner, an ABC Afterschool Special episode. That same year, MacKenzie was cast in the pilot of a series proposed for NBC's 1980 fall schedule, The Six O'Clock Follies, a period piece set in 1967 Saigon. After a single preview telecast in April 1980, the network passed on the series' development. MacKenzie then landed his first regular role on the short-lived CBS sitcom Making the Grade in the spring of 1982. Making the Grade was also the first series role for actor George Wendt, with whom MacKenzie worked later that year when he did a guest appearance on "Coach's Daughter", an episode of NBC's Cheers. In 1984, MacKenzie began in the featured role of flamboyant, effeminate Donald Maltby on the Showtime sitcom Brothers. The series portrayed positive gay role models, particularly in the character of Cliff Waters (Paul Regina). MacKenzie's portrayal of resident "queen" and Cliff's unlikely friend Donald provided a sharp contrast to Cliff's masculinity. After the first season concluded, MacKenzie won his first CableACE Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He was nominated for the same award again in 1987, following the show's third season. He continued doing guest roles in between the shooting of Brothers on shows such as Newhart and St. Elsewhere. Also in 1987, MacKenzie began directing selected episodes of Brothers. Since that time, he has directed episodes of more than 30 TV series, including Roseanne, Suddenly Susan, and According to Jim. In 1986, he appeared in the TV film Blind Justice, starring Tim Matheson.