Malcolm McFee

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Malcolm McFee, (1949 - 2001) was an English actor. Born on 16th August 1949 in Forest Gate, Newham, he was best known for his role as Peter Craven in the hit TV series Please Sir! (1968) and The Fenn Street Gang (1971). Please Sir! was set in a south London secondary school called The Fenn Street School, the situation comedy assayed the travails of a naive school teacher played by John Alderton and his unruly class of students. McFee, who turned 19 when the program was first broadcast in 1968, played one of the mob of rowdy adolescent boys and girls. McFee also was in the 1971 movie of the same name, Please Sir! (1971). He appeared in the anti-war satirical musical Oh! What a Lovely War (1969). In 1971 he played the role of a young soldier in the BBC's Elizabeth R and also that year he was cast as a travel clerk in The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes. In late 1971 aged 22, he married Margaret Kearnan who gave birth to their daughter Victoria in 1980, they were later divorced in 1995.

After series star John Alderton left the show in 1971, the series was renamed "The Fenn Street Gang" and focused on the kids after they had left school. "The Fenn Street Gang" lasted until from 1971-1973, McFee was unavailable for the first series but returned in 1972 as Peter Craven for series 2 and 3. The shows were popular, consistently ranking in the top five during their entire runs.

McFee's career disintegrated after "The Fenn Street Gang" (1971-1973). He made guest appearances on other TV shows such as Bless This House in 1973, The Sweeney 1978, Goodnight Sweetheart 1996, Birds of a Feather 1997 and The Detectives 1997. He turned to the stage, where he made a career as an actor and director. As a theatre director, he worked in small theatres in Greater London and the provinces, he directed and starred in more than 250 shows. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1999 and in June 1999 married divorcee Jacqueline Marsh who gave birth to their son, Calum in August 1997. McFee held a range of charity events to raise funds for the Oncology Unit at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, including a Rick Wakeman concert at the Braintree Institute and a number of celebrity golf days which raised £3,400. He was a familiar face to regulars of the Wagon and Horses pub in Braintree Essex, which he ran. He died of cancer aged 52 on 18th November 2001 at his home in Braintree, Essex, three weeks before he was scheduled to appear as the Dame in the pantomime of Beauty and the Beast at the Chesham-based Elgiva Theatre company.