Ian MacDonald (actor)

MacDonald was the son of Rev. William Pippy and Sarah MacDonald Pippy. He attended schools in Helena, Montana, and developed an interest in acting while he was a student at Helena High School. He continued acting at Intermountain College in Helena, from which he graduated in 1934.[1]

He taught school for two years in Marysville before he moved to Hollywood, after which he washed dishes at a YMCA and studied drama at the Pasadena Community Playhouse.[1]

MacDonald served in the U.S. Army Signal Corps during World War II. He entered on July 13, 1942, and was discharged on April 15, 1946, reaching the rank of captain.[1]

On May 7, 1957, MacDonald played Dull Knife, a Cheyenne chief, in the episode "Dull Knife Strikes for Freedom" on the ABC/Desilu western television series, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, with Hugh O'Brian in the title role as deputy marshal Wyatt Earp. In the story line Dull Knife leads his Indians from their reservation in Oklahoma Territory to their previously promised homeland in Montana.[2] McDonald also played the uncredited colonel in the movie Battleground (1949) who delivered the "Nuts" reply to the German officers demanding that the American forces surrender.

On June 17, 1967, in Santa Monica, California, MacDonald married Shirley Kannegaard, a nurse whom he met when he was a patient at Fort Harrison Veterans Hospital. They remained wed until his death.[1]

On April 11, 1978, MacDonald died at his home in Bozeman, Montana, at age 63.[1]

• Ian MacDonald on IMDb
• Ian MacDonald at Find a Grave