Squire Fridell

Squire Fridell
Fridell in 1977
Born	(1943-02-09) February 9, 1943 Oakland, California, U.S.
Education	University of the Pacific
Occupation(s)	Actor, author, winemaker
Years active	1968–1996
Spouse	Suzy McDermaid ​ (m. 1977)​
Children	1

Squire Fridell (born February 9, 1943) is a retired American actor, author and winemaker, known for his work in over three thousand television commercials.

Early life

Fridell was born in Oakland, California. He attended the University of the Pacific where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity.

Career

Fridell began his acting career on stage in South Carolina in 1968.

From 1978 to 2012, he was a spokesman for the American TV ads for The Toyota Motor Corporation. He is best known for his portrayal as the official Ronald McDonald clown character in American television commercials for the McDonald's Corporation chain of fast-food restaurants from 1985 to 1991, and even played the character in Mac and Me and the voice talent of a character in the 1989 DiC animated film The Adventures of Ronald McDonald: McTreasure Island. From the 1970s until the mid-1990s, Fridell also had supporting character roles in a number of popular TV series, such as Rosetti and Ryan, M*A*S*H, Newhart, Ironside and Adam-12.

In 1980, Harmony Books published Fridell's book, Acting in Television Commercials for Fun and Profit, subsequently re-released by Random House in 2005.

Fridell returned as himself in several Toyota commercials in 2010, responding to the image damage the company suffered due to a slow response to safety issues in 2009.

He is also the co-owner and operator of GlenLyon Vineyards.

Author

Fridell, Squire. Acting in Television Commercials for Fun and Profit, 4th Edition (2009). Penguin Random House.

Personal life

Squire and Suzy (a professional dancer and dance teacher for many years) were married in 1977. They have one daughter, Lexy, who is pursuing an acting career in New York City. The family currently resides in Glen Ellen (in the Sonoma Valley region of that state) where they have operated the GlenLyon Vineyards and Winery since 1989.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Pink Motel	George
1983	Imps*	Newscaster
1986	Miracles	Yates
1988	Mac and Me	Ronald McDonald
1990	The Adventures of Ronald McDonald: McTreasure Island	Ronald McDonald (voice)	Direct-to-video
1995	Village of the Damned	The Sheriff

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	The Bold Ones: The New Doctors	Dr. Jessup	Episode: "This Day's Child"
	Ironside	1st Attendant	Episode: "Little Dog, Gone"
	The Young Lawyers	George Nudavik	Episode: "Where's Aaron"
1970–1972	Adam-12	Palmer, Goldstone, Floyd Bannister	3 episodes
1972	The Strangers in 7A	Pete	Television film
	The Heist	Martin Galvin
1973	Police Story	Mod I.A. Man	Episode: "Man on a Rock"
1975	The Missing Are Deadly	Reporter #2	Television film
1976	Holmes and Yoyo	Albert	Episode: "Funny Money"
1977	Rosetti and Ryan	Frank Ryan	7 episodes
1978	Operation Petticoat	Lt. Meadows	Episode: "Tostin Times Two"
	Human Feelings	Phil Sawyer	Television film
1979	Vega$	Paul Baker	Episode: "The Eleventh Event"
	The Ropes	Bill	Episode: "Days of Beer and Roise"
	Eight is Enough	Pete Burkus	Episode: "Mary, He's Married"
1981	M*A*S*H	Cpl. Alvin Rice	Episode: "Identity Crisis"
1984	Mama's Family	Frank Palmer	Episode: "Supermarket"
	Newhart	Uniform Officer	Episode: "Go, Grandma, Go"
	For Love or Money	Howard	Television film
1985–1991	McDonald Land	Ronald McDonald	45 episodes
1991	Midnight Caller	Bryon Walsh	Episode: "A Cry in the Night"
1992	Bay City Story	Douglas Turner	Television film

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Top Gun: Fire at Will	Air Boss

External links

• GlenLyon Winery site
• Squire Fridell at IMDb