Who played Ronald McDonald in the first televised McDonald’s commercial?

Willard Scott played Ronald McDonald in the first televised McDonald’s commercial featuring the character.

Scott portrayed Ronald in an early 1960s advertisement, helping establish the clown as a recognizable public face for the restaurant chain. Before Ronald became the elaborate McDonaldland character known from later campaigns, the commercial used a simpler presentation of the mascot.

Willard Scott was already a familiar broadcaster and television personality. His involvement is sometimes overlooked because Ronald McDonald was later portrayed by other actors and became associated with a large fictional world containing characters such as the Hamburglar and Grimace.

Ronald McDonald’s early design also changed over time. The first televised version had a more improvised appearance, including packaging-inspired costume elements, while later versions adopted the standardized red-haired clown design used in national advertising. The character’s debut is commonly dated to 1963, but the performer and later portrayals are separate parts of the mascot’s history.