Who played the first televised Ronald McDonald in McDonald's advertising?

Willard Scott played the first televised Ronald McDonald in McDonald's advertising.

Scott portrayed the character in early Washington, D.C., television commercials in 1963. At that time, Ronald McDonald was being developed as a new child-focused mascot, and Scott's performance helped establish the character's clown appearance and friendly personality.

The first version of Ronald was not identical to the later costume. Early advertising gave him distinctive food-related costume elements, including a tray-like hat and a cup-shaped nose. The character's appearance was later standardized and refined as McDonald's expanded its national marketing.

Scott is also widely known for his later career as a television weather presenter, which can make the advertising connection easy to overlook. Ronald McDonald eventually became one member of a larger fictional group, including the Hamburglar and Grimace, but Scott's 1963 performance came before those characters became central to McDonald's children's marketing.