Grange Hill legend Lee MacDonald diagnosed with cancer aged 56 as he issues warning
The actor starred in Grange Hill playing the role of Zammo between 1982 and 1987.
Former Grange Hill actor Lee MacDonald, 56, has shared a health update to say that he has been diagnosed with skin cancer. The 56-year-old actor, best known for his role as Zammo on the 1980s drama, updated fans on his X (formely Twitter) account in a post that has since been deleted.
Lee explained that he went to the doctors over an "unusual spot" as he urged others to "keep an eye on anything unusual". He added that he should be getting it "sorted over the next couple of days".
The post read: "Went to the doctors today to check an unusual spot on my face! Doctor says it's cancer! As we older please keep an eye on anything unusual and hopefully get it looked at early!!! Booked in to get it sorted over the next couple of days!"
Lee was a legend on Grange Hill as his character Samuel Maguire, who was also known as Zammo, had one of the hardest hitting storylines on the show. The character attended the fictional north London school between 1982 and 1987, where viewers watched him spiral into a heroin addiction.
It was seen as one of Grange Hill's most popular and controversial storylines, but the actor admitted that it made it harder for him to find other work once he left the fictional school.
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Speaking in 2007, Lee told fan site Grange Hill Gold: "After [the new series] was out, my agent said 'Nobody wants you any more because it's a drugs related character. So nobody wants to use you.'
"I lost loads of work because adults didn't want me at the club because it was drugs related. But that's the power of telly... More so in the 80s when there was only a couple of channels.
"Things were taken a lot more seriously than they are now. There's so much stuff that kids watch now that is outrageous."
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After leaving Grange Hill in 1987 he planned to turn his boxing hobby into a career. However, at the age of 21 he was involved in a serious car accident.
He was involved in a police chase in his dad's van when it crashed, sending Lee through the windscreen at 90mph. It left him with him with severe head injuries, meaning that he had to give up his dreams of boxing.
Lee went on to become a locksmith and open his own Surrey store in 2000 before returning to the soap world in 2019 as bus driver Terry in EastEnders.
Express.co.uk have contacts Lee's representatives for comment