Squire Fridell

Squire Fridell (born February 9, 1943) is an American retired actor, author, and winemaker who is widely known for his prolific work in the field of commercials; in the 1980s alone, Fridell served concurrently as spokesman for Toyota cars and McDonald's, portraying Ronald McDonald.

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

Fridell began his acting career on stage in Southern California in 1968. In 1974 he was an acting teacher at El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera, California.

From 1978 to 2012, he was a spokesman in the American TV ads for the Toyota Motor Corporation. Fridell became the official Ronald McDonald clown character in 1985, after King Moody retired from the role after 16 years. He portrayed the character in the McDonald's Corporation television commercials and for the chain fast-food restaurants for six years until 1991. Besides the commercials, he also portrayed the character in the 1988 film Mac and Me and provided the voice of the 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 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. Laurel Coppock's "Jan" succeeded Fridell as the company's advertising spokesperson in 2012 and remains to the present day.

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

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