- He volunteered to join the RAF in 1941, but was rejected because of a perforated ear drum. He subsequently enlisted in the Black Watch and served for five years.
- He and his wife, Sheila Manahan McKay, are both interred at East Sheen and Richmond Cemeteries in Weybridge, Surrey, England, in plot JC 187.
- At almost exactly the same time he was cast in Porridge (1974), he was seriously considered by producer Barry Letts for the role of the Fourth Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who (1963) after Jon Pertwee's decision to leave the series in 1974. However, he was never actually approached, as Letts eventually settled on the lesser-known Tom Baker. By the time Baker had started his first season of Doctor Who (1963), Mackay had already appeared on screen as his most famous character, Mr. Mackay.
- There is a flower in Hyde Park named after him.
- He trained at RADA and afterwards had a lengthy tenure on stage with the Glasgow Citizen's Theatre, from 1949 to 1958.
- He was brought up by a widowed aunt after the death of his mother. Before acting, he initially trained as a quantity surveyor.
- His favorite hobbies included salmon fishing and oil painting.
- He was also a playwright.
- He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1984 Queen's New Year Honours List for his services to drama.
- He went into acting after leaving the army,.
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