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Joe Maggard was born in the small Appalachian coal town of Lynch, Kentucky. At age five, he moved with his family to southeastern North Carolina. When he was sixteen, he dove into a local lake and broke his neck. Maggard spent nearly a year in the hospital with two metal spikes drilled into his skull, confined to a foster frame. He was paralyzed for a time but eventually regained the use of his legs and served overseas in the US Army from 1974 to 1976 during the final days of the Vietnam War. Afterward, Maggard became a Deputy Sheriff with the Brunswick County Sheriff's Department in North Carolina. While working as a police officer, he began acting at the historic Thalian Hall in Wilmington, North Carolina. He appeared in over 20 theater productions, including *Mr. Roberts*, *Oklahoma*, and his critically acclaimed one-man show *Rattlesnake in a Cooler*.
In the mid-1980s, Dino De Laurentiis arrived in Wilmington and built a movie studio with his future wife, Martha De Laurentiis. Maggard worked as security on De Laurentiis's first feature film shot in Wilmington, Stephen King's *Firestarter*. After three years in law enforcement, Maggard left to pursue his dream of acting in film and television. Over the next several years, he worked in various departments on numerous feature films, collaborating with some of the industry's biggest names. He credits theater with sharpening his acting skills and providing the opportunity to perform before live audiences. His first speaking role was in *Black Rainbow*, directed by Mike Hodges and starring Jason Robards and Rosanna Arquette.
In the mid-1990s, Maggard was hired to double as the famous clown Ronald McDonald in television commercials. During filming, he was asked to assume the role due to the illness of the primary Ronald. Maggard traveled to Oak Brook and signed a covenant with McDonald's Worldwide. His critically acclaimed mockumentary *Ronald* became a major success on the film festival circuit. Now retired, he enjoys playing music, painting, poker, and gardening.
