Prior to his work on Star Trek, McKay worked as hair stylist on the music comedy Thank God It's Friday (1978), the television drama The Pride of Jesse Hallam (1981), the last season of Falcon Crest (1989-1990), the crime drama Bugsy (1991), the crime comedy Amos & Andrew (1993), and the action thriller Bound by Honor (1993, with Mark Bussan and Shirley Dolle).