[1] His father, Allan Grant McLean, was head of the Canadian Grain Commission and chairman of the Liberal Party of Canada.
[1] One of the notable productions he worked on during World War II was the documentary Target - Berlin for the Canada Carries On series, which showed the building of the first Lancaster bomber to be made in Canada, with McLean later flying in the plane to capture footage of a bombing raid over Berlin in Germany.
[2] He later claimed that he had not liked Mao, although he had been friendly with Zhou Enlai, whose support had been vital in enabling him to travel freely across China in the making of the film.
[9] When LaMarsh sought the advice of NFB founder John Grierson as to who should succeed Roberge on a full-time basis, he suggested that either McLean or Sydney Newman were the only viable replacements.
[11] During McLean's brief time in charge of the NFB, the Board's most noted achievement was the production of the innovative multi-screen film In the Labyrinth for the Expo 67 exhibition in Montreal.