| Roddy McDowall | ||||||||||
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 Roddy McDowall at the 1988 Academy Awards |
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| Birth name | Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall | |||||||||
| Born | September 17 1928 Herne Hill, London, England, United Kingdom |
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| Died | October 3 1998 (aged 70) Los Angeles, California, USA |
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| Years active | 1938 - 1998 | |||||||||
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Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (September 17, 1928 – October 3, 1998) was an English-American actor.
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Biography
Early life
McDowall was born in Herne Hill, London, the son of Winsfriede L. (née Corcoran), an Irish-born aspiring actress, and Thomas Andrew McDowall, a Merchant Mariner of Scottish descent.[1] Both of his parents were enthusiastic about the theatre. He had a sister, Virginia (1927 - 2006). McDowall made his first major film appearance at age twelve (though he had previously appeared in several British films), after he and his family came to America because of the Blitz. He played Huw in How Green Was My Valley (1941) a rôle that made his name, and he appeared in other films as a child actor, including The Keys of the Kingdom (1944), The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) and Lassie Come Home (1943) where he co-starred, on the first of many occasions, opposite lifelong friend Elizabeth Taylor.
Adult career
McDowall was one of the few child actors to continue his career successfully into adulthood, but it was usually in character roles, notably in heavy makeup as various "chimpanzee" characters in four of the Planet of the Apes movies (1968 – 1973) and in the 1974 TV series that followed. Other film appearances included Cleopatra (1963), in which he played Octavian, the later Emperor Augustus; It! (1966), in which he played a Norman Bates character reminiscent of Psycho; The Poseidon Adventure (1972), in which he played Acres, a dining room attendant; Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974); Class of 1984 (1982); Fright Night (1985), in which he played Peter Vincent, a television host and moderator of telecast horror films; and Overboard (1987) in which he played a kind-hearted butler. He also appeared on stage and was frequently a guest star on television shows, appearing in such series as the original The Twilight Zone, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Night Gallery, The Invaders, The Carol Burnett Show, Fantasy Island, Columbo and Quantum Leap. He appeared frequently on Hollywood Squares, and occasionally came up with funny quips himself. For example:
Q. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, what does Queen Gertrude get that was meant for her famous son? McDOWALL: A dozen roses and a box of candy.
He played a character villain, "The Bookworm", in the camp 1960s TV series Batman and had an acclaimed recurring role as The Mad Hatter in Batman: The Animated Series as well as providing his adroit dramatic tones to the audio adaptation of the 1989 Batman film. He also played the rebel scientist Dr. Jonathan Willoway in the 1970s Bermuda Triangle-based sci-fi series, The Fantastic Journey. His final acting role in animation (at least), was for an episode of Godzilla: The Series in the episode "Dreadloch". In A Bug's Life (1998), one of his final contributions to motion pictures, he provides the voice of the ant "Mr. Soil". During the 1990s, McDowall became active in film preservation and participated in the restoration of Cleopatra (1963), which had been severely cut by 20th Century Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck after skyrocketing production costs. McDowall served for several years in various capacities on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that presents the Oscar Awards. He was Chairman of the Actor's Branch for five terms. He was elected President of the Academy Foundation the year that he died. McDowall received recognition as a photographer and published five books of photographs, one being of his celebrity friends such as Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Judy Holliday and Maureen O'Hara.
Personal life
In 1974, the FBI raided the home of McDowall and seized the actor's collection of films and television series in the course of an investigation of movie piracy and copyright infringement. His collection consisted of 160 16 mm prints and over 1,000 videocassettes, at a time before the era of videotapes when there was no legal aftermarket for films (copying or selling prints obtained from studios without owning the copyright was illegal). McDowall had purchased Errol Flynn's home movies and the prints of his own directorial debut Tam Lin (1970) starring Ava Gardner, and transferred them all to tape for longer-lasting archival storage. McDowall was quite forthcoming about those who dealt with him: Rock Hudson, Dick Martin and Mel Tormé were just a few of the celebrities interested in his film reproductions. No charges were brought against McDowall.
Death
On October 3, 1998, McDowall died in Studio City, California from lung cancer at the age of 70. One of his last public appearances occurred when he accompanied then-88-year-old actress Luise Rainer to the 70th Oscar ceremony. Rainer was the earliest recipient of a Best Actress Oscar who attended that year's Academy Award telecast, which featured more than 70 living previous Oscar winners willing and able to attend.
Works
Filmography
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Television
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References
External links
- Roddy McDowall at the Internet Movie Database
- Roddy McDowall at the Internet Broadway Database
- Tribute site with career and biographical information, image gallery, sound clips, links, articles, US TV guide, and a fan club with mailing list
- Roddy McDowall on glbtq.com
- Documents from the 1974 FBI Raid
