Roddy McDowall

Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British-born American actor, whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across more than 60 years.

He began his career as a child in his native England before starring in How Green Was My Valley (1941), My Friend Flicka (1943), and Lassie Come Home (1943) in America. Unlike many child stars, McDowall evolved into an adult performer on stage and screen. He played Mordred in the Broadway musical Camelot (1960–63), won a Tony Award for his performance in Jean Anouilh's The Fighting Cock, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance in Cleopatra (1963).

He subsequently appeared in a variety of film and television roles, notably as Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes films (1968–73), and in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Legend of Hell House (1973), The Fantastic Journey (1977), Fright Night (1985), "Overboard (1987) A Bug's Life (1998), and as the voice of Jervis Tetch / Mad Hatter in the DC Animated Universe.

McDowall served in various positions on the board of governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the selection committee for the Kennedy Center Honors, contributing to various charities related to the film industry and film preservation. He was a founding member of the National Film Preservation Board and represented the Screen Actors Guild on that board until his death. He was also active as a photographer and journalist.

Early life McDowall was born in Herne Hill, London, the only son of Thomas Andrew McDowall (1896–1978), a merchant seaman, and his Irish wife Winifred (née Corcoran). Both of his parents were enthusiastic about the theatre. McDowall and his elder sister, Virginia, were raised in their mother's Catholic faith. He attended St Joseph's College, Beulah Hill, Upper Norwood, a Roman Catholic secondary school in London.

Career British films After appearing as a child model as a baby, and winning an acting prize in a school play at age nine, McDowell started appearing in films, including I See Ice (1938) with George Formby and Hey! Hey! USA (1938) with Will Hay.

Early US films McDowall and his sister were brought to the United States by their mother after the outbreak of World War II. He became a naturalised United States citizen on 9 December 1949 He then served in the 77th Infantry Division from 1960 to 1962. after which Fox gave McDowall another starring vehicle: Thunderhead – Son of Flicka (1945).

Theatre McDowall turned to the theatre, taking the title role of Young Woodley in summer stock in Westport, Connecticut, in July 1946. In 1947, he played Malcolm in Orson Welles's stage production of Macbeth in Salt Lake City, and reprised the role in the actor-director's film version in 1948. He starred in seven films at Monogram, for which he also worked as associate producer, including Kidnapped (1948), an adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story, wherein he played David Balfour.

1950s: Television and theatre After relocating to New York City, McDowall became a frequent presence in live television drama, appearing in numerous televised plays and anthology series throughout the 1950s. He also had a significant career on Broadway, including a production of Misalliance (1953) that he said "broke the mould" in how he was judged as an actor. Ira Levin's No Time for Sergeants (1955–57) was a major hit, followed by a critical success with Compulsion (1957–58) based on the Leopold and Loeb case, after which McDowell won a Tony Award for Peter Brook's The Fighting Cock (1960).

1960: Return to Hollywood

McDowall enjoyed another big hit on Broadway with the musical Camelot (1960–63), which starred Julie Andrews and Richard Burton. He took part in a TV production of The Tempest (1960) alongside Burton and Maurice Evans, before appearing in his first film in almost a decade, The Subterraneans (1960), followed by Midnight Lace (1960). He was also seen in The Longest Day (1962) prior to his portrayal of Octavian in Cleopatra. He worked in film throughout the decade, notably in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), Lord Love a Duck (1966), and 5 Card Stud (1968), though his most memorable role was as Cornelius in Planet of the Apes. He appeared in three Planet of the Apes sequels and the TV series.

McDowall continued to work regularly in television, including his Emmy-winning turn in Sunday Showcase and a production of The Power and the Glory (1961) with Laurence Olivier, George C. Scott, and Julie Harris.

1970s–1990s McDowall made his lone effort as a director with Tam Lin (1970, also known as The Ballad of Tam Lin and The Devil's Widow). As an actor, he was in Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), and Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). In addition to his television work, most significantly in Columbo, he made his third Apes film as Caesar, son of his earlier character, Cornelius, in 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. He took supporting roles in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) before his final Apes film, Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). During the short-lived TV spin-off of Planet of the Apes (1974), he made a guest appearance on The Carol Burnett Show in his Planet of the Apes makeup and performed a love duet with Burnett.

Asked about his career in a 1975 interview, McDowall said, "I just hope to keep working and in interesting things." For the rest of his life, he alternated between features, TV films, and guesting on TV series, including Overboard, on which he also served as executive producer.

In 1989, he said, "I feel as Henry Fonda did that every job I get may be my last. I'm one of those creatures born to be working. I feel better when I'm working. I don't like it when I'm not working and I've never worked as much as I want to."

He was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1993, when he was surprised by Michael Aspel at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.

In one of his final public appearances, McDowall hosted the MGM Musicals Tribute at Carnegie Hall in 1997.

Other work

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences McDowall served for several years in various capacities on the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organisation that presents the Academy Awards (Oscars), and on the selection committee for the Kennedy Center Awards. He was chairman of the Actors' Branch for five terms. He was elected president of the Academy Foundation in 1998, the year that he died. He worked to support the Motion Pictures Retirement Home, where a rose garden named in his honour was officially dedicated on 9 October 2001. It remains part of the campus.

Photographer and author McDowall received recognition as a photographer, working with Look, Vogue, Collier's, and Life. His work includes a cover story on Mae West for Life and the cover of the 1964 Barbra Streisand album, The Third Album. He took the photograph when Streisand performed on The Judy Garland Show in October 1963.

He published five books of photographs, each featuring photos and profile interviews of his celebrity friends interviewing each other, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland, Judy Holliday, Maureen O'Hara, Katharine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, and others, starting with Double Exposure in 1968.

Honours For his contributions to television, McDowall received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, at 6632 Hollywood Blvd.

Personal life McDowall had a close relationship with American actor Montgomery Clift. McDowall had been introduced to Clift by mutual friend Elizabeth Taylor. McDowall’s relationship with Clift overlapped with Clift's relationship with actor Judy Balaban, during which McDowall would occasionally accompany them on public outings. Balaban has said she was ignorant of Clift's sexual orientation and his close relationship with McDowall. During the two and a half years that Clift stayed away from films, McDowall's career was also nonexistent. He devoted himself entirely to Clift and moved from Los Angeles to New York City to be closer to his idol.

McDowall appeared with Clift in Clift’s final movie, The Defector. Clift later stated that he could never have finished the film without McDowall's moral support. McDowall sent flowers to Clift’s funeral after his sudden death.

In 1974, the FBI raided McDowall's home and seized his collection of films and television series in the course of an investigation into film piracy and copyright infringement. His collection consisted of 160 16mm prints and more than 1000 video cassettes, at a time before the era of commercial videotapes, when no legal aftermarket existed for film. McDowall had purchased Errol Flynn's home cinema films and transferred them all to tape for longer-lasting archival storage. No charges were filed.

Death McDowall was diagnosed with cancer, and died on 3 October 1998, aged 70. His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean on 7 October 1998, off Los Angeles County. Dennis Osborne, a screenwriter, cared for McDowall in his final months, and was quoted as saying, "It was very peaceful. It was just as he wanted it. It was exactly the way he planned."

Filmography Film

Convict 99 Jimmy Murder in the Family Peter Osborne John Halifax Boy 1939 Poison Pen Choir Boy Uncredited

His Brother's Keeper Boy Dead Man's Shoes Boy Just William Ginger Saloon Bar Boy

You Will Remember Young Bob Slater Man Hunt Vaner This England Hugo How Green Was My Valley Huw Morgan Confirm or Deny Albert Perkins

Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake Young Benjamin Blake On the Sunnyside Hugh Aylesworth The Pied Piper Ronnie Cavanaugh

My Friend Flicka Ken McLaughlin Lassie Come Home Joe Carraclough

The White Cliffs of Dover Young John Ashwood The Keys of the Kingdom Young Francis Chisholm 1945 Thunderhead, Son of Flicka Ken McLaughlin 1945 Molly and Me Jimmy Graham 1946 Holiday in Mexico Stanley Owen

Rocky Chris Hammond Macbeth Malcolm Kidnapped David Balfour

Tuna Clipper Alec MacLennan Black Midnight Scott Jordan

Big Timber Jimmy Killer Shark Ted 1952 The Steel Fist Eric Kardin 1958 The Big Country Hannassey Watchman Uncredited

The Subterraneans Yuri Gilgoric Midnight Lace Malcolm Stanley 1962 The Longest Day Pvt. Morris 1963 Cleopatra Octavian 1964 Shock Treatment Martin Ashley

The Greatest Story Ever Told Matthew That Darn Cat! Gregory Benson The Third Day Oliver Parsons The Loved One D.J. Jr. Inside Daisy Clover Walter Baines

Lord Love a Duck Alan Musgrave The Defector Agent Adams

The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin Bullwhip Griffin The Cool Ones Tony Krum It! Arthur Pimm

Planet of the Apes Cornelius 5 Card Stud Nick Evers

Midas Run Wister Hello Down There Nate Ashbury Angel, Angel, Down We Go Santoro 1970 Tam Lin Director. McDowall's only directorial outing.

Pretty Maids All in a Row Proffer Escape from the Planet of the Apes Cornelius Terror in the Sky Ralph Baird Bedknobs and Broomsticks Rowan Jelk

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes Caesar The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean Frank Gass The Poseidon Adventure Acres

Arnold Robert The Legend of Hell House Benjamin Franklin Fischer Battle for the Planet of the Apes Caesar 1974 Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry Grocery Store Manager 1975 Funny Lady Bobby

Mean Johnny Barrows Tony Da Vince Embryo Frank Riley 1977 Sixth and Main Skateboard

Laserblast Dr. Mellon The Cat from Outer Space Mr. Stallwood Circle of Iron White Robe The Thief of Baghdad Hasan

Scavenger Hunt Jenkins Nutcracker Fantasy Franz/Fritz The Black Hole V.I.N.CENT. (voice) 1981 Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen Gillespie

Evil Under the Sun Rex Brewster Class of 1984 Terry Corrigan 1985 Fright Night Peter Vincent

GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords Nuggit (voice) Friends Are Forever: Tales of the Little Princess Zak the Cat (voice)

Dead of Winter Mr. Murray Overboard Andrew

Doin' Time on Planet Earth Minister Fright Night Part 2 Peter Vincent

The Big Picture Judge Cutting Class Mr. Dante 1990 Shakma Sorenson

Timmy's Gift: A Precious Moments Christmas Narrator (voice) Going Under Secretary Neighbor 1992 Double Trouble Philip Chamberlain

The Evil Inside Me Pauly The Return of Captain Sinbad Narrator (voice) 1994 Mirror, Mirror II: Raven Dance Dr. Lasky

The Grass Harp Amos Legrand The Alien Within Dr. Henry Lazarus Last Summer in the Hamptons Thomas Star Hunter Riecher 1996 It's My Party Damian Knowles 1997 The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo King Murphy

Something to Believe In Gambler A Bug's Life Mr. Soil (voice) Posthumous release Good as Gold (1957) Compulsion (1957) Handful of Fire (1958) Look After Lulu (1959)

The Fighting Cock (1959) Camelot (1960) The Astrakhan Coat (1967) Charlie's Aunt (1975) Dial M for Murder (1995–96) A Christmas Carol: The Musical (1997)

Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1943 Lux Radio Theatre My Friend Flicka 1947 Suspense One Way Street 1948 The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen Rocky Iii and the Dead Mans Chest 1952 Family Theater A Lullaby for Christmas

Awards and nominations