Roddy McDowall Biography

Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 - 3 October 1998) was an English-American actor, voice artist, film director and photographer. He is best known for portraying Cornelius and Caesar in the original Planet of the Apes film series, as well as Galen in the spin-off television series. He began his acting career as a child in England, and then in the United States, in How Green Was My Valley (1941), My Friend Flicka (1943) and Lassie Come Home (1943).

As an adult, McDowall appeared most frequently as a character actor on radio, stage, film, and television. For portraying Augustus in the historical drama Cleopatra (1963), he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture. Other titles include The Longest Day (1962), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), That Darn Cat! (1965), Inside Daisy Clover (1968), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Funny Lady (1975), The Black Hole (1979), Class of 1984 (1982), Fright Night (1985), Overboard (1987), Fright Night Part 2 (1988) and A Bug's Life (1998). He also 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, further contributing to various charities related to the film industry and film preservation.

Early life and career

McDowall was born at 204 Herne Hill Road, Herne Hill, London, the son of Winifriede Lucinda (ne Corcoran), an aspiring actress originally from Ireland, and Thomas Andrew McDowall, a merchant seaman of Scottish descent. Both of his parents were enthusiastic about the theatre. He 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.

Appearing as a child model as a baby, McDowall appeared in several British films as a boy. After winning an acting prize in a school play at age nine, he landed his first major movie role in Scruffy (1938). He then appeared in films starring comedians George Formby and Will Hay, as well as in Walter Forde's thriller Saloon Bar.

His family moved to the United States in 1940 after the outbreak of World War II. McDowall became a naturalized United States citizen on 9 December 1949, and lived in the United States for the rest of his life. He made his first well-known film appearance at the age of 12, playing Huw Morgan in How Green Was My Valley (1941), where he met and became lifelong friends with Maureen O'Hara. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and made him a household name.

He starred in Lassie Come Home (1943), a film that introduced an actress who would become another lifelong friend, Elizabeth Taylor. That same year, he appeared as Ken McLaughlin in My Friend Flicka, and went on to appear in such films as The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) and The White Cliffs of Dover (1944). In 1944, exhibitors voted him the number one "star of tomorrow".

Adult career

McDowall continued his career successfully into adulthood. By the mid-1940s, released from his studio contract, McDowall turned to the theater, taking the title role of Young Woodley (1946) in a summer stock production in Westport, Connecticut. In 1947, he played Malcolm in Orson Welles's stage production of Macbeth in Salt Lake City, Utah, and played the same role in the actor-director's film version in 1948.

He then appeared in several roles for Monogram Pictures, a low-budget studio that welcomed established stars. Apart from Kidnapped (1948), an adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story, the McDowall Monograms were contemporary outdoor adventures; he made seven features for the studio until the series lapsed in 1952. McDowall left Hollywood to act on the Broadway stage, notably in The Fighting Cock, No Time For Sergeants and Camelot with Julie Andrews and Richard Burton, and on television through the 1950s and 1960s.

Having won both an Emmy Award (1961, for NBC Sunday Showcase) and a Tony Award (1961 in The Fighting Cock) he appeared on such television series as the original The Twilight Zone, The Eleventh Hour, Twelve O'Clock High, The Invaders, The Carol Burnett Show, Columbo (1972, "Short Fuse"), Night Gallery, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Mork & Mindy, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Hart to Hart, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Hotel, Murder, She Wrote and Quantum Leap.

He performed in heavy makeup as various chimpanzee characters in four of the Planet of the Apes films (1968-73) and in the 1974 TV series that followed. During one guest appearance on The Carol Burnett Show, he came onstage in his Planet of the Apes makeup and performed a love duet with Burnett.

Film appearances included Cleopatra (1963) as Octavian (the young Emperor Augustus) and was intended to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor but was disqualified when the studio accidentally submitted him for Best Actor instead.

Other films in which he appeared include It! (1967), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), The Legend of Hell House (1973), Bedknobs and Broomsticks, That Darn Cat!, Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, Scavenger Hunt (1979), Evil Under the Sun (1982), Funny Lady, 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), of which he was executive producer.

McDowall appeared frequently on Hollywood Squares and occasionally came up with quips himself. McDowall played "The Bookworm" in the 1960s American TV series Batman and he had a recurring role as the Mad Hatter in Batman: The Animated Series, as well as providing his voice to the audiobook adaptation of the 1989 Batman film. He played the rebel scientist Dr. Jonathan Willoway in the 1970s science fiction TV series, The Fantastic Journey. He had a substantial role in the miniseries version of Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles.

He also worked on Pinky and the Brain where he provided the voice for Brain's rival, Snowball. He also formed a friendship with Pinky and Brain's voices, Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche while working on Pinky and the Brain, LaMarche even called McDowall "A delight as a human being". His final acting role in animation was for an episode of Godzilla: The Series in the episode "DeadLoch". In A Bug's Life (1998), one of his final contributions to motion pictures, he provides the voice of the ant Mr. Soil.

In 1997, he hosted the MGM Musicals Tribute at Carnegie Hall. 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 Oscar Awards, 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 the year that he died. He worked tirelessly to support the Motion Pictures Retirement Home, where a rose garden named in his honour was officially dedicated on 9 October 2001 and remains a part of the campus.

McDowall received recognition as a photographer, working with LOOK, Vogue, Collier's and LIFE, including a cover story on Mae West for LIFE, and 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.

Personal life

Although McDowall made no public statements about his sexual orientation during his lifetime, several authors have claimed that he was discreetly gay.

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 16-mm prints and more than 1,000 video cassettes, at a time before the era of commercial videotapes, when there was no legal aftermarket for films. 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

On 3 October 1998, aged 70, McDowall died of lung cancer at his home in Studio City. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea on 7 October, off Los Angeles County. Dennis Osborne, a screenwriter friend, had cared for the actor in his final months. The media quoted Osborne as having said, "It was very peaceful, it was just as he wanted it. It was exactly the way he planned."

Filmography

• Murder in the Family (1938) as Peter Osborne
• John Halifax (1938) as Boy
• Dead Man's Shoes (1940) as Boy
• Just William (1940) as Ginger
• Saloon Bar (1940) as Boy
• You Will Remember (1941) as Young Bob Slater
• Man Hunt (1941) as Vaner
• This England (1941) as Hugo, Norman Boy
• How Green Was My Valley (1941) as Huw Morgan
• Confirm or Deny (1941) as Albert Perkins
• Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942) as Benjamin - as a Boy
• On the Sunny Side (1942) as Hugh Aylesworth
• The Pied Piper (1942) as Ronnie Cavanaugh
• My Friend Flicka (1943) as Ken McLaughlin
• Lassie Come Home (1943) as Joe Carraclough
• The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) as John Ashwood II as a Boy
• The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) as Francis Chisholm - as a Boy
• Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (1945) as Ken McLaughlin
• Molly and Me (1945) as Jimmy Graham
• Holiday in Mexico (1946) as Stanley Owen
• Rocky (1948) as Chris Hammond
• Macbeth (1948) as Malcolm
• Kidnapped (1948) as David Balfour
• Tuna Clipper (1949) as Alec MacLennan
• Black Midnight (1949) as Scott Jordan
• Big Timber (1950) as Jimmy
• Killer Shark (1950) as Ted
• Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Goes to Bat (1950; short subject)
• The Steel Fist (1952) as Eric Kardin
• The Big Country (1958) as Hannassey Watchman (uncredited)
• The Subterraneans (1960) as Yuri Gilgoric
• Midnight Lace (1960) as Malcolm Stanley
• The Longest Day (1962) as Pvt. Morris
• Cleopatra (1963) as Octavian - Caesar Augustus
• Shock Treatment (1964) as Martin Ashley
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) as Matthew
• The Third Day (1965) as Oliver Parsons
• The Loved One (1965) as D.J. Jr.
• Inside Daisy Clover (1965) as Walter Baines
• That Darn Cat! (1965) as Gregory Benson
• Lord Love a Duck (1966) as Alan Musgrave
• The Defector (1966) as Agent Adams
• The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) as Bullwhip Griffin
• The Cool Ones (1967) as Tony Krum
• It! (1967) as Arthur Pimm
• Planet of the Apes (1968) as Cornelius
• 5 Card Stud (1968) as Nick Evers
• Midas Run (1969) as Wister
• Hello Down There (1969) as Nate Ashbury
• Angel, Angel, Down We Go (1969) as Santoro
• Tam-Lin (1970)
• Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) as Proffer
• Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) as Cornelius
• Terror in the Sky (1971) as Dr. Ralph Baird
• Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) as Mr. Rowan Jelk
• Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) as Caesar
• The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) as Frank Gass
• The Poseidon Adventure (1972) as Acres
• Arnold as Robert
• The Legend of Hell House (1973) as Benjamin Franklin Fischer
• Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) as Caesar / Cornelius
• Funny Lady (1975) as Bobby
• Mean Johnny Barrows (1976) as Tony Da Vince
• Embryo (1976) as Frank Riley
• Sixth and Main (1977) as Skateboard
• Laserblast (1978) as Doctor Mellon
• The Cat from Outer Space (1978) as Mr. Stallwood
• Circle of Iron (1978) as White Robe
• The Thief of Baghdad (1978) as Hasan
• Nutcracker Fantasy (1979) as Franz / Fritz (voice)
• Scavenger Hunt (1979) as Jenkins
• The Black Hole (1979) as V.I.N.CENT
• Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981) as Gillespie
• Evil Under the Sun (1982) as Rex Brewster
• Class of 1984 (1982) as Terry Corrigan
• Fright Night (1985) as Peter Vincent
• Alice in Wonderland (1985) as The March Hare
• GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986) as Nuggit (voice)
• Dead of Winter (1987) as Mr. Murray
• Overboard (1987) as Andrew
• Fright Night Part 2 (1988) as Peter Vincent
• The Big Picture (1989) as Judge
• Cutting Class (1989) as Mr. Dante
• Shakma (1990) as Sorenson
• Going Under (1990) as Secretary Neighbor
• Harold Lloyd, The Third Genius (1990 documentary)
• Precious Moments Christmas: "Timmy's Gift" (1991) as narrator (voice)
• Doin' Time on Planet Earth (1992) as Minister
• The Magical World of Chuck Jones (1992 documentary)
• Mirror, Mirror 2: Raven Dance (1994) as Dr. Lasky
• The Grass Harp (1995) as Amos Legrand
• Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995) as Thomas
• Star Hunter (1995) as Riecher
• The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen (1995 documentary)
• It's My Party (1996) as Damian Knowles
• Mary Pickford: A Life on Film (1997 documentary)
• The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo (1997) as King Murphy
• Something to Believe In (1998) as Gambler
• A Bug's Life (1998) as Mr. Soil (voice)
• When It Clicks (1998) (short subject) as Professor Bark

Television

• 1950
• Family Theatre (1951 episode: "Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration") as Private Huntington (The Professor)
• The Twilight Zone (1960) (Season 1, Episode 25 "People Are Alike All Over") as Sam Conrad
• 1960
• The Tempest (1960) (as Ariel)
• Naked City (1961) (Season 2, Episode 20 "The Fault in Our Stars") as Donnie Benton
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) (Season 2, Episode 24, "The Gentleman Caller") as Gerald Musgrove
  (Season 3, Episode 5 "See the Monkey Dance") as George
• Combat! (1964) (Season 3, Episode 13, "The Long Walk") as Murfree
• Kraft Suspense Theatre (1964) (Season 2, Episode 11, "The Wine-Dark Sea") as Robert "Professor" Benson
• Ben Casey (1965) (Season 4, Episode 19 "When I am grown to Man's Estate") as Dwight Franklin
• 12 O'Clock High (1966; Season 2, Episode 24, "Angel Babe"), as "T"/Sgt. Willets)
• Batman (1966) (Season 1, Episode 29, "The Bookworm Turns", as Bookworm) (Season 1, Episode 30 "While Gotham City Burns") as The Bookworm
• Run for Your Life (1966) ("Don't Count on Tomorrow") as Gyula Bognar
• The Cricket on the Hearth (1967; voice only)
• The Invaders (1967) (Season 1, Episode 2 "The Experiment") as Lloyd Lindstrom)
• The Legend of Robin Hood (1968) (as Prince John)
• Journey to the Unknown (1969) (Season 1, Episode 12, "The Killing Bottle") as Rollo Verdew
• It Takes a Thief (1969) (Season 2, Episode 19 "Boom at the Top", as Roger)
• Night Gallery (1969) ("The Cemetery" segment) as Jeremy Evans
• The Name of the Game (1969) (Season 1, Episode 11, "The White Birch") as Philip Saxon

• 1970
• The Name of the Game (1970) (Season 3, Episode 12: "Why I Blew Up Dakota") as Early McCorley
• Terror in the Sky (1971) as Dr. Ralph Baird
• A Taste of Evil (1971) as Dr. Michael Lomas
• What's a Nice Girl Like You...? (1971) as Albert Soames
• Columbo (1972 episode "Short Fuse") as Roger Stanford
• The Rookies: Dirge for Sunday (1972) as Fenner
• Mission: Impossible (1972) as Leo Ostro
• The Carol Burnett Show (1973-74) in various roles
• Barnaby Jones (1973) as Stanley Lambert
• Miracle on 34th Street (1973 remake) as Dr. Sawyer
• McMillan & Wife (1973) as Jamie McMillan
• Planet of the Apes (1974) as Galen
• The Elevator (1974) as Marvin Ellis
• Ellery Queen (1976) (Season 1, Episode 12, "The Adventure of the Black Falcon") as The Amazing Armitage
• Flood! (1976) as Mr. Franklin
• Mowgli's Brothers (1976) as Narrator/Mowgli (voices only)
• The Feather and Father Gang (1977) (Season 1, Episode 12, "The Mayan Connection") as Vincent Stoddard
• The Rhinemann Exchange (1977) (miniseries) as Bobby Ballard
• The Fantastic Journey (1977) (8 Episodes) as Dr. Jonathan Willoway
• Wonder Woman (1977) as Professor Arthur Chapman
• The Immigrants (1978) as Mark Levy
• The Thief of Baghdad (1978) as Hasan
• Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) (Season 1, Episode 2, "Planet of the Slave Girls") as Governor Saroyan
• Supertrain - "The Green Lady" (1979) as Talcott
• Hart to Hart (1979) as Dr. Peterson
• Mork & Mindy (1979) as Chuck the Robot (voice)

• 1980
• The Martian Chronicles (1980) as Father Stone
• The Return of the King (1980) as Samwise Gamgee (voice only)
• Fantasy Island (1980 episode "The Devil and Mandy Breem") as Mephistopheles
• Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982-83) as Bon Chance Louie
• The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood (1984) as Prince John
• Hollywood Wives (1985 miniseries) as Jason Swankle
• Alice in Wonderland (1985) as The March Hare
• Murder, She Wrote (1985/1989) as Gordon Fairchild/Dr. Alger Kenyon
• Bridges to Cross (1985 episode "Memories of Molly") as Norman Parks
• Matlock (1987) as Don Mosher/Christopher Hoyt
• The Wind in the Willows (1987) as Ratty (voice)
• Around the World in 80 Days (1989 miniseries) as McBaines
• 1990
• The Pirates of Dark Water (1991) as Niddler (voice)
• An Inconvenient Woman (1991) as Cyril Rathbone
• Timmy's Gift: A Precious Moments Christmas (1991) as Narrator (voice)
• Batman: The Animated Series (1992) as Jervis Tetch/The Mad Hatter (voice)
• Quantum Leap - (Season 4 - "A Leap for Lisa") (1992) as Edward St. John V
• SWAT Kats as Lenny Ringtail/Madkat (voice)
• The Tick (1994) as Breadmaster (voice)
• Hart to Hart: Home Is Where the Hart Is (1994) as Jeremy Sennet
• Pinky and the Brain (1996-98) as Snowball (voice)
• Tracey Takes On... (1996) as Rex Gaydon
• Dead Man's Island (1996) as Trevor Dunnaway
• Unlikely Angel (1996) as Saint Peter
• Gargoyles (1996-1997) as Proteus (voice)
• Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998 documentary) as host/narrator
• Godzilla: The Series (1999) (Episode: DeadLoch) as Dr. Hugh Trevor (voice)

Stage

• Young Woodley (1946)
• Macbeth (1947)
• Misalliance (1953)
• Escapade (1953)
• Julius Caesar (1955)
• The Tempest (1955)

• No Time for Sergeants (1955)
• 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 (1995-1996)
• A Christmas Carol: The Musical (1997)

Radio appearances

Year	Program	Episode/source
1943	Lux Radio Theatre	My Friend Flicka
1947	Suspense (radio drama)	One Way Street
1952	Family Theater	A Lullaby for Christmas