Best Known As: Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes movie series
Name at Birth: Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall
Roddy McDowall was a child actor in the 1930s and '40s and got his big break in 1943's My Friend, Flicka. In the course of his career he appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows, including four of the five movies in the Planet of the Apes series. (He played Dr. Cornelius in the original 1968 film, co-starring with Charlton Heston.) McDowall's distinctive British voice and mischievous eyes were recognizable even beneath the chimpy makeup. Later in his career he lent his voice to a variety of cartoons, including Batman: The Animated Series and Gargoyles.
McDowall also published five books of photography... He had a famous friendship with actress Elizabeth Taylor; the two appeared together as child actors in the 1943 movie Lassie, Come Home.
Career Highlights: Planet of the Apes, How Green Was My Valley, The Legend of Hell House
First Major Screen Credit: How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Biography
British actor Roddy McDowall's father was an officer in the English merchant marine, and his mother was a would-be actress. When it came time to choose a life's calling, McDowall bowed to his mother's influence. After winning an acting prize in a school play, he was able to secure film work in Britain, beginning at age ten with 1938's Scruffy. He appeared in 16 roles of varying sizes and importance before he and his family were evacuated to the U.S. during the 1940 Battle of Britain. McDowall arrival in Hollywood coincided with the wishes of 20th Century-Fox executive Darryl F. Zanuck to create a "new Freddie Bartholomew." He tested for the juvenile lead in Fox's How Green Was My Valley (1941), winning both the role and a long contract. McDowall's first adult acting assignment was as Malcolm in Orson Welles' 1948 film version of Macbeth; shortly afterward, he formed a production company with Macbeth co-star Dan O'Herlihy. McDowall left films for the most part in the 1950s, preferring TV and stage work; among his Broadway credits were No Time for Sergeants, Compulsion, (in which he co-starred with fellow former child star Dean Stockwell) and Lerner and Loewe's Camelot (as Mordred). McDowall won a 1960 Tony Award for his appearance in the short-lived production The Fighting Cock. The actor spent the better part of the early 1960s playing Octavius in the mammoth production Cleopatra, co-starring with longtime friend Elizabeth Taylor.
An accomplished photographer, McDowall was honored by having his photos of Taylor and other celebrities frequently published in the leading magazines of the era. He was briefly an advising photographic editor of Harper's Bazaar, and in 1966 published the first of several collections of his camerawork, Double Exposure.
McDowall's most frequent assignments between 1968 and 1975 found him in elaborate simian makeup as Cornelius in the Planet of the Apes theatrical films and TV series. Still accepting the occasional guest-star film role and theatrical assignment into the 1990s, McDowall towards the end of his life was most active in the administrative end of show business, serving on the executive boards of the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. A lifelong movie collector (a hobby which once nearly got him arrested by the FBI), McDowall has also worked diligently with the National Film Preservation Board. In August, 1998, he was elected president of the Academy Foundation.
One of Hollywood's last links to its golden age and much-loved by old and new stars alike -- McDowell was famed for his kindness, generosity and loyalty (friends could tell McDowall any secret and be sure of its safety) -- McDowall's announcement that he was suffering from terminal cancer a few weeks before he died rocked the film community, and many visited the ailing actor in his Studio City home. Shortly before he was diagnosed with cancer, McDowall had provided the voiceover for Disney/Pixar's animated feature A Bug's Life. A few days prior to McDowall's passing, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences named its photo archive after him. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
McDowall was born in Herne Hill, London, to
Thomas Andrew McDowall, a Merchant Mariner of Scottish
descent, and Winsfriede L. (née Corcoran), an Irish-born aspiring actress.[1] Both of
his parents were enthusiastic about the theatre. He had a sister, Virginia (1927 - 2006).
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 camp1960s 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 1989Batman film. He also played the rebel scientist Dr.
Jonathan Willoway in the 1970sBermuda 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.
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 the 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.
