Roddy McDowall

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 and lived in the United States for the rest of his life.

McDowall served in the U.S. Army Reserves, and after basic training, was assigned to the 67th Armored Infantry Battalion 13th Armored Division of the U.S. Army's Organised Reserve Corps headquartered in Los Angeles. Later, he was assigned to the 63rd Infantry Division. McDowall served from 1946 to 1954, spanning from the end of World War II to the end of the Korean War. He then served in the 77th Infantry Division from 1960 to 1962.

McDowall's American film career began with the 1941 thriller Man Hunt, directed by Fritz Lang. It was made by 20th Century Fox, which also produced McDowall's next film, How Green Was My Valley (1941), on which he and Maureen O'Hara became lifelong friends. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and McDowall's role as Huw Morgan made him a household name.

Stardom

Fox promoted McDowall to top billing for On the Sunny Side (1942), and he was top billed again for an adaptation of My Friend Flicka (1942). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer borrowed McDowall for the star role in Lassie Come Home (1943) with Elizabeth Taylor, who became another lifelong friend, and kept him for a leading role in The White Cliffs of Dover (1944). In 1944, exhibitors voted McDowall the number-four "Star of Tomorrow" 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 he played the same role in the actor-director's film version in 1948.

Monogram Pictures

McDowall then signed a three-year contract with Monogram Pictures to make two films a year. 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), and 5 Card Stud (1968), though his most memorable role was as Cornelius in Planet of the Apes. He went on to appear in three sequels and the TV spin-off.

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 The Ballad of Tam Lin (1970). 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.

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.

Personal life

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.

McDowall never married nor had children. In Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars (2012) by Scotty Bowers, a famous Hollywood procurer, Bowers named McDowall as one of his homosexual clients.

McDowall was in a relationship with Montgomery Clift for several years in the early 1950s. They were introduced by Elizabeth Taylor. During the two-and-a-half years that Clift stayed away from films, McDowall's career was nonexistent. He devoted himself entirely to Clift and moved from Los Angeles to New York to be closer to his idol. McDowall reportedly attempted suicide after their break-up. Nevertheless, he showed no bitterness and remained one of Clift's loyal friends. McDowall starred with Clift in his final picture, The Defector. Clift later stated that he could never have finished the film without McDowall's moral support.

Death

In April 1998, McDowall was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at his home in Studio City, California, 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

Television

Stage

• Young Woodley (1946)
• Macbeth (1947)
• Misalliance (1953)
• Escapade (1953)
• Julius Caesar (1955)
• The Tempest (1955)
• No Time for Sergeants (1955)
• Diary of a Scoundrel (1956)
• 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

References

Bibliography

• Best, Marc. Those Endearing Young Charms: Child Performers of the Screen (South Brunswick and New York: Barnes & Co., 1971), pp. 176–181.
• Dye, David. Child and Youth Actors: Filmography of Their Entire Careers, 1914–1985. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 1988, pp. 140–144.
• Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, pp. 158–159.

References

1. "Roddy Mcdowall".
2. (2004). "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography".
3. Vallance, Tom. (5 October 1998). "Obituary: Roddy McDowall". The Independent.
4. (4 October 1998). "From the Archives: Roddy McDowall, Actor for 6 Decades, Dies at 70".
5. Gussow, Mel. (4 October 1998). "Roddy McDowall, 70, Dies; Child Star and Versatile Actor".
6. "McDowall, Roddy". Boston University.
7. [https://www.xmoppet.org/perstats/perstats.html Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall at] xmoppet.org. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
8. (11 November 1944). "SAGA OF THE HIGH SEAS". [[The Mercury]].
9. (11 July 1946). "Roddy McDowall as guest". The Christian Science Monitor.
10. Schallert, E.. (12 March 1947). "DRAMA AND FILM.". Los Angeles Times.
11. Schallert, Edwin. (22 May 1948). "Tuna Fisherman Role Will Star McDowall". Los Angeles Times.
12. Steinmetz, J.. (10 February 1987). "RODDY MCDOWALL'S BEST FRIEND: CAMERA". Chicago Tribune.
13. (21 September 1955). "Roddy McDowall, stage actor". The Christian Science Monitor.
14. "Roddy McDowall – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB".
15. J. G.. (4 February 1960). "Television: 'the tempest'". The New York Times.
16. Reed, R.. (28 November 1971). "Roddy McDowall: Survival of the fittest". Chicago Tribune.
17. Haber, J.. (9 December 1973). "Superfan roddy, everybody's turn-on". Los Angeles Times.
18. [http://pota.goatley.com/burnett.html ''The Carol Burnett Show'' with Roddy McDowall], 14 March 2017
19. D. S.. (21 August 1975). "Movie talk with roddy McDowall". The Christian Science Monitor.
20. Champlin, C.. (19 October 1989). "Roddy McDowall pulls out all the F-stops". Los Angeles Times.
21. (19 September 2016). "A Tribute to Roddy McDowall". The Roddy McDowall Memorial Rose Garden.
22. McDowall, Roddy. ''[https://www.amazon.com/Double-Exposure-Roddy-McDowall/dp/0688100627 Double Exposure]''; William Morrow & Co; 2 edition: 1 November 1990; {{ISBN. 978-0688100629
23. Brady, J.. (13 December 1992). "Roddy McDowall". The Washington Post.
24. (16 January 2017). "When Roddy McDowall Was Busted by the FBI for Pirating Films".
25. Bowers, Scotty. (2012). "Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars". Grove/Atlantic, Inc..
26. LaGuardia, Robert. (1978). "Monty: A Biography of Montgomery Clift". Avon.
27. Bosworth, Patricia. (1978). "Montgomery Clift: A Biography". Bantam Books.
28. Langella, Frank (2012). ''Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them'', p. 336
29. LaGuardia, pp.138–39
30. Bosworth, p. 281
31. (17 September 2021). "#BornThisDay: Actor, Roddy McDowall".
32. (17 October 2019). "#BornThisDay: Actor, Montgomery Clift - The WOW Report".
33. Douglas, Illeana. (3 November 2015). "I Blame Dennis Hopper: And Other Stories from a Life Lived In and Out of the Movies". Macmillan.
34. (4 October 1998). "Obituary: Roddy McDowall".
35. (4 October 1998). "Roddy McDowall, 70, Dies; Child Star and Versatile Actor". The New York Times.
36. Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 31331-31332). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
37. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160919030237/http://www.deseretnews.com/article/655317/Actor-Roddy-McDowall-dies-of-cancer.html "Actor Roddy McDowall dies of cancer"], ''Deseret News'', 4 October 1998.
38. "Roddy McDowall (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors.
39. "Roddy McDowall – Broadway Cast & Staff". The Broadway League LLC.
40. (5 June 1943). "Lux Theatre Guest". Harrisburg Telegraph.
41. "Suspense – One Way Street".
42. (11 February 1948). "Radio Echos".
43. (14 December 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review.