Roddy McDowall

Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall (17 September 1928–3 October 1998) was an English-born actor and photographer. He was best known as Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes film series. He began his long career as a child actor.

Early life and career
McDowall was born in Herne Hill, London, the son of Winsfriede L. (nee Corcoran), an Irish-born aspiring actress, and Thomas Andrew McDowall, a Merchant Mariner. Both of his parents were enthusiastic about the theatre. He had a sister, Virginia (23 September 1927–8 December 2006).

After he had appeared in several British films, McDowall's family came to America because of the Blitz. He then made his first well-known film appearance, at age twelve, playing Huw in How Green Was My Valley (1941). This role made him a household name. He co-starred in Lassie Come Home (1943), on the first of many occasions opposite lifelong friend Elizabeth Taylor. He appeared too as Ken McLaughlin in the 1943 film My Friend Flicka. McDowall then went on to appear in other films, including The Keys of the Kingdom (1944) and The White Cliffs of Dover (1944).

Adult career
McDowall continued 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. During one guest appearance on The Carol Burnett Show, he came out onto the stage in his Planet of the Apes makeup and the look of fright on Carol Burnett's face was reported to be genuine. Other film appearances included Cleopatra (1963), in which he played Octavian (the young Emperor Augustus) and was notoriously nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor but was disqualified when accidentally submitted for Best Actor instead; It! (1966), in which he played a Norman Bates-like character reminiscent of Psycho; The Poseidon Adventure (1972), in which he played Acres, a dining room attendant; Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974); Evil Under the Sun (1982); 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, The Eleventh Hour, 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). 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.

One of his last public appearances occurred when he accompanied the actress Luise Rainer to the 70th Oscar ceremony.

Personal life
Although Roddy McDowall made no statements about his sexual orientation during his lifetime, it has been stated that he was a closeted homosexual. After his death, his lovers were reported to have included Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift.

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 more than 1,000 video cassettes, at a time before the era of commercial 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 3 October 1998, McDowall died at his home in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles of lung cancer. "It was very peaceful," said Dennis Osborne, a screenwriter friend who had cared for the actor in his final months. "It was just as he wanted it. It was exactly the way he planned." Though he was cremated through The Neptune Society, his ashes were not distributed in the Pacific Ocean as had been widely reported at the time.

The night after his death, Angela Lansbury paid tribute to him on BBC Radio 5 Live. She described him as "one of the most wonderful friends, anybody could possibly have," adding, "We've lost a beloved friend (who will be) so missed."

Filmography

 * Yellow Sands (1938)
 * Scruffy (1938)
 * Sarah Siddons (1938)
 * Murder in the Family (1938)
 * Hey! Hey! USA (1938)
 * I See Ice (1938)
 * John Halifax (1938)
 * Convict 99 (1938)
 * Dirt (1939)
 * The Outsider (1939)
 * Poison Pen (1940)
 * His Brother's Keeper (1940)
 * Murder Will Out (1940)
 * Dead Man's Shoes (1940)
 * Just William (1940)
 * Saloon Bar (1940)
 * You Will Remember (1941)
 * Man Hunt (1941)
 * This England (1941)
 * How Green Was My Valley (1941)
 * Confirm or Deny (1941)
 * Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)
 * On the Sunny Side (1942)
 * The Pied Piper (1942)
 * My Friend Flicka (1943)
 * Lassie Come Home (1943)
 * The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
 * The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
 * Thunderhead, Son of Flicka (1945)
 * Molly and Me (1945)
 * Holiday in Mexico (1946)
 * Rocky (1948)
 * Macbeth (1948)
 * Kidnapped (1948)
 * Tuna Clipper (1949)
 * Black Midnight (1949)
 * Killer Shark (1950)
 * Everybody's Dancin' (1950) (Cameo)
 * Big Timber (1950)
 * Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Goes to Bat (1950) (short subject)


 * The Steel Fist (1952)
 * The Subterraneans (1960)
 * Midnight Lace (1960)
 * The Longest Day (1962)
 * Cleopatra (1963)
 * Shock Treatment (1964)
 * The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
 * The Third Day (1965)
 * The Loved One (1965)
 * That Darn Cat! (1965)
 * Inside Daisy Clover (1965)
 * Lord Love a Duck (1966)
 * The Defector (1966)
 * It! (1966)
 * The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967)
 * The Cool Ones (1967)
 * Planet of the Apes (1968)
 * 5 Card Stud (1968)
 * Midas Run (1969)
 * Hello Down There (1969)
 * Angel, Angel, Down We Go (1969)
 * Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970, opening)
 * Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971)
 * Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
 * Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
 * Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
 * The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
 * The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
 * The Legend of Hell House (1973)
 * Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
 * Arnold (1973)
 * Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974)
 * Funny Lady (1975)
 * Mean Johnny Barrows (1976)
 * Embryo (1976)
 * Sixth and Main (1977)
 * Laserblast (1978)
 * Rabbit Test (1978)
 * The Cat from Outer Space (1978)
 * Circle of Iron (1978)
 * Nutcracker Fantasy (1979) (voice)


 * The Black Hole (1979) (voice)
 * Scavenger Hunt (1979)
 * The Return of the King (1980) (voice)
 * Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981)
 * Evil Under the Sun (1982)
 * Class of 1984 (1982)
 * Zoo Ship (1985) (voice)
 * Fright Night (1985)
 * GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986) (voice)
 * Dead of Winter (1987)
 * Overboard (1987)
 * Doin' Time on Planet Earth (1988)
 * Fright Night II (1988)
 * Heroes Stand Alone (1989)
 * Cutting Class (1989)
 * The Big Picture (1989)
 * Shakma (1990)
 * Going Under (1990)
 * The Naked Target (1992)
 * Double Trouble (1992)
 * The Magical World of Chuck Jones (1992) (documentary)
 * The Evil Inside Me (1993)
 * Angel 4: Undercover (1993)
 * The Color of Evening (1994)
 * Mirror, Mirror 2: Raven Dance (1994)
 * Star Hunter (1995)
 * The Grass Harp (1995)
 * Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995)
 * The Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen (1995) (documentary)
 * It's My Party (1996)
 * Mary Pickford: A Life on Film (1997) (documentary)
 * The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo (1997)
 * When It Clicks (1998) (short subject)
 * Something to Believe In (1998)
 * A Bug's Life (1998) (voice)
 * Keepers of the Frame (1999) (documentary)

Television

 * The Twilight Zone (1960)
 * The Tempest (1960)
 * Naked City: The Fault in Our Stars (1961)
 * Alfred Hitchcock Hour (episode - The Gentleman Caller) (1964)
 * Combat! (episode - The Long Walk) (1964)
 * Batman (1966) (season 1, episodes "The Bookworm Turns / While Gotham City Burns", as the Bookworm)
 * The Cricket on the Hearth (1967) (voice)
 * The Legend of Robin Hood (1968)
 * Night Gallery (1969) (pilot for series)
 * Terror in the Sky (1971)
 * A Taste of Evil (1971)
 * What's a Nice Girl Like You...? (1971)
 * Columbo: Short Fuse (1972)
 * The Rookies: Dirge for Sunday (1972)
 * Topper Returns (1973) (unsold pilot)
 * Miracle on 34th Street (1973)
 * Black Day for Bluebeard (1974)
 * Planet of the Apes (1974)
 * The Elevator (1974)
 * The White Seal (1975) (voice-narrator)
 * Flood! (1976)
 * Mowgli's Brothers (1977) (voice)
 * The Rhinemann Exchange (1977) (miniseries)


 * The Fantastic Journey (1977) (canceled after 10 episodes)
 * Supertrain - "The Green Lady" (1978)
 * The Immigrants (1978)
 * The Thief of Baghdad (1978)
 * Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) (season 1 - "Planet of the Slave Girls")
 * Hart to Hart (1979) (pilot for series)
 * The Martian Chronicles (1980) (miniseries)
 * The Memory of Eva Ryker (1980)
 * The Return of the King (1980) (voice)
 * The Million Dollar Face (1981)
 * Mae West (1982)
 * Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982–1983)
 * This Girl for Hire (1983)
 * The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood (1984)
 * Hollywood Wives (1985) (miniseries)
 * Alice in Wonderland (1985)
 * Bridges to Cross (1986) (canceled after a few episodes)
 * Matlock (1987) ("The Chef" as Christopher Hoyt, the villain)
 * Remo Williams (1988) (unsold pilot)
 * Around the World in 80 Days (1989) (miniseries)


 * An Inconvenient Woman (1991)
 * The Pirates of Dark Water (1991–1992) (voice)
 * The Sands of Time (1992)
 * Quantum Leap - (Season 4 - "A Leap for Lisa") (1992)
 * Heads (1993)
 * SWAT Kats (1993–1995) as Lenny Ringtail/Madkat (voice)
 * The Tick (1994) (voice-Breadmaster)
 * Red Planet (1994) (miniseries)
 * Batman: The Animated Series (1994) as Jervis Tetch/The Mad Hatter (voice)
 * Hart to Hart: Home Is Where the Hart Is (1994)
 * The Alien Within (1995)
 * Pinky and the Brain (1995–1998) as Snowball (voice)
 * Tracey Takes On... (1996)
 * Dead Man's Island (1996)
 * Unlikely Angel (1996)
 * Gargoyles (1996–1997) as Proteus (voice)
 * Loss of Faith (1997)
 * Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998)

Stage

 * Misalliance (1953)
 * Escapade (1953)
 * 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)
 * A Christmas Carol: The Musical (1997)