Roddy McDowall Birthday: September 17, 1928 Birth Place: Herne Hill, London, England, UK Height: 5' 1"
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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.
Performed custom voice-over work for the Training Level of the PlayStation game, "A Bug's Life" (1998). [source: game credits]
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) honor Roddy McDowall for his acting career and critically acclaimed photography by naming its photo archive after him. The collection, which includes several millions of negatives and stills, will be known as the Roddy McDowall Photograph Archive at the Margaret Herrick Library. [December 1998]
Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean. [1998]
Roddy has appeared in two separate television series of Batman. The original 1960s series (as Bookworm), and 'Batman: The Animated Series' (as the Mad Hatter).
In addition to appearing on both the original and animated "Batman" TV series, he also the reader for the book-on-tape version of the novelization of the first "Batman" film (1989).
Roddy McDowall was a rarity among movie stars in that he appears to have made no enemies at all during his lifetime. A man with numerous friends both in and out of show business, those who knew him continue to speak well of him to this day, and his funeral drew overflow crowds.
Brother of Virginia McDowall.
An accomplished ballroom dancer, he won both the Charleston and Cha-Cha contests on the "Arthur Murray Party" TV show in the 1950s.
Introduced Carol Lawrence to Robert Goulet. In fact, she jokingly said that McDowell was responsible for her's and Goulet's first child.
Became a close, life-long friend with Peggy Ann Garner while filming "The Pied Piper" with her in 1941.
Won Broadway's 1960 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for "The Fighting Cock."
A clerical error on the part of 20th Century Fox cost McDowall a likely Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor for his role as Caesar Augustus Octavian in Cleopatra (1963). The studio erroneously listed McDowall as a leading player rather than a supporting one. When Fox asked the Academy to correct their error, it refused, saying the ballots already were at the printer. Fox then published an open letter in the trade papers, apologizing to McDowall: "We feel that it is important that the industry realize that your electric performance as Octavian in 'Cleopatra,' which was unanimously singled out by the critics as one of the best supporting performances by an actor this year, is not eligible for an Academy Award nomination in that category...due to a regrettable error on the part of 20th Century Fox."
In 1974, the FBI raided the home of Roddy McDowall and seized the actor's collection of films and TV series during an investigation of copyright infringement and movie piracy. McDowall's collection consisted of 160 16mm prints and over 1,000 videocassettes. The value of the films was conservatively assessed at ,005,426 by representatives of the movie industry. The actor was not charged and agreed to cooperate with the FBI. There was then no aftermarket for films, as the commercial video recorder had not been marketed, and studios routinely destroyed old negatives and prints of classic films they felt had no worth. Film buffs, like McDowall, had to purchase 16mm prints of films from the studios, or movie prints on the black-market, or from other collectors. He claimed that he had once had as many as 337 movies in his collection, but at the time of the investigation, he was not sure how many were still in his possession. He had bought Errol Flynn's movie collection, and had acquired other films through purchases or swaps. McDowall told the FBI that he had transferred many of his films to videotape in order to conserve space and because tape was longer-lasting than film, and subsequently had sold or traded the prints, plus other prints of movies he had lost interest in, to other collectors. He said that he collected the films due to his love of the cinema and to help protect the movies' heritage. McDowall also said that being in possession of prints of his own films allowed him to study his acting and improve his craft. One of the films he had purchased, from American-International Pictures, was Tam-Lin, a movie he himself had directed. He explained that he believed that he was not in violation of copyright, as he was not showing the films for profit, nor trying to make a profit when selling his prints as he charged only what he remembered as the price he himself paid. He believed he had purchased some of the films outright from 20th Century Fox, but learned subsequently from his lawyer that his agreement with Fox meant the studio retained ownership of the prints, and that he was forbidden to sell, trade or lend them out. McDowall was forthcoming about the individuals he dealt with on the black market, and also named Rock Hudson, Dick Martin and Mel Torme as other celebrities with film collections.
Biography in: "American National Biography". Supplement 1, pp. 396-398. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Became a close, life-long friend with Peggy Ann Garner while filming The Pied Piper (1942) with her in 1941.
Final stage appearance was as Ebenezer Scrooge in the New York City production of "A Christmas Carol" in 1997. He alternated performances with Hal Linden.
On March 10, 1965, he attended the Los Angeles premiere of The Sound of Music (1965) as the date of the movie's star, Julie Andrews.
Life-long friend of Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor has since referred to him as the one friend she had to whom she confided everything, and who was always understanding.
An accomplished ballroom dancer, he won both the Charleston and Cha-Cha contests on the "The Arthur Murray Party" (1950).
Roddy McDowall
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