photo: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/RoddyMcDowall.jpg
Biography
Early life
McDowall was born in London to Scottish parents Thomas Andrew McDowall and Winifred, both of whom were enthusiastic about the theatre; he had a sister, Virginia. McDowall made his first film appearance at the age of ten. It was as "Huw" in How Green Was My Valley (1941) that he made his name, and he appeared in many other films as a child actor, including The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) and Lassie Come Home (1943) where he co-starred (in what would be one of many occasions) opposite lifelong friend Elizabeth Taylor.
Career
McDowall was one of the few child actors to continue his career successfully into adulthood, but it was usually in character roles, notably in four of the five original Planet of the Apes movies (1968 - 1973). Other film appearances included The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974) and Overboard (1987). He also appeared on stage and television.
McDowall as an adult
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.
During the 1990s, McDowall became active in film preservation and was active in the preserving of Cleopatra (1963), (coincidentally, in which he co-starred) 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. He was Chairman of the Actor's Branch for five terms. He was elected President of the Academy Foundation the year he died.
Private life
In 1974, the FBI raided the home of McDowall and seized the actor's collection of films and television series. His collection consisted of 160 16mm prints and over 10,000 videocassettes (this was before the era of VCRs and VHS tapes). McDowall had bought Errol Flynn's home movies and the prints of his directorial debut Tam Lin (1970) starring Ava Gardner, transferred them all to tape for longer-lasting archival storage.
McDowall was forthcoming about some of the individuals he had dealt with on the black market: Rock Hudson, Dick Martin and Mel Torme were some of the celebrities that were interested in his creations. No charges were pressed against McDowall.
He also received recognition as a photographer and published five books of photographs, one being of his celebrity friends such as Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Garland.
He died in Studio City, California from lung cancer at the age of 70, the guardian of many secrets (nefarious and otherwise) that Hollywood holds. One of his last public appearances was when he accompanyied the then-88 year old actress, Luise Rainer, the earliest awardee of a Best Actress Oscar who attended that year's telecast, which featured all the living previous Oscar winners who were willing and/or able to attend (more than 70 did).
Filmography
- A Bug's Life (1998)
- Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
- The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
- Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
- Planet of the Apes (1968)
- The Longest Day (1962)
- Macbeth (1948)
- The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
- The White Cliffs of Dover (1944)
- How Green Was My Valley (1941)
