Roddy McDowall

Roddy McDowall
McDowall in 1988
Born	Roderick Andrew McDowall (1928-09-17)17 September 1928 Herne Hill, London, England
Died	3 October 1998(1998-10-03) (aged 70) Studio City, California, U.S.
Citizenship	United Kingdom United States (after 1949)
Occupations	Actor photographer writer
Years active	1938–1998
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service / branch	United States Army
Years of service	1946–1954 1960–1962
Rank	Corporal
Unit	Organized Reserve Corps 77th Infantry Division
Battles / wars	World War II Korean War

Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British and American actor, whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across over 60 years. Born in London, he began his acting career as a child in his native England, before moving to the United States at the outbreak of World War II. He achieved prominence for his starring roles in How Green Was My Valley (1941), My Friend Flicka (1943), and Lassie Come Home (1943). Unlike many of his contemporaries, McDowall managed to evolve from child star into an adult performer and appeared on Broadway as well as in films, winning a Tony Award for his performance in Jean Anouilh's The Fighting Cock. For portraying Octavian in the historical epic Cleopatra (1963), he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.

McDowall played Cornelius and Caesar in the original Planet of the Apes film series, as well as Galen in the short-lived spin-off television series. His other notable films included Orson Welles' Macbeth (1948), The Longest Day (1962), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), That Darn Cat! (1965), Inside Daisy Clover (1965), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Funny Lady (1975), The Black Hole (1979), Fright Night (1985) and its sequel Fright Night Part 2 (1988), Overboard (1987), Shakma (1990) and A Bug's Life (1998). He was a frequent guest star on many television series, and won an Emmy Award for a 1961 episode of NBC Sunday Showcase.

McDowall served in various positions on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Selection Committee for the Kennedy Center Honors, contributing to various charities related to the film industry and film preservation. He was a founding Member of the National Film Preservation Board in 1989, and represented the Screen Actors Guild on that Board until his death. Aside from his acting career, McDowall was active as a photographer and journalist, particularly of celebrities. For his contributions to the film and television industry, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Biography

Early life

McDowall was born at 204 Herne Hill Road, Herne Hill, London, the only son of London-born Thomas Andrew McDowall (1896–1978), a merchant seaman of distant Scottish descent, and his Irish wife Winifred (née Corcoran). Both of his parents were enthusiastic about the theatre. He 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.

British films

After appearing as a child model as a baby, McDowall appeared in several films as a boy. After winning an acting prize in a school play at age nine, he started appearing in films: Murder in the Family (1938), I See Ice (1938) with George Formby, John Halifax (1938) and Scruffy (1938).

McDowall appeared in Convict 99 (1938) and Hey! Hey! USA (1938) with Will Hay, Yellow Sands (1938), The Outsider (1939), Murder Will Out (1939), Dead Man's Shoes (1940), Just William (1940), Saloon Bar (1940), You Will Remember (1941), and This England (1941).

Early US films

McDowall's family moved to the United States in 1940 after the outbreak of World War II. He became a naturalized United States citizen on 9 December 1949, and lived in the United States for the rest of his life. McDowall served U.S. Army Reserves, after training is assigned to the 67th Armored Infantry Battalion 13th Armored Division (United States) of the U.S. Army's Organized Reserve Corps (headquartered in Los Angeles), and later in the 63rd Infantry Division, when the 13th Armored Division is Reflagged to the 63rd Infantry Division in 1952, he serves from 1946 to 1954, spanning the end of World War II to the end of the Korean War. He later served in the 77th Infantry Division between 1960 and 1962.

McDowall's American career began with a part in 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), where he met and became lifelong friends with actress Maureen O'Hara. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and McDowall's role as Huw Morgan made him a household name. Fox put him in another war film, Confirm or Deny (1941), then he played Tyrone Power as a boy in Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942).

Stardom

McDowall in Lassie Come Home (1943)

Fox promoted McDowall to top billing for On the Sunny Side (1942). He was billed second to Monty Woolley in The Pied Piper (1942), playing a war orphan, then he had top billing again for an adaptation of My Friend Flicka (1942). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer borrowed McDowall for the star role in Lassie Come Home (1943), a film that introduced Elizabeth Taylor, an actress who became another lifelong friend. MGM kept him on to play a leading role in The White Cliffs of Dover (1944). Back at Fox, he played Gregory Peck as a young man in The Keys of the Kingdom (1944). In 1944, exhibitors voted McDowall the number four "Star of Tomorrow". Fox gave McDowall another starring vehicle with Thunderhead – Son of Flicka (1945). The studio reunited him with Woolley in Molly and Me (1945), which was made as an attempt to turn Gracie Fields into a Hollywood star. McDowall returned to MGM to support Walter Pidgeon in Holiday in Mexico (1946).

Theatre

McDowall turned to the theatre, taking the title role of Young Woodley in a summer stock production 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 and Roland Winters in Killer Shark (1950)

McDowall then signed a three-year contract with Monogram Pictures, a low-budget studio that welcomed established stars, to make two films a year.

McDowall starred in seven films for them, for which he also worked as associate producer: Rocky (1948), a boy and dog story directed by Phil Karlson; Kidnapped (1948), an adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story, where he played David Balfour, directed by William Beaudine; Tuna Clipper (1949), a fishing tale, again directed by Beaudine; Black Midnight (1949), a horse story directed by Budd Boetticher; Killer Shark (1950), a shark hunting tale, again with Boetticher; Big Timber (1950), as a logger; The Steel Fist (1952), an anti-communist drama.

1950s: Television and theatre

McDowall left Hollywood to move to New York City. He began appearing on television, notably shows like Celanese Theatre, Broadway Television Theatre, Medallion Theatre, Campbell Summer Soundstage, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Encounter, Robert Montgomery Presents (including an adaptation of Great Expectations where he played Pip), The Elgin Hour, Ponds Theater, General Electric Theater, The Kaiser Aluminum Hour, Lux Video Theatre, Goodyear Playhouse, The Alcoa Hour, Kraft Theatre, Matinee Theatre, Suspicion, Playhouse 90 (in an adaptation of Heart of Darkness), The United States Steel Hour, The DuPont Show of the Month (an adaptation of Billy Budd) and The Twilight Zone (the episode "People Are Alike All Over").

McDowall also had significant success on the Broadway stage. He was in a production of Misalliance (1953) that ran for 130 performances and which McDowall said "broke the mould" in how he was judged as an actor.

He followed it with Escapade (1953) with Carroll Baker and Brian Aherne; Ira Levin's No Time for Sergeants (1955–57), which was a huge hit; Diary of a Scoundrel (1956); and Good as Gold (1957).

He had a big critical success with Compulsion (1957–58) based on Leopold and Loeb – although McDowall was not cast in the film version. He followed it with Handful of Fire (1958), Noël Coward's Look After Lulu! (1959) and Peter Brook's The Fighting Cock (1960). The latter earned him a Tony Award.

1960: Return to Hollywood

McDowall as Mordred with Richard Burton in the Broadway musical Camelot (1960)

McDowall was in another big Broadway hit when he played Mordred in the musical Camelot (1960–63) with Julie Andrews and Richard Burton.

He played Ariel in a TV production of The Tempest (1960) with Richard Burton and Maurice Evans, then appeared in his first film in almost a decade, The Subterraneans (1960). He followed it with Midnight Lace (1960).

McDowall continued to work on television in shows such as Sunday Showcase, Naked City, and Play of the Week. He was in a TV production of The Power and the Glory (1961) with Laurence Olivier, George C. Scott and Julie Harris.

In 1963, McDowall appeared as Octavian in the film production of Cleopatra, which starred Elizabeth Taylor. While filming in Europe, he appeared in Fox's war film The Longest Day (1962). He continued to guest on television series such as Arrest and Trial, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Eleventh Hour, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Combat!, Ben Casey, Twelve O'Clock High, Run for Your Life, The Invaders, and appeared as a Special Guest Villain as The Bookworm on Batman.

He had supporting roles in Fox's Shock Treatment (1964) and United Artists' The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). He was third billed in The Third Day (1965) and received billing as a member of the ensemble cast in The Loved One (1965). McDowall went to Disney for That Darn Cat! (1965) and had a role in Inside Daisy Clover (1965).

McDowall was given a starring role in Lord Love a Duck (1966). He also appeared in The Defector (1966) and returned briefly to Broadway for The Astrakhan Coat (1967).

Disney gave him the star role in The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin (1967) and he was top billed in The Cool Ones (1967) and It! (1967). He was in a TV production of Saint Joan (1967) and provided the voice for Cricket on the Hearth (1967). He guest-starred in the series The Felony Squad.

McDowall in full costume, with co-stars Ron Harper (front) and James Naughton (back), in the Planet of the Apes TV series (1974)

In 1968, McDowall appeared in one of his memorable roles when he was cast in Planet of the Apes as the ape Cornelius. He appeared in three sequels and a TV spin-off from the film.

He was Prince John in The Legend of Robin Hood (1968) for TV, and appeared in 5 Card Stud (1968), Journey to the Unknown, It Takes a Thief, Midas Run (1969), Hello Down There (1969), Angel, Angel, Down We Go (1969), Night Gallery (1969), The Name of the Game and Medical Center.

1970s

McDowall made his debut as director with The Ballad of Tam Lin (1970).

As an actor he was in Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971). McDowall was not in the first Apes sequel but was in the second, Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971). He was in the television film Terror in the Sky (1971), What's a Nice Girl Like You...? (1971) and A Taste of Evil (1971) and Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971).

He guest starred on Ironside, The Carol Burnett Show, Columbo (1972, "Short Fuse"), The Delphi Bureau, The Rookies, Mission: Impossible, Barnaby Jones and McCloud.

McDowall made his third Apes film with 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. He had supporting roles in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and starred in a pilot that did not go to series, Topper Returns (1973), and The Legend of Hell House (1973).

His final Apes film was Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). He also appeared in McMillan & Wife, Love, American Style, Arnold (1973), a remake of Miracle on 34th Street (1973), The Elevator (1974), and The Snoop Sisters also (1974) an uncredited appearance as a grocery store manager in the film Dirty Mary Crazy Larry.

He starred in the short lived TV spin-off series of Planet of the Apes (1974). During a guest appearance on The Carol Burnett Show, he came onstage 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."

Late 1970s

For the rest of the 1970s, McDowall alternated between features, TV films and TV series. Features included Funny Lady (1975), Mean Johnny Barrows (1976), Embryo (1976), Sixth and Main (1977), Laserblast (1978), Rabbit Test (1978), The Cat from Outer Space (1978) for Disney, Circle of Iron (1978), Scavenger Hunt (1979), Nutcracker Fantasy (1979) (doing voice over for the English language edition), and Disney's The Black Hole (1979) in which he voiced one of the robot roles.

TV series included Police Woman, Mowgli's Brothers, Harry O, The Feather and Father Gang, Wonder Woman, Flying High, The Love Boat, $weepstake$, Supertrain, Hart to Hart, A Man Called Sloane, Trapper John, M.D. (the pilot episode), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century ("Planet of the Slave Girls") and Mork & Mindy. He also had a regular role in the short-lived sci-fi series The Fantastic Journey (1977).

TV films included Flood! (1977), The Rhinemann Exchange (1978), The Immigrants (1978), and The Thief of Baghdad (1978).

Early 1980s

McDowall's TV film /miniseries work in the 1980s included The Martian Chronicles (1980), The Memory of Eva Ryker (1980), The Return of the King (1980) (on which he did voice over work), Tales of the Gold Monkey (1980),The Million Dollar Face (1981), Judgement Day (1981), Twilight Theatre (1982), Mae West (1982), This Girl for Hire (1983), The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood (1984), London and Davis in New York (1984), Hollywood Wives (1985), and Alice in Wonderland (1985).

TV series included Boomer and Miss 21st Century, Fantasy Island (several times), Faerie Tale Theatre, Tales of the Gold Monkey (a series regular), Small and Frye, Hotel, and George Burns Comedy Week.

McDowall's features included Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen (1981), Evil Under the Sun (1982), Class of 1984 (1984), and the cult classic horror Fright Night (1985).

Voice-over work and late 1980s

McDowall had voice over roles in Zoo Ship (1985), GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords (1986), and The Wind in the Willows (1987). TV series included Bridges to Cross (1986) (in which McDowall was a regular), The Wizard, Murder, She Wrote, Matlock, and Nightmare Classics, and TV films included Remo Williams: The Prophecy and Around the World in 80 Days (1989).

In 1987, he had supporting roles in Dead of Winter and Overboard, on which he also served as executive producer. Other features included Doin' Time on Planet Earth (1988), Fright Night Part 2 (1989), The Big Picture (1989), Cutting Class (1989), and Heroes Stand Alone (1989).

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."

1990s

McDowall in 1997

McDowall's 1990s work included The Color of Evening (1990), Shakma (1990), Going Under (1990), An Inconvenient Woman (1991), Earth Angel (1991), Deadly Game (1991), The Naked Target (1992), Double Trouble (1992), The New Lassie (1992), Quantum Leap (A Leap for Lisa) (1992), The Evil Inside Me (1993), I Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampaire (1993 audio book), Dream On, Heads (1994), Hart to Hart: Home Is Where the Hart Is (1994), Mirror, Mirror 2: Raven Dance (1994), Burke's Law, Angel 4: Undercover (1994), The Alien Within (1995), The Grass Harp (1995), Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995), Bullet Hearts (1996), Star Hunter (1996), It's My Party (1996), Tracey Takes On..., Dead Man's Island, Remember WENN, Unlikely Angel (1996), The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo (1997), Something to Believe In (1998), and Loss of Faith (1998).

He voiced the Mad Hatter in the DC Animated Universe. He also did voice work for The Pirates of Dark Water (1991–92), Timmy's Gift: A Precious Moments Christmas (1992), Camp Candy, The Legend of Prince Valiant (1992), Darkwing Duck (1992), 2 Stupid Dogs, Swat Kats: The Radical Squadron, Red Planet, The Tick, Galaxy Beat, Gargoyles, Duckman, Pinky and the Brain, A Bug's Life (1998), and Godzilla: The Series.

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 1997, McDowall hosted the MGM Musicals Tribute at Carnegie Hall.

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 Oscar Awards, 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 and remains a 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. It started with Double Exposure in 1968.

Personal life

McDowall was a Democrat and supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.

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 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. 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 or 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 claims McDowall was one of his homosexual clients.

McDowall was in a relationship with American actor Montgomery Clift for several years in the early 1950s. McDowall was introduced to Clift by his Lassie Come Home co-star 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. Reportedly, McDowall attempted suicide after their breakup. Nevertheless, he showed no bitterness and would also remain 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, a lifelong smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Doctors told him the disease had spread over his body and was incurable. On 3 October 1998 at age 70, McDowall died of the disease at his home in Studio City, California. 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, had 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

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1938	Convict 99	N/A
1938	Murder in the Family	Peter Osborne
1938	John Halifax	Boy
1939	Poison Pen	Choir Boy	Uncredited
1940	His Brother's Keeper	Boy
1940	Dead Man's Shoes	Boy
1940	Just William	Ginger
1940	Saloon Bar	Boy
1941	You Will Remember	Young Bob Slater
1941	Man Hunt	Vaner
1941	This England	Hugo
1941	How Green Was My Valley	Huw Morgan
1941	Confirm or Deny	Albert Perkins
1942	Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake	Young Benjamin Blake
1942	On the Sunnyside	Hugh Aylesworth
1942	The Pied Piper	Ronnie Cavanaugh
1943	My Friend Flicka	Ken McLaughlin
1943	Lassie Come Home	Joe Carraclough
1944	The White Cliffs of Dover	Young John Ashwood
1944	The Keys of the Kingdom	Young Francis Chisholm
1945	Thunderhead, Son of Flicka	Ken McLaughlin
1945	Molly and Me	Jimmy Graham
1946	Holiday in Mexico	Stanley Owen
1948	Rocky	Chris Hammond
1948	Macbeth	Malcolm
1948	Kidnapped	David Balfour
1949	Tuna Clipper	Alec MacLennan
1949	Black Midnight	Scott Jordan
1950	Big Timber	Jimmy
1950	Killer Shark	Ted
1952	The Steel Fist	Eric Kardin
1958	The Big Country	Hannassey Watchman	Uncredited
1960	The Subterraneans	Yuri Gilgoric
1960	Midnight Lace	Malcolm Stanley
1962	The Longest Day	Pvt. Morris
1963	Cleopatra	Octavian
1964	Shock Treatment	Martin Ashley
1965	The Greatest Story Ever Told	Matthew
1965	That Darn Cat!	Gregory Benson
1965	The Third Day	Oliver Parsons
1965	The Loved One	D.J. Jr.
1965	Inside Daisy Clover	Walter Baines
1966	Lord Love a Duck	Alan Musgrave
1966	The Defector	Agent Adams
1967	The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin	Bullwhip Griffin
1967	The Cool Ones	Tony Krum
1967	It!	Arthur Pimm
1968	Planet of the Apes	Cornelius
1968	5 Card Stud	Nick Evers
1969	Midas Run	Wister
1969	Hello Down There	Nate Ashbury
1969	Angel, Angel, Down We Go	Santoro
1971	Pretty Maids All in a Row	Proffer
1971	Escape from the Planet of the Apes	Cornelius
1971	Terror in the Sky	Ralph Baird
1971	Bedknobs and Broomsticks	Rowan Jelk
1972	Conquest of the Planet of the Apes	Caesar
1972	The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean	Frank Gass
1972	The Poseidon Adventure	Acres
1973	Arnold	Robert
1973	The Legend of Hell House	Benjamin Franklin Fischer
1973	Battle for the Planet of the Apes	Caesar
1974	Dirty Mary Crazy Larry	Grocery Store Manager
1975	Funny Lady	Bobby
1976	Mean Johnny Barrows	Tony Da Vince
1976	Embryo	Frank Riley
1977	Sixth and Main	Skateboard
1978	Laserblast	Dr. Mellon
1978	The Cat from Outer Space	Mr. Stallwood
1978	Circle of Iron	White Robe
1978	The Thief of Baghdad	Hasan
1979	Scavenger Hunt	Jenkins
1979	Nutcracker Fantasy	Franz/Fritz
1979	The Black Hole	V.I.N.CENT.	Voice
1981	Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen	Gillespie
1982	Evil Under the Sun	Rex Brewster
1982	Class of 1984	Terry Corrigan
1985	Fright Night	Peter Vincent
1986	GoBots: Battle of the Rock Lords	Nuggit	Voice
1986	Friends Are Forever: Tales of the Little Princess	Zak the Cat	Voice
1987	Dead of Winter	Mr. Murray
1987	Overboard	Andrew
1988	Doin' Time on Planet Earth	Minister
1988	Fright Night Part 2	Peter Vincent
1989	The Big Picture	Judge
1989	Cutting Class	Mr. Dante
1990	Shakma	Sorenson
1991	Timmy's Gift: A Precious Moments Christmas	Narrator	Voice
1991	Going Under	Secretary Neighbor
1992	Double Trouble	Philip Chamberlain
1993	The Evil Inside Me	Pauly
1993	The Return of Captain Sinbad	Narrator	Voice
1994	Mirror, Mirror II: Raven Dance	Dr. Lasky
1995	The Grass Harp	Amos Legrand
1995	The Alien Within	Dr. Henry Lazarus
1995	Last Summer in the Hamptons	Thomas
1995	Star Hunter	Riecher
1996	It's My Party	Damian Knowles
1997	The Second Jungle Book: Mowgli & Baloo	King Murphy
1998	Something to Believe In	Gambler
1998	A Bug's Life	Mr. Soil	Voice
1998	Star Power: The Creation of United Artists	Narrator (voice)	Posthumous release (final film role)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	Family Theatre	Private Huntington (The Professor)	Episode: "Hill Number One: A Story of Faith and Inspiration"
1960	The Twilight Zone	Sam Conrad	Episode: "People Are Alike All Over"
1960	The Tempest	Ariel	Television film
1961	Naked City	Donnie Benton	Episode: "The Fault in Our Stars"
1963	Arrest and Trial	Paul LeDoux	Episode: "Journey into Darkness"
1964	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	George, Gerald Musgrove	2 episodes
1964	Combat!	Murfree	Episode: "The Long Walk"
1964	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Robert "Professor" Benson	Episode: "The Wine-Dark Sea"
1965	Ben Casey	Dwight Franklin	Episode: "When I am grown to Man's Estate"
1966	12 O'Clock High	Technical Sergeant Willets	Episode: "Angel Babe"
1966	Batman	Bookworm	2 episodes
1966	Run for Your Life	Gyula Bognar	Episode: "Don't Count on Tomorrow"
1967	The Cricket on the Hearth	Cricket Crocket	Voice, television film
1967	The Invaders	Lloyd Lindstrom	Episode: "The Experiment"
1968	The Legend of Robin Hood	Prince John	Episode dated 18 February 1968
1969	Journey to the Unknown	Rollo Verdew	Episode: "The Killing Bottle"
1969	It Takes a Thief	Roger	Episode: "Boom at the Top"
1969	Night Gallery	Jeremy Evans	Segment: "The Cemetery"
1969	The Name of the Game	Philip Saxon	Episode: "The White Birch"
1970	The Name of the Game	Early McCorley	Episode: "Why I Blew Up Dakota"
1971	Terror in the Sky	Dr. Ralph Baird	Television film
1971	A Taste of Evil	Dr. Michael Lomas	Television film
1971	What's a Nice Girl Like You...?	Albert Soames	Television film
1972	Columbo	Roger Stanford	Episode: "Short Fuse"
1972	The Rookies: Dirge for Sunday	Fenner	Episode: "Dirge for Sunday"
1972	Mission: Impossible	Leo Ostro	Episode: "The Puppet"
1973–1974	The Carol Burnett Show	Himself – Guest
1973	Barnaby Jones	Stanley Lambert	Episode: "See Some Evil... Do Some Evil"
1973	Miracle on 34th Street	Dr. Sawyer	1973 remake, television film
1973	McMillan & Wife	Jamie McMillan	Episode: "Death of a Monster... Birth of a Legend"
1974	Planet of the Apes	Galen	14 episodes
1974	The Elevator	Marvin Ellis	Television film
1976	Ellery Queen	The Amazing Armitage	Episode: "The Adventure of the Black Falcon"
1976	Flood!	Mr. Franklin	Television film
1976	Mowgli's Brothers	Narrator, Mowgli, Shere Khan, Baloo, Bagheera, Tabaqui	Voice, television short
1977	The Feather and Father Gang	Vincent Stoddard	Episode: "The Mayan Connection"
1977	The Rhinemann Exchange	Bobby Ballard	3 episodes
1977	The Fantastic Journey	Dr. Jonathan Willoway	8 episodes
1977	Wonder Woman	Henry Roberts, Professor Arthur Chapman	2 episodes
1978	The Immigrants	Mark Levy	Television film
1978	The Thief of Baghdad	Hasan	Television film
1979	Buck Rogers in the 25th Century	Governor Saroyan	Episode: "Planet of the Slave Girls"
1979	$weepstake$	Theodore	Episode: "Billy, Wally and Ludmilla, and Theodore"
1979	Supertrain	Talcott	Episode: "The Green Lady"
1979	Fantasy Island	Gary Pointer	1 episode
1979	Hart to Hart	Dr. Peterson	Episode: "Hart to Hart"
1979	The Love Boat	Fred Beery	Episode: "Second Chance/Don't Push Me/Like Father, Like Son" S2 E16
1979	Mork & Mindy	Chuck the Robot	Voice, episode: "Dr. Morkenstein"
1980	The Martian Chronicles	Father Stone	3 episodes
1980	The Memory of Eva Ryker	MacFarland	Television film
1980	The Return of the King	Samwise Gamgee	Voice, television film
1980–1981	Fantasy Island	Mephistopheles	2 episodes
1981	The Million Dollar Face	Derek Kenyon	Television film
1982–1983	Tales of the Gold Monkey	Bon Chance Louie	20 episodes
1984	The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood	Prince John	Television film
1985	Hollywood Wives	Jason Swankle	3 episodes
1985	Alice in Wonderland	March Hare	Television film
1985–1989	Murder, She Wrote	Gordon Fairchild, Dr. Alger Kenyon	2 episodes
1985	Bridges to Cross	Norman Parks	Episode: "Memories of Molly"
1987–1989	Matlock	Don Mosher, Christopher Hoyt	2 episodes
1987	The Wind in the Willows	Ratty	Voice, television film
1988	Remo Williams: The Prophecy	Chuin	Television film
1989	Around the World in 80 Days	McBaines	3 episodes
1991	The Pirates of Dark Water	Niddler	Voice, 5 episodes
1991	An Inconvenient Woman	Cyril Rathbone	2 episodes
1991	Timmy's Gift: A Precious Moments Christmas	Narrator	Voice
1992	The Legend of Prince Valiant	King Frederick	Voice, episode: "The Battle of Greystone"
1992	Quantum Leap	Edward St. John V	Episode: "A Leap for Lisa"
1992	Darkwing Duck	Sir Quackmire Mallard	Voice, episode: "Inherit the Wimp"
1992–1994	Batman: The Animated Series	Jervis Tetch / The Mad Hatter	Voice, 4 episodes
1992	Camp Candy		Voice, episode: "When it Rains... it Snows"
1993	2 Stupid Dogs	Chameleon	Voice, episode: "Chameleon"
1993	SWAT Kats	Lenny Ringtail, Madkat	Voice, episode: "Enter the Madkat"
1994	Hart to Hart: Home Is Where the Hart Is	Jeremy Sennet	Television film
1994	Red Planet	Headmaster Marcus Howe	Voice, 3 episodes
1994	The Tick	Breadmaster	Voice, episode: "The Tick vs. The Breadmaster"
1996	Tracey Takes On...	Rex Gaydon	Episode: "Nostalgia"
1996	Gargoyles	Proteus	Voice, episode: "The New Olympians"
1996	Duckman	Akers	Voice, episode: "Apocalypse Not"
1996	Pinky and the Brain	Snowball	Voice, 6 episodes
1996	Dead Man's Island	Trevor Dunnaway	Television film
1996	Unlikely Angel	Saint Peter	Television film
1998	The New Batman Adventures	Jervis Tetch / The Mad Hatter	Voice, 2 episodes
1998	Superman: The Animated Series		Voice, episode: "Knight Time"
1998	Behind the Planet of the Apes	Narrator	Television documentary
1999	Godzilla: The Series	Dr. Hugh Trevor	Voice, episode: "DeadLoch"; posthumous role

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

Year	Program	Episode/source
1943	Lux Radio Theatre	My Friend Flicka
1947	Suspense	One Way Street
1948	The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen	Rocky Iii and the Dead Mans Chest
1952	Family Theater	A Lullaby for Christmas

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.

External links

• Roddy McDowall at IMDb
• Roddy McDowall at the Internet Broadway Database
• Roddy McDowall at the TCM Movie Database
• Roddy McDowall at AllMovie
• Roddy McDowall discography at Discogs
• xmoppet.org – tribute site with career and biographical information, image gallery, sound clips, links, articles, US TV guide, and a fan club with mailing list
• Documents from the 1974 FBI Raid
• The Roddy McDowall Collection, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University
• Image of Roddy McDowall, Julie Andrews and Greer Garson at the premiere of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" in Los Angeles, California, 1965. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.