Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was a British-American actor whose career spanned over 270 screen and stage roles across more than 60 years.[1] He began his career as a child in his native England before starring in How Green Was My Valley (1941), My Friend Flicka (1943), and Lassie Come Home (1943) in America. Unlike many child stars, McDowall evolved into an adult performer on stage and screen. He won a Tony Award for his performance in Jean Anouilh's The Fighting Cock and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance in Cleopatra (1963). He appeared in the Broadway musical Camelot (1960–63) and the films The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), and as Cornelius and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes films (1968-1973).
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 and represented the Screen Actors Guild on that board until his death. He was also active as a photographer and journalist. For his contributions to the film and television industry, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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).[2][3][4] 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.[5]
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.[6]
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[6] 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.[7] He then served in the 77th Infantry Division from 1960 to 1962.[7]
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"[8] after which Fox gave McDowall another starring vehicle: Thunderhead – Son of Flicka (1945).
McDowall then signed a three-year contract with Monogram Pictures to make two films a year.[10] 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.[11]
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.[12]Ira Levin's No Time for Sergeants (1955–57) was a major hit, [13] 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).
Asked about his career in a 1975 interview, McDowall said, "I just hope to keep working and in interesting things."[19] 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."[20]
In one of his final public appearances, McDowall hosted the MGM Musicals Tribute at Carnegie Hall in 1997.
McDowall 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.[21]
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.[24]
McDowall was in a relationship with Montgomery Clift for several years in the early 1950s.[26][27] They were introduced by Elizabeth Taylor.[28] During the two-and-a-half years that Clift stayed away from films, McDowall's career was nonexistent.[29][30] He devoted himself entirely to Clift and moved from Los Angeles to New York to be closer to his idol.[31] McDowall reportedly attempted suicide after their break-up.[32] Nevertheless, he showed no bitterness and remained one of Clift's loyal friends.[33] 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.[34]
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.[35] His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean on 7 October 1998, off Los Angeles County.[36] 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."[37]
↑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.
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