Roddy McDowall

Born: September 17, 1928
Where: London, England
Died: October 3, 1998

Classical British actor McDowell appeared in over 15 UK-made films in the mid- to late 1930s, including Convict 99 and Murder in the Family.

His career was in full flight when he was evacuated to the USA with his mother and older sister, but almost immediately upon his arrival in Hollywood, he was signed to a contract by 20th-Century Fox.

McDowall first came to the attention of American audiences as the cabin boy who helps Walter Pidgeon escape from the Nazis in Fritz Lang's Man Hunt.

The 40's and 50's were lucrative for McDowell, mostly on Broadway. But it was also in 1943 that he worked with Elizabeth Taylor for the first time - a situation that recurred in 1963's Cleopatra.

Although an accomplished and well-established entertainer by now, 1960 saw McDowell's first musical turn as Mordred in Camelot, starring Richard Burton and Julie Andrews.

Four years later, a businessman as well as a performer, McDowell formed his own production company, Silver Lion Inc, and also took some time behind the lens to work as a photographer for many glossy magazines, including Vogue.

In 1968 he starred as Cornelius in Planet of the Apes, and reprised his part in the two sequels.

The 70's and 80's were spent on the small screen, and in 1991 McDowell entered into an exclusive production agreement with Foxboro Entertainment to serve as producer and production consultant to the company.

His final film role was as a character voice on the animated A Bug's Life.