Who? We think you know! Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall (17 September 1928 – 3 October 1998) was an English-born actor and photographer who will always be best known for his roles in "How Green Was My Valley," "Lassie Come Home," and "Planet of the Apes."
Via the internet movie database, Roderick McDowall was born in London, the son of a Merchant Mariner father and a mother who had always wanted to be in movies. He was enrolled in elocution courses at age five and by ten had appeared in his first film, "Murder in the Family" (1938). His mother brought Roddy and his sister to the US at the beginning of World War II, and he soon got the part of Huw, youngest child in a family of Welsh coal miners, in John Ford's "How Green Was My Valley" (1941), acting alongside Walter Pidgeon, Maureen O'Hara and Donald Crisp in the film that won that year's best film Oscar. He went on to many other child roles, in films like "My Friend Flicka" (1943) and "Lassie Come Home" (1943) until, at age 18, he moved to New York, where he played a long series of successful stage roles. In addition to making many more movies (over 150), McDowell acted in television, developed an extensive collection of movies and Hollywood memorabilia, and published five acclaimed books of his own photography. He died at his Los Angeles home, aged 70, of cancer.
The above image was taken from an old Friskies ad. Unfortunately we don't know the name of his handsome red smooth Dachshund, but if anyone has any more information, by all means send it in!
"Planet of the Apes"
3 comments:
i was gonna say somethin if his planet of the apes stint wasn't mentioned. that's like the only thing I can remember him being in!
hugs,
b
McDowall "shared a hot dog" in more ways than one with Tab Hunter -- and a lot of other guys!
Just want to say that the picture of Roddy and his "father" is actually Roddy & Richard Long [Big Valley, Nanny and the Professor]
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