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.
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 He then served in the
77th Infantry Division from 1960 to 1962. after which Fox gave McDowall another starring vehicle:
Thunderhead – Son of Flicka (1945).
Theatre McDowall turned to the theatre, taking the title role of
Young Woodley in
summer stock in
Westport, Connecticut, in July 1946. In 1947, he played
Malcolm in
Orson Welles's stage production of
Macbeth in Salt Lake City, and reprised the role in the actor-director's
film version in 1948. 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.
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.
Ira Levin's
No Time for Sergeants (1955–57) was a major hit, 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).
1960: Return to Hollywood in the Broadway musical
Camelot (1960) McDowall enjoyed another big hit on Broadway with the musical
Camelot (1960–63), which starred
Julie Andrews and
Richard Burton. He took part in a TV production of
The Tempest (1960) alongside Burton and
Maurice Evans, before appearing in his first film in almost a decade,
The Subterraneans (1960), followed by
Midnight Lace (1960). He was also seen in
The Longest Day (1962) prior to his portrayal of
Octavian in
Cleopatra. He worked in film throughout the decade, notably in
The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965),
Inside Daisy Clover (1965), and
5 Card Stud (1968), though his most memorable role was as Cornelius in
Planet of the Apes. He went on to appear in three sequels and the TV spin-off. McDowall continued to work regularly in television, including his Emmy-winning turn in
Sunday Showcase and a production of
The Power and the Glory (1961) with
Laurence Olivier,
George C. Scott, and
Julie Harris. (front) and
James Naughton (back), in the
Planet of the Apes TV series (1974)
1970s-1990s McDowall made his lone effort as a director with
The Ballad of Tam Lin (1970). As an actor, he was in
Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971),
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), and Disney's
Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). In addition to his television work, most significantly in
Columbo, he made his third
Apes film as Caesar, son of his earlier character, Cornelius, in 1972's
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. He took supporting roles in
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972) and
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) before his final
Apes film,
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). During the short-lived TV spin-off of
Planet of the Apes (1974), he made a guest appearance on
The Carol Burnett Show 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." 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." 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 one of his final public appearances, McDowall hosted the MGM Musicals Tribute at
Carnegie Hall in 1997. ==Other work==