Acting '' (1976) McDowell initially secured work as an extra with the
Royal Shakespeare Company. He made his film debut as school rebel
Mick Travis in
if.... (1968) by British director
Lindsay Anderson. A landmark of British countercultural cinema, the
BFI named
if.... the
12th-greatest British film of the 20th century. McDowell's next roles were in
Figures in a Landscape (1970) and
The Raging Moon (1971). His performance in
if.... caught the attention of
Stanley Kubrick, who cast McDowell for the lead in
A Clockwork Orange (1971), adapted from
the novel by
Anthony Burgess. He gained massive acclaim for his performance as
Alex DeLarge, a young,
antisocial hoodlum who undergoes
brainwashing by the British government in a near future society. He was nominated for a
Golden Globe, a
National Society of Film Critics Award, and a
New York Film Critics Circle Award as Best Actor. Of the
Clockwork Orange performance, film critic Pauline Kael wrote that McDowell played the character "exuberantly, with the power and slyness of a young Cagney." He worked with Anderson again for
O Lucky Man! (1973, also wrote), which was inspired by McDowell's experience working as a coffee salesman, and
Britannia Hospital (1982). McDowell regularly appeared on British television productions in the 1970s in adaptations of theatre classics, one example being with
Laurence Olivier in
The Collection (1976), as part of the series
Laurence Olivier Presents. He starred in
Aces High (1976) and co-starred in
Voyage of the Damned (1976), and as
Dornford Yates' gentleman hero Richard Chandos in
She Fell Among Thieves (1978) and the
title character in
Caligula (1979). He made his Hollywood debut as
H. G. Wells in
Time After Time (1979). He has often portrayed
antagonists, later remarking on his career playing film villains: "I suppose I'm primarily known for that but in fact, that would only be half of my career if I was to top it all up". In his biography
Anthony Burgess: A Life, author
Roger Lewis commented on McDowell's later career: "his pretty-boy looks faded and he was condemned to playing villains in straight-to-video films that turn up on
Channel 5". McDowell appeared in the action film
Blue Thunder (1983) as F.E. Cochrane, and the horror remake
Cat People (1982). In 1983, he starred in
Get Crazy as Reggie Wanker, a parody of
Mick Jagger. Also in 1983, McDowell starred as the Wolf (Reginald von Lupen) in
Faerie Tale Theatres rendition of "
Little Red Riding Hood" (his wife at that time,
Mary Steenburgen, played Little Red Riding Hood). In 1984, he narrated the documentary
The Compleat Beatles. He is known in
Star Trek circles as "the man who killed
Captain Kirk", appearing in the film
Star Trek Generations (1994) in which he played the mad scientist Dr. Tolian Soran, and several overzealous
Star Trek fans even issued death threats for this. McDowell appeared in several computer games, most notably as Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn in the
Wing Commander series of computer games. His appearance in
Wing Commander III marked the series transition from 2D pre-rendered cutscenes to live-action cutscenes. '' (1971) In 1995, he co-starred with actress and artist
Lori Petty in the science fiction/action comedy film
Tank Girl. Here, he played the villain Dr. Kesslee, the evil director of the global Water and Power Company, whose main goal in the story was to control the planet's entire water supply on a future desert-like, post-apocalyptic Earth. McDowell appeared
in a 2000 episode of the animated series
South Park, which was a comedic retelling of the
Charles Dickens novel
Great Expectations. In
the episode, McDowell played the real-life narrator of the story in live action, introducing himself simply as "a British person", in a parody of
Masterpiece Theatre, and its ex-host,
Alistair Cooke. McDowell played himself in
Robert Altman's
The Player, in which he chastises protagonist Griffin Mill (
Tim Robbins) for badmouthing him behind his back. He worked with Altman once again for
The Company (2003) as "Mr. A.", the fictional director of the
Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. His character was based on real-life director
Gerald Arpino. McDowell had a brief but memorable role as the psychopathic Gangster in the British crime film
Gangster No. 1 (2000). In the film ''
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead'' (2003), he played a straight married man who rapes a young drug dealer to "teach him a lesson". The film also starred
Clive Owen as the victim's elder brother. In 2006, McDowell portrayed radio mogul Jonas Slaughter on
Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The following year, he portrayed the villainous
Mr. Linderman on the first season of the
NBC series
Heroes, a role he reprised in the third-season premiere. He starred in
Jerry Was a Man, which appeared as an episode of
Masters of Science Fiction on
Sky. He portrayed Terrence McQuewick on
Entourage, and he made a special guest appearance as the icy fashion designer Julian Hodge in the
Monk season 4 episode, "
Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Show".
Never Apologize is a 2007 documentary film of Malcolm McDowell's one-man show about his experiences working with film director
Lindsay Anderson. McDowell appeared as Dr.
Samuel Loomis in
Rob Zombie's remakes of
Halloween and
Halloween II (in 2007 and 2009, respectively). Although the films were not well received critically, they performed better at the box office and McDowell was widely praised. He also played Desmond LaRochette in
Robert Whitlow's
The List (2007), and Irish patriarch Enda Doyle in
Red Roses and Petrol (2003). His next film was the Canadian vampire comedy rock and roll film
Suck (2009) with actor/director
Rob Stefaniuk and the
Alex Wright film
Two Wolves. In December 2009, he made an appearance in the music video "
Snuff" by the heavy metal band
Slipknot. He appears, uncredited, as the curator Lombardi, in the film
The Book of Eli (2010). McDowell portrayed
Satan in the Christian comedy thriller film
Suing the Devil (2011). In 2011, McDowell was cast in the role of Stanton Infeld on the
TNT original series
Franklin & Bash and appeared in the Academy Award-winning film
The Artist. In 2012, McDowell appeared in the horror films
Vamps and
Silent Hill: Revelation. Also that year, he received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, aptly outside the Pig n' Whistle
British pub on
Hollywood Boulevard. His fellow British actor
Gary Oldman was in attendance and paid tribute to McDowell for inspiring him to become an actor. In 2013, he appeared as the title character in the psychological thriller
The Employer, for which he won Best Actor at the Los Angeles Movie Awards. In 2013, McDowell also ventured into the
Steampunk genre, starring in the short film
Cowboys & Engines alongside
Richard Hatch and
Walter Koenig. In 2013, he starred as
King Henry II of England in the film
Richard the Lionheart, with Gregory Chandler as the title character. He portrayed Father Murder in the 2016
Rob Zombie film
31. McDowell also played Boogeyman in
Abnormal Attraction (2018) co-starring
Gilbert Gottfried,
Bruce Davison,
Tyler Mane and
Leslie Easterbrook. Since 2022, McDowell has played the grandfather of the protagonist in the Canadian TV series
Son of a Critch. In 2023, he starred opposite
Lou Diamond Phillips in the independently-produced comedy thriller film
Et Tu.
Voice acting McDowell was the featured narrator in the documentary
The Compleat Beatles, released in 1982. He voiced Lord Maliss in
Happily Ever After (1989), Zarm in the cartoon
Captain Planet and the Planeteers, the
Superman villain
Metallo in
Superman: The Animated Series,
Mad Mod in
Teen Titans,
Merlyn in
DC Showcase: Green Arrow (2010), Arkady Duvall in
Batman: The Animated Series, and a
Death Star commander in a
Robot Chicken episode parodying Star Wars. He was also a regular on the second season of the
Adult Swim cartoon
Metalocalypse as
Vater Orlaag and other characters. McDowell also voiced Dr. Calico in Disney's
Bolt (2008) and the henchman Reeses II in the animated series
Captain Simian & the Space Monkeys, a show laced with references to many films, including his own role in
A Clockwork Orange. Once again McDowell starred alongside Warner in the episode "Rhesus Pieces". In 2006–07, he contributed spoken word to two
Pink Floyd tribute albums produced by
Billy Sherwood:
Back Against the Wall and
Return to the Dark Side of the Moon. He has also provided voice-over work for
Borgore on his album
#NEWGOREORDER (2014). In 2008, McDowell began a recurring role as Reginald Fletcher in
Phineas and Ferb. He also narrated the award-winning documentary
Blue Gold: World Water Wars. McDowell reprised his role of Metallo in the video game
Superman: Shadow of Apokolips and an episode of
Justice League Unlimited. He also provided his voice for the character President John Henry Eden in the video game
Fallout 3, Rupert Pelham in the game
WET,
Solomon in the Word of Promise Audio Bible, and the CEO of Stahl Arms in
Killzone 3, Jorhan Stahl. He also voiced
Daedalus in
God of War III. He is the voice for the primary antagonist Molag Bal in the MMO
The Elder Scrolls Online. He is also the voice of Dr. Monty in
Call of Duty: Black Ops III. McDowell portrayed
Caiaphas in
The Truth & Life Dramatised audio New Testament Bible, a 22-hour, celebrity-voiced, fully dramatised audio New Testament which uses the
RSV-CE translation. McDowell is the host of ''
Fangoria's Dreadtime Stories
, a monthly series of radio dramas with a mystery, horror, science fiction and dark humour theme. Each month, a new episode is available for download, and scripts, as used by McDowell and the supporting actors, are also available at the Fangoria'' website. He provided the voice for Triton (Ship's Computer) in the 2015
science-fiction short film,
Oceanus: Act One. In 2020, he interpreted
Gabriele Tinti's poetry inspired by epigraphs collected in the
National Roman Museum. He guest-starred in the
SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Pet the Rock" as Pervical.
Honours McDowell refused the degree of Commander of the
Order of the British Empire in 1984 and to be a
Knight Bachelor in 1995. ==Personal life==