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Malcolm McDowell

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Malcolm McDowell
McDowell at the 2007 Jules Verne Adventure Film Special Awards Presentation
Born
Malcolm John Taylor

(1943-06-13) 13 June 1943 (age 81)
Horsforth, Yorkshire, England, U.K.
OccupationActor
Years active1968–present
Spouse(s)Margot Bennett (1975–1980)
Mary Steenburgen (1980–1990)
Kelley Kuhr (1991–present)

Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is an English actor, known for his boisterous and sometimes villainous roles, whose career spans more than four decades.

McDowell is known for the controversial films If...., O Lucky Man!, A Clockwork Orange, and Caligula. Since then, his versatility as an actor has led to varied roles in films and television series of different genres, including Tank Girl, Star Trek Generations, the television serial Our Friends in the North, Entourage, Heroes, Metalocalypse, the animated movie Bolt, and the 2007 remake of Halloween.[1] He is also well known for his narration of the seminal 1982 documentary The Compleat Beatles.

Early life

McDowell was born Malcolm John Taylor in Horsforth, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, now a part of the Metropolitan Borough of the City of Leeds, the son of Edna (née McDowell), a hotelier, and Charles Taylor, a publican.[2][3][4] His family later moved to Bridlington, since his father was in the Royal Air Force. McDowell trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).[5]

Career

McDowell began his professional life serving drinks in his parents' pub and then as a coffee salesman (the latter job providing inspiration for the movie O Lucky Man!). While enrolled in Cannock House School, he began taking acting classes, and eventually secured work as an extra with the Royal Shakespeare Company. McDowell made his screen debut as school rebel Mick Travis in If.... (1968) by British director Lindsay Anderson. This was followed by Figures in a Landscape (1970) and The Raging Moon (1971). His performance in If.... caught the attention of Stanley Kubrick, who cast McDowell as the lead in A Clockwork Orange, adapted from the novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess. He won great acclaim (nominated for a Golden Globe and an award by the New York Film Critics Circle in the category of Best Actor) as Alex, a young hoodlum brainwashed by a dystopian British government of the near future.

McDowell worked with Anderson again for O Lucky Man! (1973), which was based on his own idea, and Britannia Hospital (1982). McDowell regularly turned up 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 (1975) and co-starred in Voyage of the Damned (1976), and as Dornford Yates' gentleman hero Richard Chandos in She Fell Among Thieves (1977). He made his Hollywood debut as H. G. Wells in Time After Time (1979). He often portrayed antagonists in the late 1970s and 1980s, including the title character in Caligula (1979). He later remarked upon 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 tot it all up."[6]

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 movies that turn up on Channel 5."[7]

McDowell appeared in the 1983 action film Blue Thunder as F.E. Cochrane, and the 1982 remake of Cat People. 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 Theatre's 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"[citation needed] in the 1994 film Star Trek Generations, in which he played the mad scientist Dr. Tolian Soran. McDowell appeared in several computer games, most notably as Admiral 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. His appearance in Wing Commander IV was during the final days of video game live action cutscenes.

In 1995, he co-starred with actress and artist Lori Petty in the action/science fiction/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 unique episode of the animated series South Park, which provided 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.[8]

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 in 2003 for The Company as "Mr. A.", the fictional director of the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. His character was based on real-life director Gerald Arpino. In the 2003 film I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, 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 older brother.

McDowell at "The Genius of Stanley Kubrick" at the 2006 Traverse City Film Festival.

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.[9] He portrayed Terrence McQuewick on Entourage and Julian Hodge on Monk.

McDowell appeared as Dr. Sam Loomis in Rob Zombie's remakes of Halloween and Halloween II (in 2007 and 2009, respectively).[10] He also played Desmond LaRochette in Robert Whitlow's The List, and Irish patriarch Enda Doyle in Red Roses and Petrol (2008).[11] His next film is the Canadian vampire comedy rock and roll movie Suck with actor/director Rob Stefaniuk and the upcoming Alex Wright film Two Wolves.[12] In December 2009, he made an appearance in the music video "Snuff" by the band Slipknot.[13] He appears, uncredited, as Lombardi, the curator, in the 2010 film, The Book of Eli. McDowell portrayed Satan in the upcoming Christian comedy thriller film Suing the Devil.[14]

McDowell is set to appear in the upcoming films Vamps and Silent Hill: Revelation 3D as Leonard Wolf, an insane cult leader.

In 2011, McDowell was cast in the role of Stanton Infeld on the TNT original series Franklin & Bash.

Voice acting

McDowell was the featured narrator in the documentary, The Compleat Beatles released in 1982.

Malcolm McDowell at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

McDowell has lent his voice to Lord Maliss in Happily Ever After, the Superman villain Metallo in Superman: The Animated Series, Mad Mod in Teen Titans, Merlyn in DC Showcase: Green Arrow, Arkady Duvall (son of Ra's Al Ghul) in Batman: The Animated Series and as the voice of a Death Star commander in a Robot Chicken episode parodying Star Wars. He is 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. McDowell also lent his voice to the henchman Reeses II in the animated series Captain Simian and the Space Monkeys, a show laced with references to many movies including his own break-out role in A Clockwork Orange.

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. In 2008, McDowell began a recurring role as Grandpa Fletcher on 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, King Solomon in the Word of Promise Audio Bible, and the CEO of Stahl Arms in Killzone 3, Jorhan Stahl.[15] He also voiced Daedalus in God of War III.

McDowell portrays the role of "Caiaphas" in "The Truth & Life Dramatized audio New Testament Bible," a 22-hour, celebrity-voiced, fully dramatized audio New Testament which uses the RSV-CE translation.

McDowell is the host of "Fangoria's Dreadtime Stories", a monthly series of fully dramatised radio dramas with a mystery, horror, science fiction and dark humor theme. Written by top writers of today, including Dennis Etchison and Max Allan Collins, these stories are creepy, cutting edge and not for the faint of heart. The series is produced by Carl Amari, who also produces The Twilight Zone radio dramas. The executive producer is Thomas DeFeo (CEO of Fangoria magazine) with Chris Roe as the associate producer. Original music for each episode is by Chris Alexander, an established composer and Fangoria editor-in-chief. Each month, a new episode is available for free streaming worldwide at Fangoria's website www.fangoria.com. All episodes, current and past, are available for digital download. The radio drama scripts, which are used by McDowell and the supporting actors, are also available to print in PDF at the Fangoria website for free.

Personal life

McDowell's first wife (1975–80) was extra Margot Bennett. His second wife (1980-90) was actress Mary Steenburgen, whom he met and fell in love with while filming Time After Time, with whom he has two children: Lilly Amanda (b. 21 January 1981) and Charles Malcolm (b. 10 July 1983). They divorced in 1990. His third wife (1991-present) is Kelley Kuhr, 24 years his junior, with whom he has three children: Beckett Taylor (b. 29 January 2004), Finnian Anderson (b. 23 December 2006), and Seamus Hudson (born 7 January 2009). He is the maternal uncle of actor Alexander Siddig, who has appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Kingdom of Heaven, Syriana, 24, and the fourth season of the ITV series Primeval. He and his nephew both appeared in the movie Doomsday by director Neil Marshall. The McDowells currently reside in Ojai, California.

He became a grandfather in January 2012 when daughter Lilly McDowell Walton gave birth to a girl, Clementine Mae.

Filmography, Voiceovers and television work

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Malcolm McDowell.

References

  1. ^ ""Malcolm McDowell Is Master Shifu's Dad In 'Kung Fu Panda: Father Crime'", 16 January 2012". NickUtopia.com. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  2. ^ "Malcolm McDowell profile at". Filmreference.com. 13 June 1943. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  3. ^ MacKenzie, Suzie (24 April 2004). "What if". The Guardian. London.
  4. ^ 2005 Philadelphia Film Festival: Artistic Achievement Award to Malcolm McDowell[dead link‍]
  5. ^ 11:01 am (2 October 2008). "One on One with Malcolm McDowell". HoboTrashcan. Retrieved 28 February 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ By craveonline (14 May 2007). "Malcolm McDowell on Linderman and Dr. Loomis". Craveonline.com. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  7. ^ [Roger Lewis, Anthony Burgess: A Life, published 2002]
  8. ^ Reesman, Bryan (3 June 2011). "Malcolm McDowell: Ultraviolent Past, Satanic Future". Attention Deficit Delirium. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  9. ^ Zap2It.com (4 August 2006). ""Cast Set for 'Masters of Sci Fi'"". Zap2it.com. Retrieved 28 February 2012. {{cite web}}: Text "4 August 2006" ignored (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ TRINITY OF TERRORS Guest Profile: Malcolm McDowell
  11. ^ "''Red Roses and Petrol''". Redrosesandpetrol.com. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  12. ^ "Malcom McDowell Scores Starring Role in 'Two Wolves'". BloodyDisgusting.
  13. ^ "AOL.com Video – Housewife of NYC Jill Zarin Offends Southern Ladies". Video.aol.com. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
  14. ^ "Funny 'Devil': Malcolm McDowell Talks Playing the Dark One in New Film".
  15. ^ "Malcolm McDowell to play the scheming Stahl Arms CEO".
  16. ^ ""Malcolm McDowell Is Master Shifu's Dad In 'Kung Fu Panda: Father Crime' – January 16, 2012"". NickUtopia.com. 7 January 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2012.

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