Roddy McDowall was born on 17 September in 1928. He has almost 300 credits on IMDB. Of course, he started young. But he worked a lot.
To me, and to most people, McDowall is the Planet of the Apes films. He was in all of the films but one. And he starred in the TV series.
What is that missing film? Sadly, he wasn’t in the best of the films: Beneath the Planet of the Apes. Instead, he was off directing The Devil’s Widow. It’s not bad! But McDowall must not have enjoyed the experience. He never directed again.
Outside of the Apes films, I know Roddy McDowall for playing smart but villainous characters. For example, he was great as Bookworm in the 1960s Batman TV universe.
But he also got more normal roles. Psychotronic fans should definitely check him out in The Twilight Zone episode, “People Are Alike All Over.”
But as I’ve indicated, I’m all about the apes. So today, we will watch the original Planet of the Apes. But here are links to everything:
- Planet of the Apes
- Beneath the Planet of the Apes (Does not feature McDowall)
- Escape From the Planet of the Apes
- Conquest of the Planet of the Apes
- Battle for the Planet of the Apes
- TV Series
Happy birthday Roddy McDowall!
Other 17 September Anniversaries
Filmmakers
- Akim Tamiroff (1899-1972): Character actor known especially for his work with Orson Welles in films like Mr Arkadin and Touch of Evil.
- Edgar G Ulmer (1904-1972): Director best known for The Black Cat.
- Ib Melchior (1917-2015): Director of The Angry Red Planet and The Time Travelers.
- Curtis Harrington (1926-2007): Horror director of films like Queen of Blood and Games.
- Paul Benedict (1938-2008): Actor best known for the TV series The Jeffersons but was also in some great films like The Freshman.
- Bruce Spence (1945-): Character actor best known for Mad Max 2 and The Matrix Revolutions.
- John Ritter (1948-2003): Actor best known for the TV series Three’s Company but also starred in a lot of interesting features including Problem Child and Stay Tuned.
- Cassandra Peterson (1951-): Elvira!
- Bryan Singer (1965-): Director best known for The Usual Suspects but he’s made a bunch of big-budget superhero films.
Films
- Before I Hang (1940): A doctor accidentally Mr Hyde’s himself.
- Revenge of the Zombies (1943): Mad scientist in the swamp.
- Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943): Another Rathbone-Bruce film.
- The House by the Lake (1976): Bikers terrorize dentist.
- Street People (1976): A mafia boss is angry he’s been accused of smuggling heroin, because you know how ethical those guys are. So he tries to find the real killer, I mean, smuggler.
- Battlestar Galactica (1978): Basically, Star Wars on TV.
- Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004): Steampunk about flying robots attacking New York.
- Devil (2010): Five people stuck in an elevator are murdered one by one.
- Deadly Detention (2017): Horror parody of The Breakfast Club.
- Polaroid (2019): Camera kills!
Roddy McDowell by Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com under CC BY-SA 2.0.