Roddy McDowall

Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall (September 17th, 1928 - October 3rd, 1998) was a British actor who contributed his talents to several characters throughout the mythology of Planet of the Apes. In the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, Roddy played the part of chimanzee archaeologist Cornelius. He was unavailable to reprise the role for the sequel Beneath the Planet of the Apes as he was set to direct the film Tam Lin while Beneath was being filmed. His part was handed over to actor David Watson, but archive footage of Roddy's performance from the first film was used as part of a framing sequence in the beginning of the sequel. McDowall returned to the franchise in 1971, reprising the role of Cornelius in Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Although his character is killed at the film's climax, Roddy still had plenty of work to do. The following year, Roddy starred as the main character in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes - this time playing Caesar, the son of his previous character, Cornelius. McDowall played Caesar once again for the final film of the Arthur P. Jacobs line, Battle for the Planet of the Apes. In 1974, 20th Century Fox hired McDowall to play yet another chimpanzee character. This time, he played the role of the naïve ape refugee, Galen on the Planet of the Apes television series. McDowall appeared in all thirteen episodes of the short-live series. In 1981, several episodes of the television series were re-aired as individual telefilms. The titles of each film were: Back to the Planet of the Apes, Treachery and Greed on the Planet of the Apes, Life, Liberty and Pursuit on the Planet of the Apes and Farewell to the Planet of the Apes. Roddy appeared as an older Galen as part of a framing sequence used to introduce each film. Roddy's final project relating to the POTA mythos was for the 1998 documentary, Behind the Planet of the Apes. The documentary was included as a special 6th disk on the Planet of the Apes: The Evolution DVD collection. Roddy passed away from lung cancer in Studio City, California at the age of seventy.

Notes & Trivia

 * Roddy McDowall developed his own unique process for working with the ape prosthetics. By exaggerating his facial expressions, he was able to effectively emote his character's personality through the make-up. Co-star Kim Hunter emulated Roddy's technique, yielding similar results.


 * The March, 1973 edition of Mad Magazine lampooned the Planet of the Apes franchise in issue #157. Actor Roddy McDowall was re-named Rowdy McDowelstick.


 * Roddy McDowall appeared on an episode of the The Carol Burnett Show, which aired on March 16, 1974. He appeared in a black tuxedo while also wearing the wig and prosthetics that he used as the character Cornelius.


 * Five days after Roddy McDowall had passed away, A&E Biography aired a commemorative documentary entitled, Roddy McDowall: Hollywood's Best Friend.


 * While directing Tam Lin, Roddy suffered dramatic budget setbacks. The film was ultimately handed over to an American studio, where it was re-packaged as a horror/suspense-thriller, The Devil's Widow. Disatisfied with the final product, McDowall tried to have his name removed from the project.