| Activity | McDowell was born in Horsforth, Leeds, the son of Edna (née McDowell), a hotelier, and Charles Taylor, a pub owner.[1][2][3] However, six weeks after McDowell was born, his family relocated to the east coast of Yorkshire because his father was part of the Royal Air Force.[4]
McDowell was married to actress Margot Bennett from 1975 to 1980. He then married actress Mary Steenburgen, whom he had first met while filming Time After Time and they had two children together: Lily Amanda (born January 21, 1981), and Charles Malcolm (born July 10, 1983), before divorcing in 1990. In 1991, McDowell married Kelley Kuhr, with whom he has three children: Beckett Taylor McDowell (born January 29, 2004), Finian Anderson McDowell (born December 23, 2006) and Seamus Hudson McDowell (born January 7, 2009) . He currently resides in Santa Barbara, California. He is the maternal uncle of actor Alexander Siddig, who appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Kingdom of Heaven, Syriana and 24. He and his nephew both appeared in the movie "Doomsday"" by director Neil Marshall. The two are also important Star Trek alumni.
McDowell was offered knighthood but turned it down, stating that "I live in a republic (the United States of America), and should handle myself accordingly."
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. He won great acclaim (nominated for Best Actor by the New York Film Critics Circle) for his role as Alex, the leader of a gang of futuristic thugs.
McDowell rejoined Anderson for O Lucky Man! (1973), which was based on an idea he had, and Britannia Hospital (1982), and starred in Aces High (1975). McDowell regularly turned up on British television productions in the early 1970s in adaptations of theatre classics, one example being opposite Laurence Olivier in The Collection (1976), as part of the series Laurence Olivier Presents. He 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).
McDowell mainly portrayed antagonists in the late 1970s and 1980s — none more notorious than the title character in the controversial 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 top it all up".[5] He also 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, played Little Red Riding Hood). In 1984, he narrated the documentary The Compleat Beatles.
McDowell is well known in Star Trek circles as "the man who killed Captain Kirk" in the 1994 film Star Trek Generations, in which he played the mad scientist Dr. Tolian Soran (Incidentally, he shares the distinction of playing one of Kirk's nemeses with Ricardo Montalban, with whom he also shares the distinction of portraying Mr. Roarke in respective versions of Fantasy Island). McDowell has also 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. He also voiced the Enclave president John Henry Eden in Bethesda Softworks' acclaimed 2008 title Fallout 3.
In 1995, McDowell co-stared with actress and artist Lori Petty in the action/sci-fi/comedy film Tank Girl. Here, he played the villian 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-apocolyptic Earth.
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 teamed up 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". Many regard it as his best and most potent performance to date.[citation needed] The film also starred Clive Owen as the victim's older brother. It has become something of a cult classic.
In 2006, McDowell portrayed radio mogul Jonas Slaughter on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, In 2007, he portrayed the wealthy, conspiratorial villain Mr. Linderman during the first season of the NBC hit series Heroes, a role he reprised in the third season premiere. He has starred in Jerry Was a Man, which has appeared as an episode of Masters of Science Fiction, on ABC and Sky. He also portrayed Terrence McQuewick on Entourage and Julian Hodge on Monk.
In 2007, he appeared as Dr. Sam Loomis in Rob Zombie's remake of the horror film Halloween, as Desmond LaRochette in Robert Whitlow's The List, and as Irish patriarch Enda Doyle in Red Roses and Petrol, to be released theatrically in early 2008. He also began a recurring role on the death metal parody cartoon, Metalocalypse as Vater Orlaag and other characters.
In 2008, McDowell began a recurring role as Grandpa Fletcher on Phineas and Ferb.
McDowell recently provided his voice for the "Dr. Calico" character in Disney's Bolt, and is currently filming the Canadian vampire comedy rock and roll movie Suck with director and actor Rob Stefaniuk. McDowell also provided his voice for the president of the United States, John Henry Eden, in Fallout 3.
Some of McDowell's other recent voice work has been as the Superman villain Metallo in Superman: The Animated Series, Mad Mod in the cartoon Teen Titans, a character in, and the narrator of an episode of South Park, known simply as "A British Person," and even 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.
In 2006 and 2007 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. |