This Is Your Life: Roddy McDowall

Roddy MCDOWALL (1928-1998)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Roddy McDowall, actor, was surprised by Michael Aspel in front of an audience made up of 600 members of the Los Angeles branch of BAFTA at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California, following a screening of the film The Ballad of Tam Lin, which he had directed.

Roddy, who was born in London, began his acting career as a child, appearing in several films as a boy, including the Will Hay comedies Convict 99 and Hey! Hey USA. His family moved to the United States in 1940 and Roddy continued his career after being signed to 20th Century Fox, where as the resident juvenile lead, he appeared in such films as My Friend Flicka, Lassie Come Home and the Academy Award winning How Green Was My Valley - in a role which made him a household name.

As an adult, Roddy relocated to New York in the 1950s, where he had significant success on the Broadway stage, winning a Tony Award for his role in the play The Fighting Cock. On screen he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in Cleopatra, and would later become best known for his roles in the original Planet of the Apes films, and the spin-off television series.

"Thank you very much - I don't know what to say, but I guess I have to go along!"

programme details...

Edition No: 859
Subject No: 847
Broadcast date: Wed 3 Mar 1993
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Tue 23 Feb 1993
Venue: CBS Studios, Hollywood
Series: 33
Edition: 23
Code name: Planet

on the guest list...

Virginia - sister
Glynis Johns
Anna Lee
Ronald Neame
Juliet Mills
Maxwell Caulfield
Maureen O'Hara
Lauren Bacall
Anjelica Huston
Carol Burnett
Lydia Heston
Charlton Heston
Ian McShane
John Schlesinger
Joan Plowright

production team...

Researcher: Mandy Nixon
Writer: Roy Bottomley
Directors: Brian Klein, Malcolm Morris
Associate Producer: John Graham
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

The Glamorous Life

Hollywood in the spotlight

Juliet Mills

Screenshots of Roddy McDowall This Is Your Life

Scriptwriter Roy Bottomley recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, This Is Your Life: The Story of Television's Famous Big Red Book...

Anjelica Huston filmed for us for Roddy McDowall's Life. We sent a crew to the set of The Addams Family II in Pasadena, where she did an amusing piece for us in the character of Morticia.

But it was us who got the surprise that night. As we were leaving our hotel, with Michael Aspel, to spring our surprise on Roddy at the Pacific Design Centre, who should get out of the lift at the BelAge? Angelica Huston.

Series 33 subjects