Roddy McDowall

XERUS'S VOICE ARTIST FOCUS:

Today's V/A focus goes to the late Roddy McDowall. Roddy was a British actor who had been acting since he was a kid. He played Timmy in the classic film, Lassie Come Home. And he was still acting when he became an adult, where he was well known as Cornelius from Planet of the Apes. Roddy was also famous for voicing cartoon characters. He seemed to give his characters gentle sounding voices, even the villains he voiced. Sadly, Roddy had passed away in 1998 because of lung cancer. He's another of my favorite voice actors whom I will miss.

BATMAN(1992): The Mad Hatter
A BUG'S LIFE: Mr. Soil
CRICKET ON THE HEARTH: Cricket Crockett
DARKWING DUCK: Sir Quackmire
GARGOYLES: Proteus
GOBOTS, BATTLE OF THE ROCKLORDS: Nugget
MOWGLI'S BROTHERS: All the male voices
PINKY AND THE BRAIN: Snowball
PIRATES OF DARK WATER: Niddler(first voice)
RETURN OF THE KING: Samwise
SUPER SECRET SECRET SQUIRREL: Chameleon
SWAT KATS: Madkat
THE TICK: The Breadmaster(first voice)
THE WHITE SEAL: All the male voices
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS: Ratty

The great Roddy McDowall! He seemed to know everyone in Hollywood. He had a lengthy filmography, including appearances in Disney's That Darn Cat and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. He was also one of my favorite villains on the Adam West Batman series, as the Bookworm.

I actually had no idea he did voiceover work, too! But it doesn't surprise me, as he worked in film, radio, television and on the stage.

I am a huge Roddy McDowall fan! I've enjoyed his quirky and distinctive personality in so many different movies and TV shows.

I have the album of the original Broadway cast version of Camelot, where Roddy played Mordred. He sings "The Seven Deadly Virtues", which has some extremely witty lyrics, lol.

"If charity means giving, I give it to you and fidelity is only for your mate...Ha!"

As anyone seen his child actor movies such as Lassie or How Green Was My Valley? It's so interesting and weird to see him perform as a child. Even then he knew how to express emotion beautifully.

Was he not Cornelius in the Planet of the Apes cartoon? And now that I think about it, Winnie the Pooh sounds like MacDowell, too. . .

He was definitely a talented actor. And funny! He had a comedic role in "Scavenger Hunt" which suited him well. He indeed will be missed.

I loved his work as Sam in the animated Return of the King.

While not animated, he appeared in the South Park "Great Expectations" episode as "A British Person".

Planet Of The Apes and Roddy McDowall just seem to go hand in hand...he was not only Cornelius in the original film, he reprised the role in "Escape From The Planet Of The Apes", played Cesar in "Conquest Of " and "Battle For The Planet Of The Apes" and played the renegade chimp Galen in the "Apes" TV Series.
Yes, I am a big Roddy fan.

karamazov80 said:

Was he not Cornelius in the Planet of the Apes cartoon? And now that I think about it, Winnie the Pooh sounds like MacDowell, too. . .

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Actually, in the Return to the Planet of the Apes cartoon, Edwin Mills voiced Cornelius instead of Roddy.

Also, Sterling Holloway first voiced Winnie the Pooh in the classic cartoons. Then Hal Smith, and now Jim Cummings.

Drtooth said:

While not animated, he appeared in the South Park "Great Expectations" episode as "A British Person".

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Actually, that was Malcolm McDowell. A different actor who starred in films like a Clockwork Orange. That Great Expectations episode aired in 2000, a couple of years after Roddy's death.