Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an American actor of British origin, known for his roles in the films "Planet of the Apes" and "Cleopatra." Roddy McDowall was born in London to an aspiring actress and a sailor[3]. He made his film debut as a child in the late 1930s. In the early 1940s, during the London Blitz, the McDowall family moved to the United States. There the young actor continued his career, making his Hollywood debut in 1941 in John Ford's famous drama "How Green Was My Valley." His next notable role was the schoolboy Joe in the film "Lassie Come Home," about the adventures of a popular collie dog. On the set of that picture McDowall met the aspiring actress Elizabeth Taylor, who became a close friend of his for all the years that followed. Roddy McDowall's acting career continued to develop successfully after he moved on to adult character roles. In 1963 he appeared as Octavian in the large-scale historical drama "Cleopatra." For that role the actor was nominated for a Golden Globe and put forward for an Academy Award, but was accidentally disqualified because of a jury error.

At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s he was remembered for his roles as the chimpanzees Cornelius and Caesar in the series of films in the "Planet of the Apes" cycle (1968-1973), and then in the television series of the same name in 1974. Later McDowall appeared in a number of other popular films, among them "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972), "Evil Under the Sun" (1982) and "Overboard" (1987). Besides his roles on the big screen, he was often a guest on various television projects, among them the series "Batman," "Columbo," "Quantum Leap" and "The Twilight Zone." One of his last works was the voice of Mr. Soil, a member of the ant colony council, in the animated film "A Bug's Life" in 1998. Toward the end of his career Roddy McDowall took an active part in the work of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where for several years he held various posts on the board of governors. Besides his acting career he showed himself to be a successful photographer, publishing five albums of his photographic work.