Clan MacDowall People

Day Hort MacDowall (1850 – 1927)
Day Hort MacDowall was a politician from old Northwest Territories, Canada. He was born in 1850 in Carruth House, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He was elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Northwest Territories in 1883 and served until 1885. He was an early prominent resident of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan and connected to the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1887 and re-elected in 1891 for the Saskatchewan. He served until 1896.

He died on October 10, 1927. The village of MacDowall, Saskatchewan is named after him.

Roddy McDowall (1928 – 1998)
British actor. McDowall was born in London in Herne Hill to a Scottish father, Thomas Andrew McDowall, and an Irish mother, Winifred. Both his parents were enthusiastic about the theatre. He also had a sister, Virginia. McDowall made his first film appearance at the age of ten. It was as “Huw” in How Green Was My Valley (1941) that he made his name, and he appeared in many other films as a child actor, including The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) and Lassie Come Home (1943) where he co-starred (in what would be one of many occasions) opposite lifelong friend Elizabeth Taylor.

McDowall was one of the few child actors to continue his career successfully into adulthood, but it was usually in character roles, notably in four of the five original Planet of the Apes movies (1968 – 1973) and the TV series that followed. Other film appearances included Cleopatra (1963), It! (1966), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974). Fright Night (1985) and Overboard (1987). He also appeared on stage and was a frequent guest star on television, appearing on such series as the original Twilight Zone, The Carol Burnett Show, Fantasy Island and Quantum Leap.

During the 1990s, McDowall became active in film preservation and served for several years in various capacities on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that presents the Oscar. He was Chairman of the Actor’s Branch for five terms. He was elected President of the Academy Foundation the year he died at Studio City, California from lung cancer at the age of 70.