ACTOR · BORN 1943
Malcolm McDowell
- Born
- 13 June 1943
47 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
12 Facts About Malcolm McDowell's Life and Family
- #003
He was the first well-known actor to appear in the flesh, rather than in animation, on South Park (1997), because he was one of Trey Parker's favourite actors and was specifically requested. He played the narrator in South Park's parody of Charles Dickens's classic novel "Great Expectations," and was credited as A British Person (2000).
- #010
His granddaughter Clementine Mae Walton was born in January 2012. Her mother is Malcolm's daughter Lilly McDowell Walton.
- #011
Along with Sir John Gielgud and Michael York, he is one of three actors who have played both King Arthur and Merlin. He played King Arthur in Arthur the King (1985) and Merlin in The Kids of the Round Table (1995).
- #013
He took his mother's maiden name, McDowell, because he wanted to join the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and there was another English actor named Malcolm Taylor.
- #015
He has said that his favourite actor of all time is James Cagney.
- #016
In the Ludovico scene of A Clockwork Orange (1971), McDowell's eyes were clamped open using a surgical device for eye surgery. The doctor who applied the eye drops on set was a real doctor present at the time of the injury. However, the clamping of McDowell's eye accidentally scratched his cornea and he experienced temporary blindness.
- #019
Malcolm McDowell was born to Charles Taylor, a publican, and Edna McDowell, whose family came from the hotelier Clan MacDowall, and grew up with two sisters: Gloria (the elder) and Judy (the younger).
- #022
Because he wanted to enter the British actors' union Equity, McDowell took his mother's maiden name, McDowell, since there was another British actor named Malcolm Taylor.
- #037
McDowell appeared alongside his real-life nephew Alexander Siddig in the film Doomsday (2008).
- #042
Malcolm McDowell named O Lucky Man! (1973) as his favourite of his own films.
- #043
Malcolm McDowell is of English, Scottish and Irish descent.
- #047
Malcolm McDowell is the father of Lilly McDowell and Charlie McDowell, and the father-in-law of the actress Lily Collins.
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