MY LIFE IN 10 PICTURES
10 Pictures
Revisit Malcolm McDowell’s storied Hollywood career.
“I’ll try anything, really, as long as it’s a challenge and you can have some fun doing it.”
— Malcolm
HE SHOT to fame as the prototypical Angry Young Man, and to hear British-born Malcolm McDowell tell it, he had good reason to be. “My parents sent me to a school where [my accent] was beaten out of me!” But all that menace came in handy for intimidating roles in If…., A Clockwork Orange and more. “I don’t think I am in any way, shape or form evil,” he says. “[But] if you look punkish and play an iconic villain early on, you tend
to get asked to play one over and over.” Yet McDowell (who turns 74 on June 13) is a devoted dad of five, including two with ex-wife Mary Steenburgen. “When we split up, there was no question of me [staying in the U.S.] so I could be the father of my children,” he shares, “which I’m very happy about.”
1968 IF YOU WILL Malcolm credits the success of his screen debut in If.… to his friend and mentor, director Lindsay Anderson. “What [he] instilled in me was nothing more than the simple confidence to be able to do it.”
1971 TOUCH OF EVIL As a futuristic gang leader of ultraviolence in Stanley Kubrick’s controversial
A Clockwork Orange, he improvised his “Singin’ in the Rain” number while beating a man. “I always go for the comedic, even if I’m playing a serial killer, to engage the audience.”
1979 WHEN IN ROME? He played a Roman emperor in Caligula, but what began as a prestige film became an X-rated fiasco. “I [felt] a betrayal by [producerPenthouse owner Bob] Guccione, who added all this porn footage. That was annoying.”
1979 TIME FOR LOVE “Oh, I love that part,” Malcolm shared of playing author H.G. Wells in the time-traveling thriller Time After Time, where he met his second wife, Mary Steenburgen. “Well of course I was in love during the filmmaking — how could you not love the damn film?”
1994 STAR TRIP “I like to razz the Trekkies a little bit. Who doesn’t?” Malcolm said of fans’ reactions to his character killing off Captain Kirk (William Shatner) in Star Trek: Generations.
1998 FANTASY JOB He had a dream experience playing Mr. Roarke for a reboot of Fantasy Island. “I’d rather got used to the life in Hawaii. But unfortunately, the scripts weren’t that good.” And the series didn’t last long.
2003 CUT TO IT Director Robert Altman allowed Malcolm to improvise his role in The Company (with Neve Campbell). “[One shot] could go 90 minutes. And after about 20, I’d say, ‘There’s nothing left to say!’ And I heard, ‘Cut!’”
2008 DRAWN TO IT He found a new generation of fans as Grandpa Reg on Disney Channel’s Phineas and Ferb. “I just love doing voices. It’s fun, doesn’t take long, and you can get [to do] some really cool characters.” 2012 HAPPY ENDING Married since 1991, Malcolm has found lasting love with his third wife, artist Kelley Kuhr, who joined him as well as their son, Beckett, when he got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “They are the light of my life,” Malcolm says. “[Beckett] is like a rebirth for me.” 2014 JUNGLE BOOGIE In his current music-themed Amazon series Mozart in the Jungle, Malcolm loves playing eccentric conductor Thomas. “My character is a study in aging,” he explained. “Eventually, you get to a place where you’re so old, that really, you don’t give a f---. And that’s where I am now.”