- Born
- Birth nameMalcolm John Taylor
- Nickname
- Mick
- Height5′ 8½″ (1.74 m)
- Malcolm John Taylor was born on June 13, 1943 in Leeds, England, to working-class parents Edna (McDowell), a hotelier, and Charles Taylor, a publican. His father was an alcoholic. Malcolm hated his parents' ways. His father was keen to send his son to private school to give him a good start in life, so Malcolm was packed off to boarding school at age 11. He attended the Tonbridge School and the Cannock House School in Eltham, Kent. At school, he was beaten with the slipper or cane every Monday for his wayward behavior. Whilst at school, he decided that he wanted to become an actor; it was also around this time that his love for race cars began. He attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) to study acting. Meanwhile, he worked at his parents' pub but lost his job when the pub went bankrupt, his father drinking all the profits. He then had a variety of jobs, from coffee salesman to messenger.
His first big-screen role was in Poor Cow (1967), although his two-minute scene was ultimately cut from the completed film. Soon after, he caught the attention of director Lindsay Anderson who cast him in the role of a rebellious student in his film If.... (1968). The film catapulted Malcolm to stardom in Britain but failed everywhere else. He was so enthusiastic about the film's success that he wanted to do another right away. He began writing what would become the semi-autobiographical O Lucky Man! (1973). Then he starred as Alex DeLarge in Stanley Kubrick's controversial A Clockwork Orange (1971), a role that gave him world fame, and legendary status (although typecasting him as a in villainous roles). In early 1976, he spent nearly a year working on what would later be one of the most infamous films of all time, the semi-pornographic Caligula (1979), financed by Penthouse magazine founder Bob Guccione. Around that time, the British film industry collapsed, forcing him to flee to America to continue working. His first American film was Time After Time (1979). He then did Britannia Hospital (1982), the last part of Lindsay Anderson's working-class trilogy that started with If.... (1968).
In the mid-1980s, the years of alcohol and drug abuse, including $1000 a week on cocaine, caught up with him. Years of abuse took its toll on him; his black hairs were now gray. Looking older than he really was, nobody wanted to cast him for playing younger roles. The big roles having dried up, he did many B-rated movies. The 1990s were kinder to him, though. In 1994, he was cast as Dr. Tolian Soran, the man who killed Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Generations (1994). He was back on the track, playing villains again. He played another in the classic BBC miniseries Our Friends in the North (1996). Today, with more than 100 films under his belt, he is one of the greatest actors in America. In 2021 McDowell got his American citizenship. Prior to getting his citizenship, McDowell has stated that he likes the no-nonsense American ways. He resides in the northern suburbs of Los Angeles, California.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Pedro Borges
- SpousesKelley McDowell(November 12, 1991 - present) (3 children)Mary Steenburgen(September 29, 1980 - October 1, 1990) (divorced, 2 children)Margot Bennett(April 21, 1975 - September 15, 1980) (divorced)
- ChildrenSeamus Hudson McDowellFinnian Anderson McDowell
- ParentsEdna McDowellCharles Taylor
- RelativesAlexander Siddig(Niece or Nephew)
- Raspy deep-throated voice
- Often plays immoral characters or outright villains
- Often plays authority figures
- Fiendishly intelligent and ruthless characters
- Broad bulbous nose and dark blue eyes
- As a schoolboy, Malcolm was so bored having to listen to long, tedious speeches by minor local dignitaries at official school functions, when he became a star, he took his revenge. Asked to give the keynote speech at Cannock School's annual Open Day in 1969, he flew all the way from the United States to attend. Before a packed assembly, he simply announced "I hereby pronounce this Open Day open" and sat down.
- His performance as Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange (1971) was ranked 100 on the list of the "100 Greatest Film Performances of All Time" and was ranked 68 on Premiere magazine's "100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time".
- Was the first well-known actor to appear non-animated and in the flesh for South Park (1997) because he is one of Trey Parker's favorite actors and he was specifically requested. He appeared in a South Park parody of Charles Dickens' classic novel "Great Expectations", playing the narrator and simply calling himself A British Person (2000).
- Trained as an actor at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA), the United Kingdom's oldest drama school.
- Has a deep fear of reptiles. When Stanley Kubrick learned this while shooting A Clockwork Orange (1971), he introduced Basil, Alex's pet snake. The explained purpose was to make Alex DeLarge seem more intimidating, but with lesser importance this functioned as a prank by Kubrick.
- The best thing I did was abuse myself when younger - I dabbled in everything, cocaine, booze, women - because now I don't have to do it anymore.
- [on his career playing villains] I suppose I'm primarily known for that but in fact, that would only be half of my career if I was to add it all up.
- [when asked what his favorite Stanley Kubrick film was] A Clockwork Orange (1971)! I never saw any of the others.
- [on A Clockwork Orange (1971)] It's a remarkable film that has survived as such a classic and I'd be a raving idiot not to be thrilled with that.
- He didn't want me at first, told me about the big-name actor he could get, how he was taller than I was - I'm five eight and a half - but I said "That's nothing, I can stand on a box.".
- A Clockwork Orange (1972) - $100,000
- If.... (1969) - £90 per week
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