Personal Life and Trivia

Roddy McDowall was not only one of the most famous actors in Hollywood during the 60s and 70s; but he was also an intensely private person.
Most of his actual private life is completely unknown, including relationships he had during his life.
This secrecy about what went on behind closed doors has always made Roddy a massive target for speculation, and in recent years his image in society has been whittled down to nothing more than people measuring his importance by who he may or may not have had between the sheets while he lived. This is NOT however, how Roddy wanted to be remembered. If it had of been, he would have written expose's full of all the dirt in Hollywood. But he didn't. and the secrets he DID write about, were in his personal and private papers and journals.
In order to protect the friends he loved so much, Roddy stipulated that his personal documents be sealed and never released to the public eye until 100 years after his death; the year 2098.

My desire for this website is to have Roddy remembered for what he loved most; his careers as an actor and a professional photographer.

So here goes.

Getting to know Roddy McDowall the man:

Roddy's life was all about his friends, his craft and his passion for photography.

His work in film and photography was beautiful! Everything he touched turned to gold.

Some of my favorite photos that Roddy snapped with his ever present camera, are of a few of his dearest and most cherished friends.

                                        Elizabeth Taylor

                                                              Natalie Wood

Sharon Tate

Mia Farrow

Bette Davis

and Julie Andrews

In 1966, Roddy published his first in a series of 4 books of his photography called "Double Exposure"; which were a compilation of his celebrity photographs, and messages from people who were close to the celebrities featured. 

These books can be found on Amazon.com for collectors item prices (they're not cheap!) but they're worth looking at.

Roddy photographed many actors as well, such as Paul Newman, Sal Mineo, Anthony Perkins, Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp, Dean Stockwell, Dennis Hopper and Vincent Price (most of whom were among his enormous list of close hollywood friends) throughout his life and career and all these can be found with a simple google search of "Photography by Roddy McDowall."

For a more in depth look at Roddy's professional career, check out this biography done on him by A&E from 1998. It was filmed in 1996 but never aired until the week after McDowall's death on October the 8th, 1998.

Roddy McDowall: Hollywood's Best Friend

More trivia to come later. . . .