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Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude McDowall ( September 17 , 1928 – October 3 , 1998 ) was a British Actor . Early life McDowall was born in London 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 . Career McDowall was one of the few Child Actor s 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). Other film appearances included '' The Poseidon Adventure '' (1972), '' Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry '' (1974) and '' Overboard '' (1987). He also appeared on stage and television. He appeared in an Episode of Science Fiction Television Series Quantum Leap . He played a character villain, "The Bookworm", in the ''. During the 1990s, McDowall became active in film preservation and was active in the preserving of '' Cleopatra '' (1963), (in which he co-starred) which had been severely cut by 20th Century Fox studio head Darryl F. Zanuck after skyrocketing production costs. McDowall 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. Private life In 1974, the FBI raided the home of McDowall and seized the actor's collection of films and television series. His collection consisted of 160 16 mm prints and over 10,000 videocassettes (this was before the era of VCRs and VHS tapes). McDowall had bought Errol Flynn 's home movies and the prints of his directorial debut '' Tam Lin '' (1970) starring Ava Gardner , and transferred them all to tape for longer-lasting archival storage. McDowall was forthcoming about some of the individuals he had dealt with on the black market: Rock Hudson , Dick Martin and Mel Torme were some of the celebrities that were interested in his creations. No charges were pressed against McDowall. He also received recognition as a Photographer and published five books of photographs, one being of his celebrity friends such as Elizabeth Taylor and Judy Garland . He died in Studio City , California from Lung Cancer at the age of 70, the guardian of many secrets (nefarious and otherwise) that Hollywood holds. One of his last public appearances was when he accompanyied the then-88 year old actress, Luise Rainer , the earliest awardee of a Best Actress Oscar who attended that year's telecast, which featured all the living previous Oscar winners who were willing and/or able to attend (more than 70 did). He was known to be a homosexual, but a very discreet one. EXTERNAL LINKS
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