An actor.

Malcom McDowell was born Malcolm Taylor on June 13, 1943 in Leeds, England. He has appeared in nearly 100 films, including:

He's most famous for his role as Alex DeLarge, the main character in A Clockwork Orange. McDowell is reported to have developed a phobia of using eyedrops during the filming of the movie, as a result of the famous "reprogramming" scene.

These days McDowell is best classified as a character actor. He very rarely plays leading roles, but manages to work consistently despite this.

He also appeared in such classic films as 'Tis and O Lucky Man. From what I understand, his career was ruined by the x-rated footage added to Bob Guccione's film Caligula after principal shooting had stopped. It was not so much the association with pornography but with one of the worst films of all time. I have not seen it but think of Ed Wood directing Ben Hur and splicing in the peep show clips he was making following the...unsuccess...of his magnum opus Plan 9 From Outer Space. Would Charleton Heston have gone on to walk the beach in Planet of the Apes? Or have shouted "Soylent Green is made from peeeeeeeeepuuuuuuuullllllll!!!!!!!" Well, maybe. But I think you get my point.

Malcolm McDowell has also had some more obscure and/or silly roles, some of which are only notable because he played them.

He played a heretical cleric in the Lexx movie Gigashadow; there were Shakespeare quotes included in the script, which I suspect would not have worked in such a bizarre sci-fi setting if not for the casting.

Although I don't think he was credited for this, he also appeared on South Park as the guy reading a book in front of a fire for the most twisted version of Great Expectations I've ever heard of. His opening line was, "Hello. I'm a British person."

Just a few months ago, I saw A Clockwork Orange for the first time. The friend I saw it with said, "He's a character actor, and this movie defined the character." I didn't really believe him. My primary thought throughout the movie was "That's really Malcolm McDowell???" I had never seen him young, or so I thought. I later learned he was also in Time After Time, a 1979 movie in which he played H.G. Wells chasing Jack the Ripper into the future. But I didn't remember his face from that. When I watched Gigashadow again afterward, I saw the connection. Age and role aside, the face was exactly the same, including odd expressions I hadn't remembered seeing him do before. I guess my friend was right.

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