Born September 17, 1928 in London, England, Roderick (Roddy) MacDowell was the son of a merchant mariner and housewife mother, both of whom had an interest in the theatre. His older sister Virginia (1927-2006) and he were both child actors.

He made his screen debut in 1938’s Murder in the Family as the younger brother of Jessica Tandy and Glynis Johns. Three years and sixteen films later he made his Hollywood debut at the age of 12 in Fritz Lang’s Man Hunt with Walter Pidgeon. Later that year he was fifth billed but essentially the lead in John Ford’s Oscar winning How Green Was My Valley which made him a household name. While it is often assumed that he won a juvenile acting Oscar for that performance, he sadly did not.

McDowall emerged from How Green Was My Valley as the most popular boy actor of the day. Within the next three years he would appear fifth billed as the young Tyrone Power in Son of Fury, second billed only to Monty Woolley in The Pied Piper, top billed in My Friend Flicka and Lassie Come Home, third billed as Irene Dunne’s son who grows up to be Peter Lawford in The White Cliffs of Dover and fifth billed as the young Gregory Peck in The Keys of the Kingdom. He continued to alternate star roles with major supporting turns throughout his teen years, most notably as the leads in 1945’s Thunderhead – Son of Flicka and 1948’s Kidnapped.

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