Photo: lukeford.net / CC BY-SA 2.5 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Malcolm McDowell gave cinema one of its most indelible faces, and my take is that Alex in A Clockwork Orange both made and shadowed him. Few actors could survive being that iconic that young, yet McDowell turned it into a six-decade career as a character actor, voice artist, and screen villain of choice. What I respect most is his total lack of preciousness; he works constantly, in projects grand and modest, bringing the same unnerving glint to each. The line from Lindsay Anderson's If.... to Kubrick is film history itself, but his longevity since is the quieter, more impressive achievement.
Overview
Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is an English actor. He first became known for portraying Mick Travis in Lindsay Anderson's If.... (1968), a role he later reprised in O Lucky Man! (1973) and Britannia Hospital (1982). His performance in If.... prompted Stanley Kubrick to cast him as Alex in A Clockwork Orange (1971), the role for which McDowell became best known.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Malcolm McDowell
- Name (Japanese)
- マルコム・マクダウェル
- Reading
- まるこむ・まくだうぇる
- Born
- June 13, 1943 (age 82)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Gemini / Goat
- Origin
- Horsforth, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 2 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- television actor / voice actor / film actor / character actor / screenwriter
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Saturn Awards
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- 2009 Sitges Grand Honorary Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Television actor — see all → · Voice actor — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-11
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.