cfill today 80 years old Malcolm McDowell. Legendary English actor who entered cinema history thanks to the character of Alex DeLarge in the film Clockwork Orange.
Malcolm McDowell: Alex’s 80th birthday by Clockwork Orange
Born in Yorkshire in 1943the actor comes from a simple family that, when he was a teenager, moves to Leeds in search of fortune. Malcolm studies and gets by with a thousand jobs and, in the meantime, decides to enroll in an acting school thanks to which, after graduation, he gets some parts in the theatre. The actor seems destined for a career as sure as banal but in 1968 comes a sudden turning point.
In fact, director Lindsay Anderson – standard bearer of English Free Cinema which was inspired by the Nouvelle vague – chooses it as protagonist of Self…a dramatic and deeply “sixty-eight” film that tells of a private college student which, one day, he organizes an armed revolt against teachers. A very tough and anti-establishment film that reveals the extraordinary acting skills of the young man English.
Malcolm McDowell in the late 60s. (Getty Images)
Thanks also to a very different face from the good looks that were fashionable at the time but above all to a look capable of materialize the concern and anger of a generation that does not find reference points. Self… wins the Golden Palm at the Festival of Cannes and Malcolm is immediately noticed by Stanley Kubricklooking for a protagonist for his Clockwork Orange forthcoming processing.
Stanley Kubrick’s legendary film
Based on the novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess, Clockwork Orange tells an almost dystopian England and in the throes of youth gang violence. At the head of one of these there is Alex DeLarge, a boy addicted to blood but above all to rapes. Alex carries out his misdeeds together with the “drug” friends but one day they betray him and have him arrested. Become guinea pig of some medical experiments of the British government, the boy will be “re-educated” by methods even more violent than his past actions.
Malcolm McDowell in the opening scene of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (ANSA)
Initially, Kubrick wanted Mick Jagger and the other Stones as protagonists but then nothing came of it. So after seeing Self…the director of Shining he has no doubts in entrusting the part to Malcolm who, thanks to his inspiration, it will enrich the character with new nuances. Like for example in the famous rape scene at the writer’s house: Kubrick, failing to shoot the scene convincingly, he asked McDowell to try singing and dancing. And Malcolm improvised like this Singin’ in the Rain by Gene Kelly taken from the famous Singing in the rain.
Presented in New York in 1971, the film comes massacred by the media and critics but the public flocks to the theaters despite the prohibition for minors under 18 years. A masterpiece that has entered the collective imagination, Clockwork Orange will give Malcolm international fame but it will also be the film that, unfortunately, will cage him in the role of the young psychopath who will carry on for all the following decades.
A fluctuating career
After the success of Kubrick’s film, Malcolm reprises his character from Self… in another movie, Or Lucky Manalso directed by friend Lindsay Anderson but in later years he can’t find roles that match his talent. At the end of the 70s, thanks to the marriage to actress Mary Steenburgen, moves to the United States but unfortunately the music doesn’t change. On the contrary. In fact, the actor is chosen for Calighellohistorical/pornographic film directed by Tinto Brass and with an amazing cast that also included Helen MirrenJohn Gielgud, Adriana Asti and Peter O’Toole. Cursed film, kitsch and highly censored which will become one of the biggest flops in the history of cinema.
Malcolm McDowell and ex-wife Mary Steenburgen in 1979. (Getty Images)
In later years, Malcolm plays in Europe and America in low-level productions and not some worthy of its fame. He also often turns in Italy where, in the 90s, buy a house near Arezzo where he spends his summers. He also wrecks the marriage with Steenburgen, with whom he had son Charlienow director and happy husband of Lily Collins.
The actor remarries a third time with artist Kelly Kuhr and three more children are born and, in recent yearshis career takes off again also thanks to the television. Appears in hit series as Mozart in the Jungle and returns to the cinema in major titles such as Bombshell – The voice of the scandal and, in 2022, is also alongside Lily Tomlin and Fonda in the movie Moving On.
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