RODDY MCDOWELL, English actor died (b. 1928); Unmarried. A close friend of Elizabeth Taylor’s…need we say more? McDowell was one of the few child actors who successfully transitioned into adult stardom, notably in heavy makeup as various “chimpanzee” characters in four of the Planet of the Apes movies (1968 – 1973) and in the 1974 TV series that followed. Other film appearances included Cleopatra (1963), in which he played Octavian (the later Emperor Augustus); It! (1966), in which he played a Norman Bates character reminiscent of Psycho; The Poseidon Adventure (1972), in which he played Acres, a dining room attendant; Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry (1974); Class of 1984 (1982); Fright Night (1985), in which he played Peter Vincent, a television host and moderator of telecast horror films; and Overboard (1987) in which he played a kind-hearted butler.