Brought up in Bridlington, where his parents operated a pub

Appeared in school productions of Shakespeare and in musical comedies

Worked as a bartender in his father's pub

Began acting career in the early 1960s in regional repertory companies in Shanklin, Isle of Wight, and Torquay; adopted mother's maiden name of McDowell as there was already an actor named Malcolm Taylor

Appeared in Royal Shakespeare Company productions for 18 months

First feature acting assignment, the supporting role of Billy in Ken Loach's "Poor Cow"; reportedly cut from the film before its release

Debut as a feature lead in Lindsay Anderson's "If..."

Starred in his most famous role as Alex in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange"

Second film with Anderson, "O Lucky Man!", derived from an idea by McDowell; also served as a producer

Anxious about real-life violence attributed to viewings of "A Clockwork Orange", Kubrick asked Warner Bros to stop distributing the film in Britain, a self-imposed ban still in effect at the time of Kubrick's 1999 death

Attempting to escape his violent image, swashbuckled through Richard Lester's comic "Royal Flash"

Starred with Alan Bates, Laurence Olivier and Helen Mirren in British TV production of Harold Pinter's "The Collection", directed by Michael Apted

Featured in the London stage revival of Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr. Sloane"

Portrayed Max Gunther in Stuart Rosenberg's "Voyage of the Damned", a drama about a boatload of Jewish refugees seeking asylum

Co-starred opposite future wife Mary Steenburgen in "Time After Time"

Played title role in "Caligula", the first $15 million 'porno' film; produced by PENTHOUSE's Bob Guccione

Starred in the Off-Broadway revival of "Look Back in Anger", directed by Lindsay Anderson

Acted opposite Nastassja Kinski in Paul Schrader's remake of "Cat People", playing her demonic brother

Third and final film with Anderson, "Britannia Hospital"

Played small role as legendary editor Maxwell Perkins to Steenburgen's Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in "Cross Creek"

Portrayed the wolf to Steenburgen's "Little Red Riding Hood" for Showtime's "Faerie Tale Theatre"

Played King Arthur in the made-for-TV movie "Arthur the King" (shot in 1982 but not broadcast until three years later)

As the oily, corrupt studio chief in Blake Edwards' disappointing "Sunset", delivered a superb acrobatic mime act at a fictionalized version of the first Academy Awards

Made four straight-to-video films: "Schweitzer", "Disturbed" and "Moon 44" for LIVE Home Video; "In the Eye of the Snake" for AIP Home Video

Guest-starred as Longtooth in "The Reluctant Vampire" episode of HBO's "Tales from the Crypt"

Contributed a cameo to Robert Altman's "The Player"

Portrayed villainous Dr. Soren in "Star Trek: Generations"; received death threats for killing Captain Kirk

Played rare good guy in Canadian feature "Hydrosphere"

Made rare appearance on British TV as porn magnate Benny Barratt in the BBC2 mini-series version of Peter Flannery's acclaimed epic "Our Friends in the North"; first British TV appearance in 25 years

American TV series debut as the sardonic Professor Pynchon in the CBS sitcom "Pearl"

Starred as Roarke in the short-lived ABC series remake of "Fantasy Island"

Portrayed rich, sensible, not very likable uncle in coming-of-age film "My Life So Far"

Appeared in "Just Visiting," a remake of the French time-travel pic "Les Visiteurs" (1993); helmed by Jean-Marie Poire (also co-screenwriter) who also helmed French original

Cast as the villain in the feature adaptation of "I Spy" starring Eddie Murphy and Owen Wilson

Cast in the ballet-themed drama "The Company"

Cast in "Bobby Jones, Stroke of Genius," based on the life of golf legend Bobby Jones

Cast in the British crime drama "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead"

Made several guest appearances as Ari's former partner and boss on the HBO series, "Entourage"

Portrayed the wealthy, conspiratorial villian Mr. Linderman on the hit NBC show "Heroes"

Cast in Rob Zombie's remake of the 1978 horror classic "Halloween"