Paul McDowell (actor)

Paul William McDowell (15 August 1931 – 2 May 2016) was an English actor and writer who appeared in numerous television productions over a 40-year period.^[1]

Paul McDowell
McDowell in "The Return of Mr. Bean" (1990)
Born	Paul William McDowell (1931-08-15)15 August 1931 London, England
Died	2 May 2016 (2016-05-03) (aged 84) London, England
Occupation	Actor

Early life and career

McDowell was born in Fulham, south-west London the only son of William a museum guard and shipyard worker. His mother Frances was a landlady and cleaner. He attended several primary schools and was evacuated to Guildford, Rochdale, and Torbay during the second world war.^[2] After leaving school, he trained to be a painter at Chelsea Art College. He later attended St Edmund Hall, Oxford. In the early 1960s as "Whispering" Paul McDowell he was a vocalist with the British 1920s-style jazz band The Temperance Seven, who had a No. 1 hit in Britain. He was a member of the pop group 'Guggenheim' which he formed with Granada Television producer and singer Chris Pye, and guitarist Jules Burns. The album Guggenheim was released in 1972 on Indigo Records, and distributed by the British Decca label. He worked at the Establishment Club as an actor/writer, then became a member of the improvisational group the Second City in the United States and was a writer on The Frost Report.

Television actor

His television roles include: Mr Collinson, a sour-faced prison officer in Porridge, Churchill's butler in Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years, and Mr Phillips in The Two of Us.

Writer

As a screenwriter he wrote for Sheila Hancock and The Two Ronnies. Later he concentrated on writing and teaching tai chi.^[3]

Later life

Later he lived in Towcester Northamptonshire, where he wrote a letter ^[4] to The Guardian, published on 11 March 2016, less than two months before his death. His letter was an amusing mild rebuke that The Guardian had omitted to state in their obituary of George Martin that his very first Number 1 hit was the Temperance Seven's "You're Driving Me Crazy".

Illness and death

On April 23, 2016, McDowell announced he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He died on May 2, 2016, from complications: heart failure following pneumonia. The immediate cause of death on his death certificate was cardiac arrest with respiratory failure. He was survived by his children Helena, Lola, Sidonie, Milo and his third wife, Trisha.

Filmography

Film

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Food for a Blush	Bit part	Short film Uncredited
1972	Savage Messiah	Agitator	Uncredited
1978	The Life Story of Baal	Piller
	The Thirty Nine Steps	McLean
1979	Porridge	Collinson	Released in the United States as Doing Time
1980	Rough Cut	Postman
1985	National Lampoon's European Vacation	English Motorist
1988	Dead End City	Gang Member
2008	Chemical Wedding	Symonds	Final film role

Television

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1966	Festival	—	Writer Series 7, episode 5: "Westbrook's Man/Ligging About" (Segment: "Ligging About")
1968-1969	Horne A'Plenty	Guest	2 episodes
1969	The World of Beachcomber		6 episodes
	Canada Goose		TV movie
1970	Frost on Sunday	—	Writer - 9 episodes
1972	His and Hers	Melvyn	Series 2, episode 6: "Telephone"
	Scoop	Pigge	3 episodes
1972-1973	But Seriously, It's Sheila Hancock	Various	2 episodes Writer - 5 episodes
1973	Our Kid	Householder	Episode 6: "The Last of the All-Rounders"
	The Protectors	Bank Teller	Series 2, episode 7: "Goodbye George"
	Grubstreet	Various	6 episodes
1974	You'll Never Walk Alone	Third Man	TV movie
	No Strings	2nd Workman	Episode 2: "Grow and Let Grow"
	Crown Court	Frederick Barker	Season 3, episode 148: "Forgive-Me-Not: Part 1"
1974-1977	Porridge	Mr. Collinson	4 episodes
1975	Churchill's People	1st Guest	Episode 12: "A Wilderness of Roses"
	The Good Life	Telephone Engineer	Series 1, episode 3: "The Weaker Sex?"
	Dawson's Weekly	Dr. Lang	Episode 1: "Les Miserables"
	The Nearly Man	Gordon	Episode 5: "Confrontation: July 1975"
1975-1978	Wodehouse Playhouse	Hotel Manager / Studio Guide / First Cop	3 episodes
1976	One-Upmanship		3 episodes
	Victorian Scandals	Samuel James	Episode 4: "A Pitcher of Snakes"
1976-1979	Dave Allen at Large	Various	8 episodes
1977	The Other One	Security Guard	Episode 1
1977-1985	The Two Ronnies	Writer - 1 episodes	3 episodes
1978	Going Straight	Mr. Collinson	Episode 1: "Going Home"
	Life at Stake	Pierre Laporte	Episode 8: "James Cross Will Be Executed"
	A Soft Touch	Harvey Hornbeam	Episode 1: "Now Take my Wife"
	BBC2 Play of the Week	William	Series 2, episode 7: "Return Fare"
	Bernie		Episode #1.4
1978-1980	Robin's Nest	Doctor	2 episodes
1979	Bloomers	1st Policeman	Episode 3: "The Contract"
	Suez 1956	Henry Cabot Lodge	TV movie
1980	Tales of the Unexpected	Schaeffer	Series 2, episode 16: "The Man at the Top"
	The Enigma Files	John Smith	Episode 10: "Why Don't They Tell You These Things?"
	Play for Today	Bill Newsome	Series 11, episode 1: "Pasmore"
1981	Wolcott	Chief Supt. Cosgrave	3 episodes
	Never the Twain	Det. Sgt. Talbot	Series 1, episode 4: "A Matched Pair"
	Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years	Butler at Chartwell	Miniseries 7 episodes
	Angels	Mr. Howard	2 episodes
1981-1984	Kelly Monteith		2 episodes
1982	Secombe with Music	—	Writer - 1 episode
	Nancy Astor	Lee	3 episodes
	The Brack Report	Eric Fulton	2 episodes - 1 uncredited
	Strangers	Detective Inspector O'Rourke	Series 5, episode 1: "A Much Underestimated Man"
	Squadron	Air Commodore Grant	Episode 8: "Operation Hawk"
1983	The Kenny Everett Television Show	Various	Episode #2.3
	Blackadder	Herbert, Archbishop of Canterbury	Series 1, episode 3: "The Archbishop"
	R.H.I.N.O.; Really Here in Name Only	Barry Clarke	TV series
	Potter	The Drunk	Episode #3.6
	Chessgame	Jack Soutar	Episode 1: "The Alamut Ambush"
1984-1986	Comrade Dad	Man in Queue	2 episodes
1985	Mixed Doubles	Estate Agent	Series 1, episode 6: "Such Sweet Sorrow"
	Terry and June	Newsreader	Series 8, episode 11: "Mistaken Identity"
1986	C.A.T.S. Eyes	Les	Series 2, episode 1: "One Away"
	The Fourth Floor	Purvis	Miniseries 3 episodes
	Slinger's Day	Man	Series 1, episode 1: "New Management"
	Only Fools and Horses	Man in Market	Series 5, episode 7: "A Royal Flush"
	The Alamut Ambush	Jack Soutar	First two episodes of Chessgame edited as a TV movie
1986-1988	All in Good Faith	Supermarket Manager / Policeman	2 episodes
1986-1990	The Two of Us	Colin Phillips	13 episodes
1987-1989	The Little and Large Show	Various	2 episodes
1988	Carrott Confidential		Episode #2.1
1990	Mr. Bean	The Customer	Episode 2: "The Return of Mr. Bean"
1991	EastEnders	Mr. Wallace	2 episodes
1993	Frank Stubbs Promotes	Featherstone	Series 1, episode 7: "Book"
1994	Law and Disorder	Edward Powell	Episode 3: "A Night to Remember"
1996	The Brittas Empire	Man in Pool	Series 6, episode 6: "Mr. Brittas Falls in Love"
	The Legacy of Reginald Perrin	Higgins	Episode 1 Final television appearance

Notes

1. Dave Laing. "Paul McDowell obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
2. The Scotsman by the newsroom 23 June 2016|https://www.scotsman.com/news/obituary-paul-mcdowell-actor-musician-painter-teacher-and-writer-1473749
3. Richard Webster; Dick Clement; Ian la Frenais (2001). Porridge The Inside Story. Headline Book Publishing. ISBN 0-7472-3294-6.
4. "Paul McDowell letter to The Guardian rebuking them for omitting Temperance Seven as George Martin's first No 1 hit".

External links

• Paul McDowell at IMDb