Kelley McDowell (Formerly Kelley Kuhr) wife of Malcolm McDowell

Articles

Malcolm McDowell to be Dad Again at 65!
OK! Magazine 9/8/08

Malcolm, whose character Mr. Linderman appeared to have been killed off in the first year of the NBC show Heroes but is back this season confided, “I’m a very active father of two - soon to be three boys. They should be my grandchildren, but they’re my children, so go figure. It’s a very loud household! I always say here comes another stranger moving into our house, taking it over and everything is going to circulate around the new baby, of course, as it should. And we don’t know what the personality is [yet]; we don’t know what he looks like. We DO know it’s a him!” Malcolm said. When OK! caught up with Malcolm and Kelley at the NBC premiere party for Heroes on Sunday night, they said they have selected a name for their boy, due in January, but, “We’re not telling because that’s bad luck,” he said. Kelley told OK! Malcolm is a great dad to their younger boys Beckett, 4, and Finn, 18 months: “He’s a jokester. He takes them golfing every day. They’re so into it.” Malcolm said that Finn sits in Kelley’s arms in the golf cart but when they get to the green “he comes tottering out and starts swiping the ball, missing it most of the time.”

Home on the (broken) range
Sylvia Carter June 9, 2004

    It was just your typical vacation in an aging farmhouse, I suppose. Last month, I went back to the Missouri farm where I grew up. The refrigerator, a bulky General Electric that froze ice cubes lickety-split, gave out after only 53 years. My family had purchased the appliance in 1951, when we got electricity through the Rural Electric Association.
    Oh, well. I was sorry to see the fridge go, but we could work out of a couple of coolers for a day or two and eat most meals at my cousin's house, a mile and a half away. (We got a new refrigerator, but on the day it was delivered, a tornado-strength storm knocked out the electricity.) That wasn't all. I poured some water down the kitchen sink and it ran directly onto the floor. Then a large section of the bathroom ceiling fell down.
    Another catastrophe was to come. I discovered that the preheat button on the oven of the handsome old Majestic Range no longer pushed in or popped out. I managed to pull it out, but some crucial parts of it remained inside the stove. I was willing, just barely, to get rid of the fridge and move on, but I do not expect that I will ever part with that stove, an unusual model that has four electric burners and an equal four-burner space fueled by wood. Andy Ferguson of Andy's Maytag Appliances in Kahoka, the county seat of neighboring Clark County, allowed that the stove "might be worth something." I had already made up my mind about that. This stove held too many memories.
    In bitter winter weather, we brought in just-born calves and kept them by the stove for a night to keep their ears from freezing. On many a frigid morning, I warmed my own back against the oven door. In the wintertime, the oven could be heated with wood, so in the cold months, we seldom used the electric portion. My grandmother stirred up the syrup for making fluffy white popcorn balls on the wood stove surface. Until we got a toaster, about 10 years after we acquired the stove, Grandma made toast by putting a piece of bread on a long-handled fork and holding it right over the wood fire.
    In summer, we covered the wood-fired half of the range with a piece of enamel and cooked on the electric part. Without a wood fire, the cross-ventilated kitchen was cool bliss. Now, we tried in vain to use a slender magnet to draw the missing parts of the preheat button through a tiny hole. No dice.
    From the highest shelf in the cupboard, I took down the neatly stored stack of papers relating to the stove. As you might expect, when an appliance is more than 50 years old, it becomes harder and harder to find parts for it. Records of all parts purchased - mostly replacement oven coils - and all correspondence were there, along with a pamphlet that came with the stove back when it was new. "Model DS-30," my mother had written on the booklet. "Serial D5007368."
    A few days later in St. Louis, I approached the counter of an appliance parts store. When I began to talk about the stove, most of the workers waved me away and declared it a hopeless case. But I held my ground until at last one kindly fellow offered me a list of five possible sources of old-stove parts. One of those contacts led me to J.E.S. Enterprises in Ventura, Calif., and the Old Appliance Club.
    Jack Santoro, founder of the club, said that if I take a picture of the part I need and send it, the club can put out the equivalent of an all-points bulletin to try to acquire it. Or maybe I will get lucky and it will be in stock. The company has seven warehouses crammed with appliances and parts. Of course, the stove is in Missouri and I am not, so my part may have to wait until another visit.
    The parts I need would be available, Santoro assured me, "but we just don't know where they are." For $100 an hour plus airfare, lodging and other expenses, J.E.S. also would send a specialist to restore my stove, but luckily, Santoro thought this desperate measure would not be necessary. He agreed that my '50s stove sounded worth saving.
    Malcolm McDowell, the movie star, had planned on a 1930s stove, Santoro confided, "but when his wife saw the '50s stove, she went crazy; that was what she wanted. They built a pearl-shell kind of template behind the stove," just to show it off. Their stove may be "the jewel of the kitchen," as Santoro put it. But my stove is the jewel of my heart.
    To learn more about old stoves, go to Antiquestoves.com, which has a link to the Old Appliance Club.

8/27/00 UK The Sunday Times - Malcolm's house for Sale

Biography

Kelley's family background is from the Ukraine. Her family moved emigrated to the US and they have since lost contact with those left behind in the old country. She grew up in Michigan and later Kentucky where she met her first love Embry when she was 13. She met Malcolm in LA in 1988 when Malcolm was separated from his wife Mary and living in an apartment over an art gallery. Kelley was a local artist at the time and he met in her in that gallery and they have been together ever since in Rancho del Oso. She is a painter, photographer and renovator of houses. Kelley travels to all of Malcolm's sets and they are rarely apart. She is not "in the biz", so she is very down to earth and a nice person. She became pregnant in April 2003 and they had Beckett Taylor McDowell at 3:48 am on January 18, 2004 - 8 pounds 13 oz. she said, "He has red hair at the moment and looks like a mini Malc and very sweet." In March of 2006 she once again became pregnant with another boy Finnian Anderson McDowell who was born in December 2007 and then had their third boy in 5 years in 09, still trying for a girl. This will keep MM acting for a long time to pay these kids.

Children With

Beckett Taylor McDowell 1/18/04
Finnian Anderson McDowell 12/23/06
Seamus Hudson McDowell 1/7/09

Beckett is an English surname, stemming from place names in Devon and Berkshire. Its meaning is given as both "dweller near the brook" and "bee cottage." For some people there's also, in addition to the Samuel Beckett connection, the association with the 12th century St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Interviews

1/95 In Style Magazine about Malcolm's Italian Villa
3/15/00 OVN for the Film Festival
4/02 TimeZone about MM's Watch Collecting

Misc.

Tom Cruise turned me down when I asked him to unveil Stanley Kubrick's plaque at Elstree Studios, UK possibly having had enough of the director after Eyes Wide Shut. Instead, Clockwork Orange star Malcolm McDowell squeezed a quick unveiling ceremony in on the set of a film being shot.

Malcolm Reduxx

Named for the actor, Malcolm McDowell, who it was obviously based on, this is another Vampire the Eternal Struggle card. He turned in the card on the left, not even trying to have it look like Malcolm, but they felt it did look too much like him (and who wants Malcolm McDowell coming after you?)....so the altered version on the right is the one they used. By Ken Meyer

News

10/06

An Italian book was written about Malcolm, but it's not really a biography, just a long interview.

Cover scan
Title: Malcolm McDowell - O lucky Malcolm! by Marco Spagnoli
Edited by Silvia Ferrari, published by Aliberti editore, in October 2006
ISBN: 8874241607, price 13.50 Euros ($17.50 US)

It's in Italian with introductions by David Grieco and Graham Mersh. It's a very long interview conducted between June 2005 and March 2006, a Q&A about his life and his work. At the end of the interview, there is a list of his films with a synopsis and if the movie has been released on DVD.

3/11/05

The Tiburon International Film Festival, (Tiburon, CA) which opens Thursday in its fourth annual run. Two hundred and seventy films from 60 countries will be screened, plus tributes and special programs. On Friday, March 11 at 7 pm Evilenko will be shown. On Saturday, March 12th, 8:30 p.m. there will be a tribute to Malcolm McDowell, with showings of A Clockwork Orange. Panel discussions cover a range of topics. www.tiburonfilmfestival.com

3/9/05

Malcolm will be attending the PFF festival on April 16&17 to accept and award. David Grieco is also set to attend to show Evilenko. Tickets go on sale in two weeks and I'll be there to report on it.

The 14th Philadelphia Film Festival is scheduled for an April 7-20 run, and the opening-night and closing-night pics have been announced. Ferpect Crime, a politically incorrect comedy from Spain's Alex de la Iglesia, is the inaugural entry, and the director, recipient of the PFF's Phantasmagoria Award two years ago, will attend. This year's closing-night entry is Music From the Inside Out, Daniel Anker's documentary feature about the Philadelphia Orchestra. Additionally, English actor Malcolm McDowell will be honored with the festival's Artistic Achievement award.

3/5/05
Poster scan

Wild Horses In Need (WIN) announced plans to host a March 5 fundraiser to benefit 600 wild mustang ponies seized from the Santa Ynez Valley ranch of Slick Gardner. WIN, supported by volunteers and private donations, assumed responsibility for food, shelter, and medical care for the emaciated horses - feed alone costs $900 a day. Country music star Lacy Dalton will headline a concert and dinner at the Ventura County Fairgrounds agricultural building. Actor Malcolm McDowell will assist with the live and silent auction, which aims to raise $100,000. Go to www.wildhorsesinneed.org for more information.

7/17/03

Malcolm and Kelley attended the 17th Annual BAFTA/LA Garden Party at the home of the Counsel General Peter Hunt CMG. Also in attendance were Pat York and Michael York.

3/5/03

Peter O'Toole, Rupert Everett and Malcolm McDowell will be among the British stars to attend this year's Paris film festival, in a year when the event is championing British cinema.
Clockwork Orange star McDowell has been chosen as this year's jury president, while O'Toole and Everett will be among the actors to present films.
Among the 100-plus films in the week-long festival, from 24 March, 14 will be features made in the UK, highlighted in a special dedicated section. The Paris film festival, now in its 18th year, has built a reputation on its commitment to showcasing movies that might otherwise not be seen in Europe. Jury president McDowell takes over from French actress Isabelle Adjani, who will act as honorary president.

Pictures

Exclusive - MM as a Simpsons Character 7/07
Malcolm in England 5/15/07
MM 64th Birthday Card 6/13/07
Unknown Scan from 4/07

Italy 6/13/05
MM pictured on a newspaper
MM being presented the Harry Winston Award
MM holding Beckett with Kelley laughing
MM presented with a birthday cake
MM, Kelley and Beckett
MM holding the Harry Winston/watch award

MM and Gabriella Passion at the Nastro D'Argento awards 2/6/05
MM arriving at the Deauville Festival 9/8/04
MM receiving the lifetime achievement award
MM in California 8/04
MM sitting outside 4/24/04 Guardian
DVD Movie Trivia Major Error
Malcolm at a screening of The Hired Hand in LA, CA 10/23/03
Exclusive of Malcolm 8/30/03 the day before he left to Shoot Stroke of Genius
Exclusive - painting of Alex by Kelley McDowell
MM 60th Birthday Card

Italy 1994 - Malcolm's Tuscany villa
Inside - Malcolm on the phone

Premieres
Malcolm + Kelley at the Prêt-à-Porter Premiere 1994
Malcolm + Kelley at the Twister Premiere 1996
Malcolm 3/00
Malcolm at the Mill Valley Festival 1/12/02
The McDowells and the Yorks at the 17th Annual BAFTA/LA Garden Party 7/17/03

Paris Film Festival March 24, 2003
Montage of 24 small pictures from the festival
Malcolm and Kelley with reporter
Malcolm close-up 11/01

11th Annual BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards 4/12/02
Malcolm Intense Close-up
Malcolm Smiling Close-up
Malcolm and Kelley - Right side
Malcolm and Kelley - Looking Right
Malcolm and Kelley - Straight on shot
Malcolm and Kelley Close-up
NY Resident 6/10/02 Cover w/Malcolm + Kelley

Quotes

These are misc. because they aren't related to any of his works.

MM has blasted the British royal family branding the institution "stupid". He has been living in America for years and is not missing his native the UK. He says, "Only in England can you be lower middle class. Royalty still has us fainting anyway - it's so stupid! And why? The Queen's a sweet person but, blimey, we're meant to worship that?" 7/13/07

Film editor Neil Travis joined director Phil Alden Robinson and actor Malcolm McDowell in presenting the award to Morgan Freeman. Malcolm said, "This man is truly one of our greatest assets. He's a national institution." 2/06

In the latest example of AA flight attendant air rage, here's what happened to my friend Malcolm McDowell and his wife, Kelley, on a recent flight from Chicago to L.A. (AA#1555 on November 21.) They were traveling in first class (full fare for what it's worth). When the Flight Attendant got to them to offer lunch there was nothing left but fish. Malcolm explained that his wife is allergic to fish and asked if there wasn't something else, from coach perhaps, but FA said there was nothing she could do. Malcolm pointed out that his wife is, quite obviously, seven months pregnant and needed to eat something. FA just stood there without apology repeating the same thing - nothing she could do about it. After some continued, but very polite, persistence on Malcolm's part the FA finally said that maybe she could get a turkey sandwich from coach. Problem resolved as far as Malcolm and Kelley are concerned. But a few minutes later a coach FA appears and says, sorry, no turkey sandwich for you. Then continues, "You have to take what we give you and if you don't like it, it's too bad and if that is not good enough perhaps we could land the plane." As she is walking away Malcolm replies, "The service on this airline sucks. No wonder they are going bankrupt." He was definitely unhappy, but never threatening, and never stood up or yelled. When they arrive in LA there are six fully armed, bullet proof vested, LAPD (and any number of eager TSA) waiting for them. They begin to question them (in the middle of the terminal in front of hundreds of other passengers) about the "security risk" they caused on board the plane. The people sitting behind them (one also a well-known person and also interviewed) stated neither Malcolm nor his wife did anything threatening AND (lest anyone wish to say this is just another example of a rich, spoiled actor not getting his way) an air marshal who happened to be sitting in first class and witnessed the entire episode (and is, I would say, fairly qualified to recognize an inflight security risk) told the police Malcolm did absolutely nothing threatening and was as polite as he could possibly be under the circumstances. It was the flight attendants who were, in fact rude, and he basically shut the whole "investigation" down. After putting Malcolm and his wife through this embarrassment (not to mention the stress on a woman who is seven months pregnant) what do the FA and the AA ground staff do? Nothing. No apology. They won't even provide them with the FA's name (another "security risk") or an address they can write to to complain. Kelley told me that if the FA's or ground staff had for even one second apologized or said "I will see what I can do" or even appeared empathetic it would have gone a long way to diffusing the situation. But no, the response is "Don't make me land this plane." They did contact the airline the next day and were promised a response on Monday. It's now Wednesday and still no response.

So what is Malcolm's response going to be? He says he's now he's got a story to tell when he goes on David Letterman and The Tonight Show to promote his latest movie. I hope AA likes the publicity. - JMW

"It's wonderful to be marred to someone younger, although women of my age hate it, of course. The truth is, if it wasn't for the physical thing, you'd swear Kelley is older than me. She is a rather mature person and was I when I met her at 22 - on this very street, at an art gallery opening - there was an immediate connection. Look, I've tried everything, been through the card. It's all a matter of luck. And economics. Some men can't afford to divorce. I'm privileged in that way. It has cost me a lot, which is one reason I have to keep working. But the last six years have been great. I'm still childish in many ways, but that's good for the job. Actors tend to relieve themselves of responsibility for the real world. I let Kelley write all the checks. I'm very trusting." - Radio Times 2/96

"It's just great because my wife is, well, somewhat younger than I am (28 years younger) and really she's the boss. And that's the best way - I figured that one out." - Maxim 9/00

Stories

I recently read something incredibly cool I hope that is true - turning down pretentious, meaningless awards. Malcolm McDowell in 1995 turned down a knighthood and had previously declined appointment as CBE (As a Commander) in 1984).

In 1983 Malcolm was the featured person at that year's Denver Film Festival. They showed A Clockwork Orange, O Lucky Man! and Time After Time. He answered questions after every movie and although I never ask questions, in this case I asked two, and then met him shortly thereafter. - Visitor to the site.

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