Editing Roddy McDowall (section)

==Personal life==
McDowall was a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] and supported [[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]]'s campaign during the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]].<ref>''Motion Picture and Television Magazine'', November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers</ref>

In 1974, the [[FBI]] raided McDowall's home and seized his collection of films and television series in the course of an investigation into film piracy and copyright infringement. His collection consisted of 160 16 mm prints and more than 1,000 video cassettes, at a time before the era of commercial videotapes, when no legal aftermarket existed for films. McDowall had purchased [[Errol Flynn]]'s home cinema films and transferred them all to tape for longer-lasting archival storage. No charges were filed.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/90689/when-roddy-mcdowall-was-busted-fbi-pirating-films|title=When Roddy McDowall Was Busted by the FBI for Pirating Films|date=16 January 2017|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref>

McDowall never married nor had children. In [[Full Service (book)|''Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars'']] (2012) by [[Scotty Bowers]], a famous Hollywood [[Procuring (prostitution)|procurer]], Bowers claims McDowall was one of his homosexual clients.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bowers |first=Scotty |author-link= |date=2012 |title=Full Service: My Adventures in Hollywood and the Secret Sex Lives of the Stars |url= https://groveatlantic.com/book/full-service/|location= New York, NY |publisher= Grove/Atlantic, Inc.|page= |isbn=978-0-8021-2055-7 }}</ref>

McDowall was in a relationship with American actor [[Montgomery Clift]] for several years in the early 1950s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=LaGuardia |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjzdVDJu9rwC |title=Monty: A Biography of Montgomery Clift |date=1978 |publisher=Avon |isbn=978-0-380-01887-1 |pages=138–139 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bosworth |first=Patricia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_CtDPgAACAAJ&q=editions:ISBN0151621233 |title=Montgomery Clift: A Biography |date=1978 |publisher=Bantam Books |isbn=978-0-553-12455-2 |pages=281 |language=en}}</ref> McDowall was introduced to Clift by Elizabeth Taylor.<ref>Langella, Frank (2012). ''Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them'', p. 336</ref> During the two and a half years that Clift stayed away from films, McDowall's career was nonexistent.<ref>LaGuardia, pp.138–39</ref><ref>Bosworth, p. 281</ref> He devoted himself entirely to Clift and moved from Los Angeles to New York to be closer to his idol.<ref>{{cite web |date=17 September 2021 |title=#BornThisDay: Actor, Roddy McDowall |url=https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-actor-roddy-mcdowall-4/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927184710/https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-actor-roddy-mcdowall-4/ |archive-date=27 September 2022}}</ref> Reportedly, McDowall attempted suicide after their breakup.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 October 2019 |title=#BornThisDay: Actor, Montgomery Clift - The WOW Report |url=https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-actor-montgomery-clift-4/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208035534/https://worldofwonder.net/bornthisday-actor-montgomery-clift-4/ |archive-date=8 February 2023 |access-date=6 May 2023 |website=worldofwonder.net |language=en-US}}</ref> Nevertheless, he showed no bitterness and also remained one of Clift's loyal friends.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Douglas |first=Illeana |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8nGcCgAAQBAJ&dq=tap+dancer+from+old+movies++dennis&pg=PA56 |title=I Blame Dennis Hopper: And Other Stories from a Life Lived In and Out of the Movies |date=3 November 2015 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-1-250-05291-9 |pages=179 |language=en |quote=Roddy was a private man who kept his private life separate, but I could tell by the way he spoke about him [Clift] that Roddy felt a deep love for the man he could not save.}}</ref> McDowall starred with Clift in his final picture, ''The Defector''. Clift later stated that he could never have finished the film without McDowall's moral support.<ref>{{cite web |date=4 October 1998 |title=Obituary: Roddy McDowall |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-roddy-mcdowall-1176240.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409025313/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-roddy-mcdowall-1176240.html |archive-date=9 April 2023 |website=[[The Independent]]}}</ref>