The cast of NBC Heroes as a whole has always been relatively celebrity free, that is of course until famed British actor Malcolm McDowell joined the cast as the infamous Mr. Linderman.
Now, I will admit, at first I thought casting McDowell as Mr. Linderman was a terrible idea. The writers behind Heroes had spent a number of episodes referring to Linderman, building up his character, making him a shadowy, mysterious, sinister figure that was to be feared, and I just didn’t see McDowell as that person. Although the more Mr. Linderman was featured, the more his character began to grow on me and the more I realized McDowell was the perfect person for the role. As Mr. Linderman’s character developed over the course of just a few episodes, McDowell’s acting abilities and on screen experience really began to shine, bringing the once mysterious and sinister character to life.
Malcolm McDowell was born Malcolm John Taylor on June 13th, 1943 in Leeds, England and has been a well respected actor for the majority of his life. McDowell’s first step into acting was as Crispin Ryder in the 1964 TV series “Crossroads,” though it wasn’t until 1971 that the spotlight fully focused on McDowell when he starred as Alex de Large in the epic Stanley Kubrick film, A Clockwork Orange. McDowell’s role as Alex was the catch of the century, as A Clockwork Orange is considered by many (myself included), to be one of the single most influential movies of the 20th century.
Since his prolific role in A Clockwork Orange, Malcolm McDowell has appeared in quite literally hundreds of movies and TV shows in roles ranging from simple cameo’s to lead characters.
Of all the many roles McDowell has taken on, my personal favorites are that of Alex in A Clockwork Orange, Terence in HBO Entourage and, of course, the mysterious Mr. Linderman in NBC Heroes.
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Heroes Episode 22 Spoilers
Heroes Episode 22
Malcolm McDowell on IMDB