Roses were the central feature of Roddy McDowall's English garden, which he enjoyed sharing with friends and loved ones, and they became the defining element of a garden honoring his lifelong dedication to the Motion Picture & Television Fund. A star of film, stage, radio, and television, he was also a respected and published photographer and writer. In 1940, his father sent twelve-year-old Roddy, his mother, and his sister to the United States for safety from the Blitz in London. Already a veteran of 18 films in England, he and his sister Virginia performed a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream aboard ship on their way to New York, where his arrival photograph appeared in The New York Times. A Fox Studios representative saw the photograph and chose him to portray Huw Morgan in How Green Was My Valley, and the family immediately continued by train to Hollywood, where his American acting career began. In 1942, at age 14, Roddy and Virginia were invited to the Motion Picture & Television Fund Country House and Hospital by its president, Jean Hersholt, a visit that began his lifelong commitment to the fund and the entertainment industry he loved. Throughout the rest of his life, he encouraged others in the industry to support the organization. His versatility as an actor carried across movies, television, and the stage, including Caesar in Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and he was involved with that project longer than anyone else, starring in four of the five films, the television series, and related marathons and specials. In the weeks before his death, he gave many valued personal possessions to close friends, and the fund accepted the donation of a statue of Caesar that had adorned his garden. Some of the rosebushes from his own garden, just outside his living room, were replanted here, preserving a living connection to him.