[3] Back in the US he had his first acting experience in Montreal at a theatre where he was a ticket seller, assistant doorkeeper and where his brother was employed as an actor.

By 1877 MacDowell made his first professional acting appearance in the United States at the Boston Museum, where his brother E.A.

[3] MacDowell began appearing in silent feature films in 1917, by which time he was long a stage veteran.

His costars were such actors as William S. Hart, Lon Chaney, Charles Ray, Enid Bennett and numerous others.

Several films that Melbourne MacDowell appeared in survive today and can be found on DVD, particularly two of his outings with Lon Chaney, Nomads of the North and Outside the Law as well as the restored Bebe Daniels 1928 feature Feel My Pulse.