who played cornelius on planet of the apes
List of Planet of the Apes characters Dr. Cornelius is a chimpanzee archaeologist and historian who appears in the original novel of Planet of the Apes (La PlanÃ¨te des singes), and also the first three installments of the classic movie series of the same name, from the 1960s and 1970s. He was portrayed by Roddy McDowall and, in the second movie, by David Watson.