McDowell was born in 1945 in Indiana. He moved to San Francisco in the late 1960s to study painting at the San Francisco Art Institute.[1]
After switching to the filmmaking program at SFAI, McDowell studied under George Kuchar, who described his footage as the "prolific regurgitations of an 'enfant terrible.'"[2] The two became romantic and artistic partners.[3] McDowell directed the feature film Thundercrack! in 1975.
McDowell died from AIDS on June 3, 1987.[4] He left his work to Robert Evans, who owned the Roxie Theater. After Evans also contracted HIV, he transferred ownership of McDowell's work to friends who established the Curt McDowell Foundation.[1]
The Academy Film Archive has preserved a number of Curt McDowell's films, including Beaver Fever, Peed into the Wind, and Confessions.[5]