Bill Owen (actor)
| Bill Owen MBE |
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|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
William John Owen Rowbotham 14 March 1914 Acton, London, England |
| Died | 12 July 1999 (aged 85) Highgate, London, England |
| Occupation | Actor, songwriter |
| Years active | 1941–1999 |
| Spouse(s) | Edith Stevenson (1946–64) (divorced) Kathleen O'Donoghue (1977–99) (his death) |
| Children | 2 |
William John Owen Rowbotham, MBE (14 March 1914 – 12 July 1999), better known as Bill Owen, was an English actor and songwriter. He was the father of actor Tom Owen.
Born in London, Owen made his first film appearance in 1944, but did not achieve lasting fame until 1973, when he took the starring role of William "Compo" Simmonite in the long-running British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. Owen's character is a scruffy working-class pensioner, often exploited by the bossy characters played by Michael Bates, Brian Wilde, Michael Aldridge and Frank Thornton for dirty jobs, stunts and escapades, while their indomitably docile friend Norman Clegg, played by Peter Sallis, follows and watches with a smirk. He wore a woollen hat and spent much of his time lusting after dowdy housewife Nora Batty. As Compo, Owen saw off several co-stars. The series, starting in 1973 and finishing in 2010, is today the world's longest-running comedy series. Owen became an icon, a darling of its audience and central to its success and episodes for 26 years, right until his death. The threesome of Compo, Clegg and Foggy (this third character was initially Blamire, played by Michael Bates, and when Brian Wilde's Foggy took a hiatus, replaced by Michael Aldridge's Seymour Utterthwaite) remains the most popular group of three the show ever produced.
Owen served in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps during World War II, where he was injured in an explosion during a battle training course. In 1958, Owen presented a music panel/programme titled Dad You're A Square for ATV. It ran for one series, and only one episode exists in the archive of ITV. In the series Floyd on TV - the one-series follower to Clive James on Television - Floyd showed viewers a clip from the show (leaving the audience to work out who the "to be" scruffy presenter was).
During the 1960s, Owen had a successful second career as a songwriter, with compositions including the hit "Marianne", recorded by Cliff Richard. At this time he also collaborated with songwriter Tony Russell on the musical The Matchgirls about the London matchgirls strike of 1888. He co-starred as Spike Milligan's straight man in the West End hit "Son of Oblomov" in 1964. Owen also recorded a novelty song with Kathy Staff in 1983, called "Nora Batty's Stockings".
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