Reginald Owen
| Reginald Owen | |
|---|---|
from the trailer for The Miniver Story (1950)
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|
| Born |
John Reginald Owen 5 August 1887 Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England, UK |
| Died | 5 November 1972 (aged 85) Boise, Idaho, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Resting place | Morris Hill Cemetery, Boise |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1911–1972 |
| Spouse(s) |
Lydia Bilbrook (1909–1923; divorced) Mrs. Harold Austin (stage actress) (19??–56) 2 children Barbara Haveman (1956–1972; his death) |
John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was a British character actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and later in television programmes.
The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert Tree's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his professional debut in 1905. In 1911, he starred in the original production of Where the Rainbow Ends as Saint George which opened to very good reviews on 21 December 1911. Reginald Owen had a few years earlier met the author Mrs. Clifford Mills as a young actor, and it was he who on hearing her idea of a Rainbow Story persuaded her to turn it into a play, and thus "Where the Rainbow Ends" was born.
He went to the United States in 1920 and worked originally on Broadway in New York, but later moved to Hollywood, where he began a lengthy film career. He was always a familiar face in many Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions.
Owen is perhaps best known today for his performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1938 film version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a role he inherited from Lionel Barrymore, who had played the part of Scrooge on the radio every Christmas for years until Barrymore broke his hip in an accident.
Owen was the first of only five actors to play both Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr Watson (Jeremy Brett played Watson on stage in the United States prior to adopting the mantle of Holmes on British television,Carleton Hobbs played both roles in British radio adaptations while Patrick Macnee played both roles in US television films). Howard Marion Crawford played Holmes in a radio adaptation of "The Speckled Band" and later played Watson to Ronald Howard's Holmes in the 1954-55 television series.
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