Bill Owen
William John Owen Rowbotham MBE (14 March 1914 – 12 July 1999), better known as Bill Owen, was an English actor and songwriter.
Born in London, he made his first film appearance in 1944 but did not achieve lasting fame until the 1970s, when he took the starring role of 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.[1] 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.
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.
Bill Owen was a regular in the early Carry On films. He also had a cameo appearance in Brideshead Revisited as Lunt, Charles Ryder's scout during his days at the University of Oxford. He also featured in several Lindsay Anderson films including O Lucky Man! (1973) and In Celebration (1974).
Owen was an active supporter of the Labour Party; and Peter Sallis has claimed that Owen's left-wing views contrasted so much with the right-wing opinions of Michael Bates that Last of the Summer Wine was almost not made because of their arguments. Owen was a founding member of the Keep Sunday Special campaign group. He was awarded the MBE in 1976.
ReplyDeleteThis day is also devoted to the birth of Kate Elizabeth Cameron Maberly. She is an English actress and musician. She has appeared in film, television, radio and theatre.
ReplyDeletePi Day is an annual celebration commemorating the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (or 3/14 in month/day date format), since 3, 1 and 4 are the three most significant digits of π in the decimal form. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi Day.
ReplyDeletePi Approximation Day is observed on July 22 (or 22/7 in day/month date format), since the fraction 22⁄7 is a common approximation of π.
Sir Michael Caine (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite on 14 March 1933) is an English actor and author. Renowned for his distinctive Cockney accent, Caine has appeared in over one hundred films and is one of Britain's most recognisable actors. So, my Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteRobert Paul "Tad" Williams (born 14 March 1957 in San Jose, California) is an American writer. He is the author of several fantasy and science fiction novels, including Tailchaser's Song, the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series, the Otherland series, and The War of the Flowers.
ReplyDeleteI can sat that Bill was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1980 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews in Trafalgar Square.
ReplyDeleteAndrew James Matfin Bell also was born this day. He is known professionally as Jamie Bell. He is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Billy Elliot (2000), King Kong (2005), Jumper (2008), and The Adventures of Tintin (2011).In 2009, it was announced Bell would play the title role in the motion capture film The Adventures of Tintin, alongside British double act Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The film received a U.S. release on 21 December 2011 and a U.K. release on 26 October 2011. He also starred in the 2011 films The Eagle and Jane Eyre.
ReplyDeleteAndrew James Matfin Bell (born 14 March 1986), known professionally as Jamie Bell, is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Billy Elliot (2000), King Kong (2005), Jumper (2008), and The Adventures of Tintin (2011).
ReplyDeleteAndrew James Matfin Bell was born in England, where he grew up with his mother and older sister, Kathryn. His father, John Bell, a toolmaker, left before Bell was born. Bell began his involvement with dance after he accompanied his sister to her ballet lessons. He was a pupil at Northfield School and took performing arts classes at the local franchise of Stagecoach Theatre Arts. He was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre. In 1999, he was chosen from a field of over 2,000 boys for the role of Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old boy who dismays his working class widowed father and older brother by taking up ballet.
ReplyDelete