Tom Owen (actor)
Tom Owen | |
---|---|
Born | Thomas William Stevenson Rowbotham 8 April 1949 Marylebone, London, England |
Died | 8 November 2022 | (aged 73)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1966–2019 |
Spouse |
Mary Moylan (m. 1978) |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | Bill Owen Edith Stevenson |
Thomas William Stevenson Rowbotham (8 April 1949 – 8 November 2022),[1] known professionally as Tom Owen, was a British actor best known for playing Tom Simmonite in the sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. He was the son of Bill Owen, who played William "Compo" Simmonite (the father of Tom Simmonite) in the show.
Theatre
Owen trained as a student assistant stage manager at Leatherhead Theatre in 1966. He worked extensively in repertory both as an actor and director. In 1969 Owen played Farley, in 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips' a role first played by John Mills in the original version. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company playing on Broadway in their production of 'London Assurance'. His performance as Krapp in Fiona Baddeley's production of Beckett's masterpiece 'Krapp's Last Tape' was likened to those given by Michael Gambon, John Hurt and Harold Pinter. He has appeared in the West End in 'Lulu'. He also starred in over twenty pantomimes.
Television
Owen made his television debut in 1968 playing Bill Cowan in Southern TV's groundbreaking series Freewheelers appearing in fifty two episodes. Numerous television series followed including Tottering Towers (13 episodes), Wreckers at Deadeye, Horse in the House, The Piglet Files, The Hello Goodbye Man, Z Cars, Upstairs Downstairs, The Bill, Minder, and Our Mutual Friend.
Owen's debut in Last Of The Summer Wine was in 1991 as a bank customer at a cash dispenser in the episode "Situations Vacant". Following the death of his father, Bill, who played Compo in 184 episodes over twenty-seven years, Tom joined Last of the Summer Wine as a regular in 2000 and stayed with the show appearing in 93 episodes until it ended in 2010.
Owen appeared with Kirk Douglas in the TV film Queenie, with Michael York in Great Expectations and David Hemmings in Unman, Wittering and Zigo.
Film
Owen starred in two films which were released in 2018: The Bromley Boys and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Personal life and death
Owen married Mary Bernadette Therese Moylan in 1978; they had two sons, James and William.[2]
Owen died of natural causes on 8 November 2022, at the age of 73.[3][4]
Television roles
Year | Title | Role |
---|---|---|
1968–70 | Freewheelers | Bill Cowan |
1970 | Wreckers at Deadeye | Zac |
1971–72 | Tottering Towers | Dick |
1972 | Upstairs Downstairs | Stanley |
1973 | Harlequinade | Johnny |
1973 | The Onedin Line | Tom |
1974 | Hunter's Walk | Freddie |
1976 | Our Mutual Friend | Golly |
1978 | Hawkmoor | John Stedman |
1979 | Horse in the House | Jim Tynan |
1983 | Lytton's Diary | Mr Potter |
1984 | The Hello Goodbye Man | Rod Stewart |
1989 | Minder | Keith |
1991 | The Piglet Files | Harold |
1998 | The Bill | Larcy |
2000–10 | Last of the Summer Wine | Tom Simmonite |
References
- ^ "Last Of The Summer Wine star Tom Owen dies aged 73". www.expressandstar.com.
- ^ "Tom Simmonite: Tom Owen". 23 November 2001.
- ^ Green, Alex; Roper, Kerri-Ann (8 November 2022). "Last Of The Summer Wine star Tom Owen dies aged 73". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
- ^ Glynn, Paul (8 November 2022). "Tom Owen: Last of the Summer Wine star dies at 73". BBC News. BBC.
External links
Lua error in Module:Authority_control at line 182: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Use dmy dates from November 2022
- Articles with invalid date parameter in template
- Use British English from November 2022
- Articles with hatnote templates targeting a nonexistent page
- Pages using infobox person with multiple parents
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1949 births
- 2022 deaths
- British male comedy actors
- English male television actors
- Male actors from Brighton
- 20th-century English male actors
- 21st-century English male actors
- English male stage actors
- Male actors from London
- People from Marylebone