Reginald Owen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was an English 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 one 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. Owen first played Watson in the film Sherlock Holmes (1932), and then Holmes himself in A Study in Scarlet (1933). Having played Ebenezer Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Owen has the odd distinction of playing three classic characters of Victorian fiction only to live to see those characters be taken over and personified by other actors, namely Alastair Sim as Scrooge, Basil Rathbone as Holmes and Nigel Bruce as Watson. Later in his career, Owen appeared opposite James Garner in the television series Maverick in the episodes "The Belcastle Brand" (1957) and "Gun-Shy" (1958) and also guest starred in episodes of the series One Step Beyond and Bewitched. He was featured in the Walt Disney films Mary Poppins (1964) and Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). He had a small role in the 1962 Irwin Allen production of the Jules Verne novel Five Weeks in a Balloon. In August 1964, his Bel-Air mansion was rented out to the Beatles, who were performing at the Hollywood Bowl, when no hotel would book them.
Known For
Credits
- 1985 · The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes as Sherlock Holmes (archive footage)
- 1974 · That's Entertainment! as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1971 · Bedknobs and Broomsticks as Gen. Teagler
- 1970 · McCloud as
- 1967 · Rosie! as Patrick
- 1965 · Run for Your Life as Sir Hillary Cooper
- 1964 · Mary Poppins as Admiral Boom
- 1964 · Bewitched as
- 1964 · Voice of the Hurricane as
- 1963 · The Thrill of It All as Old Tom Fraleigh
- 1963 · Tammy and the Doctor as Jason Tripp
- 1962 · Five Weeks in a Balloon as Consul
- 1960 · Moochie of Pop Warner Football as Mr. Bennett
- 1960 · Thriller as The Hussar ('A Terribly Strange Bed')
- 1959 · Adventures in Paradise as Ambrose Feather
- 1959 · Moochie of the Little League as J. Cecil Bennett
- 1959 · One Step Beyond as Herbert Blakely
- 1957 · Maverick as
- 1957 · Maverick as Marquis Norbert Belcastle
- 1954 · Climax! as Doctor
- 1954 · Red Garters as Judge Wallace Winthrop
- 1954 · The Great Diamond Robbery as Bainbridge Gibbons
- 1951 · Grounds for Marriage as Dely Delacorte
- 1950 · Kim as Father Victor
- 1950 · The Miniver Story as Mr. Foley
- 1949 · Challenge to Lassie as Sergeant Davie
- 1949 · The Secret Garden as Ben Weatherstaff
- 1948 · Hills of Home as Hopps
- 1948 · The Three Musketeers as Treville
- 1948 · Julia Misbehaves as Benjy Hawkins
- 1948 · The Pirate as The Advocate
- 1947 · If Winter Comes as Mr. Fortune
- 1947 · Thunder in the Valley as James Moore
- 1947 · Green Dolphin Street as Captain O'Hara
- 1946 · The Imperfect Lady as Mr. Hopkins
- 1946 · Monsieur Beaucaire as King Louis XV
- 1946 · Piccadilly Incident as Judge
- 1946 · Cluny Brown as Henry Carmel
- 1946 · The Diary of a Chambermaid as Captain Lanlaire
- 1945 · The Sailor Takes a Wife as Mr. Amboy
- 1945 · Captain Kidd as Cary Shadwell
- 1945 · She Went to the Races as Dr. Pembroke
- 1945 · Kitty as Duke of Malmunster
- 1945 · The Valley of Decision as McCready
- 1945 · National Velvet as Farmer Ede
- 1944 · The Canterville Ghost as Lord Canterville
- 1943 · Madame Curie as Dr. Becquerel
- 1943 · Salute to the Marines as Mr. Henry Casper
- 1943 · Above Suspicion as Dr. Mespelbrunn
- 1943 · Three Hearts for Julia as John Girard
- 1943 · Assignment in Brittany as Col. Trane
- 1943 · Forever and a Day as Simpson
- 1942 · Reunion in France as Schultz
- 1942 · Random Harvest as "Biffer"
- 1942 · White Cargo as Skipper of the Congo Queen
- 1942 · Somewhere I'll Find You as Willie Manning
- 1942 · Cairo as Philo Cobson
- 1942 · Pierre of the Plains as Noah Glenkins
- 1942 · I Married an Angel as 'Whiskers'
- 1942 · Mrs. Miniver as Foley
- 1942 · We Were Dancing as Maj. Tyler-Blane
- 1942 · Woman of the Year as Clayton
- 1941 · Tarzan's Secret Treasure as Professor Elliott
- 1941 · Lady Be Good as Max Milton
- 1941 · Charley's Aunt as Mr. Redcliffe
- 1941 · They Met in Bombay as General Allen
- 1941 · A Woman's Face as Bernard Dalvik
- 1941 · Free and Easy as Sir George Kelvin
- 1941 · Blonde Inspiration as Reginald Mason
- 1940 · Hullabaloo as 'Buzz' Foster
- 1940 · Florian as Emperor Franz Josef
- 1940 · The Ghost Comes Home as Hemingway
- 1940 · The Earl of Chicago as Gervase Gonwell
- 1939 · Remember? as Mr. Bronson
- 1939 · Bad Little Angel as Edwards, Marvin's Valet
- 1939 · The Real Glory as Capt. Hartley
- 1939 · Bridal Suite as Sir Horace Bragdon
- 1939 · Hotel Imperial as General Videnko
- 1939 · Fast and Loose as Vincent Charlton
- 1938 · The Girl Downstairs as Charlie Grump
- 1938 · A Christmas Carol as Ebenezer Scrooge
- 1938 · A Fireside Chat with Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge (atchive footage)
- 1938 · Vacation from Love as John Hodge Lawson
- 1938 · Three Loves Has Nancy as William, the Butler
- 1938 · Paradise for Three as Johann Kesselhut
- 1938 · Kidnapped as Capt. Hoseason
- 1938 · Everybody Sing as Hillary Bellaire
- 1937 · Rosalie as Chancellor
- 1937 · Conquest as Tallyrand
- 1937 · The Bride Wore Red as Admiral Monti
- 1937 · Madame X as Maurice Dourel
- 1937 · Personal Property as Claude Dabney
- 1937 · Dangerous Number as William
- 1936 · Love on the Run as Baron Otto Spandermann
- 1936 · Adventure in Manhattan as Blackton Gregory
- 1936 · The Girl on the Front Page as Archie Biddle
- 1936 · Yours for the Asking as Dictionary McKinney
- 1936 · Trouble for Two as President of Club
- 1936 · The Great Ziegfeld as Sampston
- 1936 · Petticoat Fever as Sir James Felton
- 1936 · Rose Marie as Myerson
- 1935 · A Tale of Two Cities as Stryver
- 1935 · The Bishop Misbehaves as Guy Waller
- 1935 · Anna Karenina as Stiva
- 1935 · Call of the Wild as Mr. Smith
- 1935 · Escapade as Paul
- 1935 · The Good Fairy as Detlaff
- 1935 · Enchanted April as Henry Arbuthnot
- 1934 · Here Is My Heart as Vova
- 1934 · Music in the Air as Ernst Weber
- 1934 · Madame du Barry as King Louis XV
- 1934 · The Human Side as James Dalton
- 1934 · Of Human Bondage as Thorpe Athelny
- 1934 · Stingaree as The Governor-General
- 1934 · Where Sinners Meet as Leonard
- 1934 · The House of Rothschild as Herries
- 1934 · The Countess of Monte Cristo as The Baron
- 1934 · Fashions of 1934 as Oscar Baroque
- 1934 · Mandalay as Police Commissioner Col. Thomas Dawson
- 1934 · Nana as Bordenave
- 1933 · Queen Christina as Charles
- 1933 · Voltaire as King Louis XV
- 1933 · The Big Brain as Lord Darlington
- 1933 · Double Harness as Freeman
- 1933 · The Narrow Corner as Mr. Frith
- 1933 · A Study in Scarlet as Sherlock Holmes
- 1932 · Robbers' Roost as Cecil Herrick
- 1932 · Sherlock Holmes as Dr. Watson
- 1932 · Downstairs as Baron 'Nicky' von Burgen
- 1932 · The Man Called Back as Dr. Herbert Atkins
- 1932 · A Woman Commands as The Prime Minister
- 1932 · Lovers Courageous as Lord Jimmy
- 1931 · Platinum Blonde as Dexter Grayson
- 1931 · The Man in Possession as Claude Dabney
- 1929 · The Letter as Robert Crosbie
- 1922 · The Grass Orphan as Heathcote St. John
- 1922 · Phroso as Lord Wheatley