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.
Acted in
The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes
1985
as Sherlock Holmes (archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
1974
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
1971
as Gen. Teagler
McCloud
1970
Rosie!
1967
as Patrick
Run for Your Life
1965
as Sir Hillary Cooper
Mary Poppins
1964
as Admiral Boom
Bewitched
1964
Voice of the Hurricane
1964
The Thrill of It All
1963
as Old Tom Fraleigh
Tammy and the Doctor
1963
as Jason Tripp
Five Weeks in a Balloon
1962
as Consul
Moochie of Pop Warner Football
1960
as Mr. Bennett
Thriller
1960
as The Hussar ('A Terribly Strange Bed')
Adventures in Paradise
1959
as Ambrose Feather
Moochie of the Little League
1959
as J. Cecil Bennett
One Step Beyond
1959
as Herbert Blakely
Maverick
1957
Maverick
1957
as Marquis Norbert Belcastle
Climax!
1954
as Doctor
Red Garters
1954
as Judge Wallace Winthrop
The Great Diamond Robbery
1954
as Bainbridge Gibbons
Grounds for Marriage
1951
as Dely Delacorte
Kim
1950
as Father Victor
The Miniver Story
1950
as Mr. Foley
Challenge to Lassie
1949
as Sergeant Davie
The Secret Garden
1949
as Ben Weatherstaff
Hills of Home
1948
as Hopps
The Three Musketeers
1948
as Treville
Julia Misbehaves
1948
as Benjy Hawkins
The Pirate
1948
as The Advocate
If Winter Comes
1947
as Mr. Fortune
Thunder in the Valley
1947
as James Moore
Green Dolphin Street
1947
as Captain O'Hara
The Imperfect Lady
1946
as Mr. Hopkins
Monsieur Beaucaire
1946
as King Louis XV
Piccadilly Incident
1946
as Judge
Cluny Brown
1946
as Henry Carmel
The Diary of a Chambermaid
1946
as Captain Lanlaire
The Sailor Takes a Wife
1945
as Mr. Amboy
Captain Kidd
1945
as Cary Shadwell
She Went to the Races
1945
as Dr. Pembroke
Kitty
1945
as Duke of Malmunster
The Valley of Decision
1945
as McCready
National Velvet
1945
as Farmer Ede
The Canterville Ghost
1944
as Lord Canterville
Madame Curie
1943
as Dr. Becquerel
Salute to the Marines
1943
as Mr. Henry Casper
Above Suspicion
1943
as Dr. Mespelbrunn
Three Hearts for Julia
1943
as John Girard
Assignment in Brittany
1943
as Col. Trane
Forever and a Day
1943
as Simpson
Reunion in France
1942
as Schultz
Random Harvest
1942
as "Biffer"
White Cargo
1942
as Skipper of the Congo Queen
Somewhere I'll Find You
1942
as Willie Manning
Cairo
1942
as Philo Cobson
Pierre of the Plains
1942
as Noah Glenkins
I Married an Angel
1942
as 'Whiskers'
Mrs. Miniver
1942
as Foley
We Were Dancing
1942
as Maj. Tyler-Blane
Woman of the Year
1942
as Clayton
Tarzan's Secret Treasure
1941
as Professor Elliott
Lady Be Good
1941
as Max Milton
Charley's Aunt
1941
as Mr. Redcliffe
They Met in Bombay
1941
as General Allen
A Woman's Face
1941
as Bernard Dalvik
Free and Easy
1941
as Sir George Kelvin
Blonde Inspiration
1941
as Reginald Mason
Hullabaloo
1940
as 'Buzz' Foster
Florian
1940
as Emperor Franz Josef
The Ghost Comes Home
1940
as Hemingway
The Earl of Chicago
1940
as Gervase Gonwell
Remember?
1939
as Mr. Bronson
Bad Little Angel
1939
as Edwards, Marvin's Valet
The Real Glory
1939
as Capt. Hartley
Bridal Suite
1939
as Sir Horace Bragdon
Hotel Imperial
1939
as General Videnko
Fast and Loose
1939
as Vincent Charlton
The Girl Downstairs
1938
as Charlie Grump
A Christmas Carol
1938
as Ebenezer Scrooge
A Fireside Chat with Lionel Barrymore
1938
as Scrooge (atchive footage)
Vacation from Love
1938
as John Hodge Lawson
Three Loves Has Nancy
1938
as William, the Butler
Paradise for Three
1938
as Johann Kesselhut
Kidnapped
1938
as Capt. Hoseason
Everybody Sing
1938
as Hillary Bellaire
Rosalie
1937
as Chancellor
Conquest
1937
as Tallyrand
The Bride Wore Red
1937
as Admiral Monti
Madame X
1937
as Maurice Dourel
Personal Property
1937
as Claude Dabney
Dangerous Number
1937
as William
Love on the Run
1936
as Baron Otto Spandermann
Adventure in Manhattan
1936
as Blackton Gregory
The Girl on the Front Page
1936
as Archie Biddle
Yours for the Asking
1936
as Dictionary McKinney
Trouble for Two
1936
as President of Club
The Great Ziegfeld
1936
as Sampston
Petticoat Fever
1936
as Sir James Felton
Rose Marie
1936
as Myerson
A Tale of Two Cities
1935
as Stryver
The Bishop Misbehaves
1935
as Guy Waller
Anna Karenina
1935
as Stiva
Call of the Wild
1935
as Mr. Smith
Escapade
1935
as Paul
The Good Fairy
1935
as Detlaff
Enchanted April
1935
as Henry Arbuthnot
Here Is My Heart
1934
as Vova
Music in the Air
1934
as Ernst Weber
Madame du Barry
1934
as King Louis XV
The Human Side
1934
as James Dalton
Of Human Bondage
1934
as Thorpe Athelny
Stingaree
1934
as The Governor-General
Where Sinners Meet
1934
as Leonard
The House of Rothschild
1934
as Herries
The Countess of Monte Cristo
1934
as The Baron
Fashions of 1934
1934
as Oscar Baroque
Mandalay
1934
as Police Commissioner Col. Thomas Dawson
Nana
1934
as Bordenave
Queen Christina
1933
as Charles
Voltaire
1933
as King Louis XV
The Big Brain
1933
as Lord Darlington
Double Harness
1933
as Freeman
The Narrow Corner
1933
as Mr. Frith
A Study in Scarlet
1933
as Sherlock Holmes
Robbers' Roost
1932
as Cecil Herrick
Sherlock Holmes
1932
as Dr. Watson
Downstairs
1932
as Baron 'Nicky' von Burgen
The Man Called Back
1932
as Dr. Herbert Atkins
A Woman Commands
1932
as The Prime Minister
Lovers Courageous
1932
as Lord Jimmy
Platinum Blonde
1931
as Dexter Grayson
The Man in Possession
1931
as Claude Dabney
The Letter
1929
as Robert Crosbie
Phroso
1922
as Lord Wheatley