
Bill Owen
British born actor known for playing working class characters on film and TV. Born William Rowbotham, the son of a tram driver and laundress, he started playing drums in London nightclubs and toured music halls with his own cabaret act to pay for acting classes. He entertained at Butlin's holiday camps and performed in repertory, joining the Unity Theatre where he attained respect as a stage producer.
His career was interrupted by military service with the Royal Army Ordinance Corps where he was injured in an explosion during a battle training course. Returning to acting, he started making a name for himself in such films as Johnny in the Clouds (1945), When the Bough Breaks (1947), Maniacs on Wheels (1949), and The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952). He continued to perform in the theatre limelight and peaked in roles with Katharine Hepburn in "As You Like It" in 1950, and with "The Threepenny Opera" and "The Mikado", which made use of his musical talents. A writer at heart, he penned songs, musicals and plays over the years. Partnered with Mike Sammes, he wrote songs recorded by Pat Boone, Harry Secombe, Engelbert Humperdinck and Sir Cliff Richard, who had a hit with his 1980 song "Marianne". In the 60s he produced the stage musical, "The Matchgirl", and focused heavily on film slapstick with the 'Carry On' series.
TV stardom came late, in the role of Compo in the BBC's 1973 series "Last of the Summer Wine". When he died of pancreatic cancer in 1999, he asked to be buried in the Yorkshire village of Holmfirth, where the TV series was filmed.
Owen was awarded the MBE in 1976 for his steadfast work for the National Association of Boys Clubs and for his role as chairman of the Performing Arts Advising Panel.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.059 |
Birthday | 1914-03-14 |
Place of Birth | Acton, London, England, UK |
Also Known As | Билл Оуэн, William John Owen Rowbotham, |

1959

Carry On Nurse
6.3/58
In Haven Hospital, a certain men's ward is causing more havoc than the whole hospital altogether. The formidable Matron's debut gives everyone a chill...
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Carry On Nurse

1958

Carry On Sergeant
6.3/67
Sergeant Grimshawe wants to retire in the flush of success by winning the Star Squad prize with his very last platoon of newly called-up National Serv...
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Carry On Sergeant

1961

Carry On Regardless
6.3/48
After a bunch of no-hopers approaches an employment agency, the anarchy mounts as they do a series of odd jobs, including a chimp's tea party, trying...
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Carry On Regardless

1952

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men
6.1/63
Young Robin Hood, in love with Maid Marian, enters an archery contest with his father at the King's palace. On the way home his father is murdered by...
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The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men

1964

The Secret of Blood Island
0/0
Based on the true story of a British secret agent, shot down over Malaya near to a Allied POW forced labour camp. There she is hidden, disguised as a...
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The Secret of Blood Island

1966

Georgy Girl
6.3/49
A homely but vivacious young woman dodges the amorous attentions of her father's middle-aged employer while attempting to please her glamorously stuck...
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Georgy Girl

1958

Carve Her Name with Pride
5.7/23
London, England, during World War II. After living a tragic life experience, young Violette Szabo joins the Special Operations Executive and crosses t...
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Carve Her Name with Pride

1945

The Way to the Stars
5.9/24
Life on a British bomber base, and the surrounding towns, from the opening days of the Battle of Britain, to the arrival of the Americans, who join in...
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The Way to the Stars

1951

Hotel Sahara
5.3/6
World War II farce about the hotel of the title
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Hotel Sahara

1948

Daybreak
6/12
A mysterious barber hides a secret identity that eventually leads to tragedy.
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Daybreak

1960

The Shakedown
5.7/6
Augie comes out of prison and finds his old vice racket has been taken over by the sinister Gollar, so he dreams up a new scam.
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The Shakedown

1963

Carry On Cabby
6.426/61
Speedee Taxis is a great success, which means its workaholic owner Charlie starts neglecting Peggy, his wife. Suddenly a fleet of rival taxis appears...
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Carry On Cabby

1954

The Rainbow Jacket
6.9/7
A champion jockey is banned from racing so spends his time helping a young lad to become the next champion.
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The Rainbow Jacket

1948

My Brother's Keeper
6.1/9
War hero turned villain George Martin escapes from the police, but he is handcuffed to a naive young crook Willie Stannard. After using a clever plan...
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My Brother's Keeper

1947

Dancing with Crime
6.1/19
When his best friend is murdered inside a London dancehall, a cab driver and his girlfriend involve themselves in the investigation and discover a maj...
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Dancing with Crime

1953

The Square Ring
6.6/6
Boxing drama following the lives of 5 different fighters and their reasons for becoming boxers.
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The Square Ring

1949

Diamond City
5.2/4
Set in the diamond fields of South Africa, Stafford Parker is a lawman trying to maintain a semblance of law and order in the "Wild South".
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Diamond City

1955

The Ship That Died of Shame
6.9/9
After World War II the crew of a motor gunboat join together to buy their old vessel and go into business for themselves. This may sound like a laudab...
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The Ship That Died of Shame

1961

The Hellfire Club
5.2/5
Years after fleeing his ancestral home with his mother, Jason returns home to claim his birthright, only to find his way blocked by his evil cousin Th...
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The Hellfire Club

1984

Laughterhouse
5/3
A farmer becomes an unintentional celebrity when, because of a strike, he has to walk his 5000 geese 100 miles to market.
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Laughterhouse

1948

Easy Money
6/6
A win on the football pools in postwar Britain changes lives. A happy family is turned into an unhappy argumentative lot until it is discovered the co...
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Easy Money

1949

Once a Jolly Swagman
5.4/13
A factory worke quits his job to become a motorcycle racer.
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Once a Jolly Swagman

2022

Last Of The Summer Wine: 30 Years Of Laughs
0/0
This new special reveals the secrets of the long-running sitcom's extraordinary success. Helped by former cast and crew members, families of the stars...
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Last Of The Summer Wine: 30 Years Of Laughs

1978

The Comeback
5.6/31
A singer holes up at a sinister estate to write new songs for his act. His ex-wife is brutally murdered, and the killer may be stalking him next.
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The Comeback

1975

In Celebration
5.2/8
In a Yorkshire mining town, three educated brothers return to their blue-collar home to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of their parents, but d...
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In Celebration

1961

On the Fiddle
6.2/5
Tricked into joining the RAF by a wily judge, wide boy Horace Pope sets his sights on the main chance, teams with slow-witted, good-hearted gypsy Pedl...
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On the Fiddle

1958

Davy
5/5
The Mad Morgans are a family song and dance act touring the British Music Halls. Young Davy is the star of the act but should he stay with his family...
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Davy

1947

When The Bough Breaks
6.333/3
The bewildered wife of a bigamist allows her child to be adopted and then regrets it.
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When The Bough Breaks

1953

A Day to Remember
7.1/4
A group of men from a London pub are going on a darts team outing to Boulogne. Various members of the party have different reasons for going and get i...
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A Day to Remember

1983

Getting Sam Home
8/1
Three old chums agree to take the ailing Sam on one last trip to see his flousy girl-friend, Lily Bless Her, in the middle of the night.
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Getting Sam Home

1970

Unfair!
0/0
This incredibly strange short film was commissioned by the union ACTT (Association of Cinematograph, Television and allied Technicians, of which the f...
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Unfair!

1956

Not So Dusty
6.3/3
Two London rubbish collectors come into possession of a valuable book, and thwart the attempts of some criminals to con them out of it. Meanwhile one...
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Not So Dusty

1949

Trottie True
7/2
Tottie True is a gay-90s British music-hall performer who has her sights set on moving from rags to riches, who loses her heart to the pure-and-true b...
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Trottie True

1945

A City Reborn
0/0
Coventry prepares to rise from the ashes of WWII in this docu-drama written by Dylan Thomas.
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A City Reborn

1950

The Girl Who Couldn't Quite
6/3
A tramp is invited to stay with the family of a teenage girl who has been unable to smile since childhood in a bid to cure her.
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The Girl Who Couldn't Quite

1953

There Was a Young Lady
6/3
A super-efficient secretary circumvents the schemes of smash-and grab gangsters.
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There Was a Young Lady

1968

Headline Hunters
0/0
Children decide to keep the local newspaper running while their father is ill.
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Headline Hunters

1969

Mischief
0/0
Mischief' is the latest addition to a pony trekking stable. Davy looks after him during the school holidays and discovers that 'Mischief' was once a c...
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Mischief

1973

O Lucky Man!
6.8/99
An ambitious coffee salesman has a series of improbable and ironic adventures seemingly designed to challenge his naive idealism.
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O Lucky Man!

1948

Trouble in the Air
7/1
A radio commentator is sent to a village to broadcast a bell-ringing team. Meanwhile a property speculator tries to buy a plot of land for less than i...
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Trouble in the Air

1941

Tank Patrol
0/0
Made in 1941, this stirring Ministry of Information dramatisation tells the story of a Crusader tank crew trapped behind enemy lines in the Desert. Wi...
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Tank Patrol

1948

The Weaker Sex
6/5
A British housewife does her own battles against the enemy during World War II.
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The Weaker Sex

1964

Kiss Me, Kate
0/0
A pair of divorced actors are brought together to participate in a musical version of The Taming of the Shrew. Of course, the couple seem to act a gre...
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Kiss Me, Kate

1993

The Entertainer
7/1
Adaptation of John Osborne's play.
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The Entertainer

1946

School for Secrets
7/3
Wartime tale of a group of British scientists efforts to develop the first radar system. They did it just in time for it to be used in the Battle of B...
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School for Secrets

1943

Breathing Space
0/0
Documentary which shows some of the spare-time activities of service personnel and civilians during the war.
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Breathing Space

1966

The Fighting Prince of Donegal
5.6/11
Ireland 1587. Hugh O'Donnell inherits the title of The O'Donnell, the prince of Donegal, and tries to unite Ireland to make war on England. But then H...
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