Reginald Owen

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

137

Gender

Male

Birthday

1887-08-04

Deathday

1972-11-05 (85 years old)

Place of Birth

Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Also Known As

  • John Reginald Owen
  • Джон Реджинальд Оуэн
  • Реджинальд Оуэн

Reginald Owen

Biography

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

Mary Poppins
7.6%

Mary Poppins

Dec 17, 1964

Bewitched
7.9%

Bewitched

Sep 17, 1964

Mrs. Miniver
7.0%

Mrs. Miniver

Jul 3, 1942

Woman of the Year
6.9%

Woman of the Year

Feb 5, 1942

The Three Musketeers
6.7%

The Three Musketeers

Oct 20, 1948

A Christmas Carol
7.0%

A Christmas Carol

Dec 16, 1938

The Great Ziegfeld
6.2%

The Great Ziegfeld

Apr 8, 1936

Of Human Bondage
6.5%

Of Human Bondage

Jul 20, 1934

Queen Christina
6.8%

Queen Christina

Dec 26, 1933

National Velvet
7.2%

National Velvet

Jan 26, 1945

Random Harvest
7.3%

Random Harvest

Dec 17, 1942

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Acting

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
1967
Rosie! as Patrick
1965
Run for Your Life as Sir Hillary Cooper
1964
Mary Poppins as Admiral Boom
1964
Bewitched
1964
Voice of the Hurricane
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
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 The Waiter
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

Writing

1938
Stablemates as Story
1933
A Study in Scarlet as Dialogue
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Reginald Owen