Acting · Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England, UK · Born August 4, 1887
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.
MovieThe Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes
1985
as Sherlock Holmes (archive footage)
MovieThat's Entertainment!
1974
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieBedknobs and Broomsticks
1971
as Gen. Teagler
TVMcCloud
1970
MovieRosie!
1967
as Patrick
TVRun for Your Life
1965
as Sir Hillary Cooper
MovieMary Poppins
1964
as Admiral Boom
TVBewitched
1964
MovieVoice of the Hurricane
1964
MovieThe Thrill of It All
1963
as Tom Fraleigh
MovieTammy and the Doctor
1963
as Jason Tripp
MovieFive Weeks in a Balloon
1962
as Consul
MovieMoochie of Pop Warner Football
1960
as Mr. Bennett
TVThriller
1960
as The Hussar ('A Terribly Strange Bed')
TVAdventures in Paradise
1959
as Ambrose Feather
MovieMoochie of the Little League
1959
as J. Cecil Bennett
TVOne Step Beyond
1959
as Herbert Blakely
TVMaverick
1957
TVMGM Parade
1955
as Self
TVClimax!
1954
as Doctor
MovieRed Garters
1954
as Judge Wallace Winthrop
MovieThe Great Diamond Robbery
1954
as Bainbridge Gibbons
MovieGrounds for Marriage
1951
as Dely Delacorte
MovieKim
1950
as Father Victor
MovieThe Miniver Story
1950
as Mr. Foley
MovieChallenge to Lassie
1949
as Sergeant Davie
MovieThe Secret Garden
1949
as Ben Weatherstaff
MovieHills of Home
1948
as Hopps
MovieThe Three Musketeers
1948
as Treville
MovieJulia Misbehaves
1948
as Benjy Hawkins
MovieThe Pirate
1948
as The Advocate
MovieIf Winter Comes
1947
as Mr. Fortune
MovieThunder in the Valley
1947
as James Moore
MovieGreen Dolphin Street
1947
as Captain O'Hara
MovieThe Imperfect Lady
1946
as Mr. Hopkins
MovieMonsieur Beaucaire
1946
as King Louis XV
MoviePiccadilly Incident
1946
as Judge
MovieCluny Brown
1946
as Henry Carmel
MovieThe Diary of a Chambermaid
1946
as Captain Lanlaire
MovieThe Sailor Takes a Wife
1945
as Mr. Amboy
MovieCaptain Kidd
1945
as Cary Shadwell
MovieShe Went to the Races
1945
as Dr. Pembroke
MovieKitty
1945
as Duke of Malmunster
MovieThe Valley of Decision
1945
as McCready
MovieNational Velvet
1945
as Farmer Ede
MovieThe Canterville Ghost
1944
as Lord Canterville
MovieMadame Curie
1943
as Dr. Becquerel
MovieSalute to the Marines
1943
as Mr. Henry Casper
MovieAbove Suspicion
1943
as Dr. Mespelbrunn
MovieThree Hearts for Julia
1943
as John Girard
MovieAssignment in Brittany
1943
as Col. Trane
MovieForever and a Day
1943
as Simpson
MovieReunion in France
1942
as Schultz, Gestapo agent
MovieRandom Harvest
1942
as "Biffer"
MovieWhite Cargo
1942
as Skipper of the Congo Queen
MovieSomewhere I'll Find You
1942
as Willie Manning
MovieCairo
1942
as Philo Cobson
MoviePierre of the Plains
1942
as Noah Glenkins
MovieI Married an Angel
1942
as 'Whiskers'
MovieMrs. Miniver
1942
as Foley
MovieWe Were Dancing
1942
as Maj. Tyler-Blane
MovieWoman of the Year
1942
as Clayton
MovieTarzan's Secret Treasure
1941
as Professor Elliott
MovieLady Be Good
1941
as Max Milton
MovieCharley's Aunt
1941
as Mr. Redcliffe
MovieThey Met in Bombay
1941
as General Allen
MovieA Woman's Face
1941
as Bernard Dalvik
MovieFree and Easy
1941
as Sir George Kelvin
MovieBlonde Inspiration
1941
as Reginald Mason
MovieHullabaloo
1940
as 'Buzz' Foster
MovieFlorian
1940
as Emperor Franz Josef
MovieThe Ghost Comes Home
1940
as Hemingway
MovieThe Earl of Chicago
1940
as Gervase Gonwell
MovieRemember?
1939
as Mr. Bronson
MovieBad Little Angel
1939
as Edwards, Marvin's Valet
MovieThe Real Glory
1939
as Capt. Hartley
MovieBridal Suite
1939
as Sir Horace Bragdon
MovieHotel Imperial
1939
as General Videnko
MovieFast and Loose
1939
as Vincent Charlton
MovieThe Girl Downstairs
1938
as Charlie Grump
MovieA Christmas Carol
1938
as Ebenezer Scrooge
A Fireside Chat with Lionel Barrymore
1938
as Scrooge (atchive footage)
MovieVacation from Love
1938
as John Hodge Lawson
MovieThree Loves Has Nancy
1938
as William, the Butler
MovieParadise for Three
1938
as Johann Kesselhut
MovieKidnapped
1938
as Capt. Hoseason
MovieEverybody Sing
1938
as Hillary Bellaire
MovieRosalie
1937
as Chancellor
MovieConquest
1937
as Tallyrand
MovieThe Bride Wore Red
1937
as Admiral Monti
MovieMadame X
1937
as Maurice Dourel
MoviePersonal Property
1937
as Claude Dabney
MovieDangerous Number
1937
as William
MovieLove on the Run
1936
as Baron Otto Spandermann
MovieAdventure in Manhattan
1936
as Blackton Gregory
MovieThe Girl on the Front Page
1936
as Archie Biddle
MovieYours for the Asking
1936
as Dictionary McKinney
MovieTrouble for Two
1936
as President of Club
MovieThe Great Ziegfeld
1936
as Sampston
MoviePetticoat Fever
1936
as Sir James Felton
MovieRose Marie
1936
as Myerson
MovieA Tale of Two Cities
1935
as Stryver
MovieThe Bishop Misbehaves
1935
as Guy Waller
MovieAnna Karenina
1935
as Stiva
MovieCall of the Wild
1935
as Mr. Smith
MovieEscapade
1935
as Paul
MovieThe Good Fairy
1935
as The Waiter
MovieEnchanted April
1935
as Henry Arbuthnot
MovieHere Is My Heart
1934
as Vova
MovieMusic in the Air
1934
as Ernst Weber
MovieMadame du Barry
1934
as King Louis XV
MovieThe Human Side
1934
as James Dalton
MovieOf Human Bondage
1934
as Thorpe Athelny
MovieStingaree
1934
as The Governor-General
MovieWhere Sinners Meet
1934
as Leonard
MovieThe House of Rothschild
1934
as Herries
MovieThe Countess of Monte Cristo
1934
as The Baron
MovieFashions of 1934
1934
as Oscar Baroque
MovieMandalay
1934
as Police Commissioner Col. Thomas Dawson
MovieQueen Christina
1934
as Charles
MovieNana
1934
as Bordenave
MovieVoltaire
1933
as King Louis XV
MovieThe Big Brain
1933
as Lord Darlington
MovieDouble Harness
1933
as Freeman
MovieThe Narrow Corner
1933
as Mr. Frith
MovieA Study in Scarlet
1933
as Sherlock Holmes
MovieRobbers' Roost
1932
as Cecil Herrick
MovieSherlock Holmes
1932
as Dr. Watson
MovieDownstairs
1932
as Baron 'Nicky' von Burgen
MovieThe Man Called Back
1932
as Dr. Herbert Atkins
MovieA Woman Commands
1932
as The Prime Minister
MovieLovers Courageous
1932
as Lord Jimmy
MoviePlatinum Blonde
1931
as Dexter Grayson
MovieThe Man in Possession
1931
as Claude Dabney
MovieThe Letter
1929
as Robert Crosbie
The Grass Orphan
1922
as Heathcote St. John
MoviePhroso
1922
as Lord Wheatley
