Reginald Owen
John Reginald Owen was a British actor, known for his many roles in British and American films and television programmes.
Career
Owen was born to Joseph and Frances Owen in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his professional debut in 1905.
Sometime prior to 1911 Owen met the author Mrs. Clifford Mills. On hearing her idea of a rainbow story, persuaded her to turn it into a play, which became Where the Rainbow Ends. He co-authored the work with Mills using the pseudonym John Ramsey.
He went to the United States in 1920 and performed on Broadway. He later moved to Hollywood, where he began a lengthy film career, becoming 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 on the radio for years.
Owen was one of several actors to play both Sherlock Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson, assaying Watson in the film Sherlock Holmes starring Clive Brook as Holmes, and then Holmes in A Study in Scarlet.
Later in his career, Owen appeared with James Garner in the television series Maverick in the episodes "The Belcastle Brand" and "Gun-Shy" and guest starred in episodes of the series One Step Beyond, Kentucky Jones, and Bewitched. He was featured in the Walt Disney films Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. 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 mansion in Bel Air was rented to the Beatles, who were performing at the Hollywood Bowl, when no hotel would book them.
Death
Owen died from a heart attack at age 85 in Boise, Idaho, and buried at the Morris Hill Cemetery there.
Filmography
Henry VIII as Thomas CromwellSally in Our Alley as HarryA Place in the Sun as Stuart CapelPossession as Lord WheatleyThe Grass Orphan as Heathcote St. JohnThe Letter as Robert CrosbieThe Man in Possession as Claude DabneyPlatinum Blonde as GraysonLovers Courageous as JimmyA Woman Commands as The Prime MinisterThe Man Called Back as Dr. AtkinsDownstairs as Baron 'Nicky' von BurgenSherlock Holmes as Dr. WatsonRobbers' Roost as Cecil HerrickA Study in Scarlet as Sherlock HolmesThe Narrow Corner as Mr. FrithDouble Harness as FreemanVoltaire as King Louis XVThe Big Brain as Lord DarlingtonQueen Christina as Charles X Gustav of SwedenNana as BordenaveMandalay as Col. Thomas Dawson - Police CommissionerFashions of 1934 as Oscar BaroqueThe House of Rothschild as HerriesThe Countess of Monte Cristo as The BaronWhere Sinners Meet as LeonardStingaree as The Governor-GeneralMadame Du Barry as King Louis XVOf Human Bondage as Thorpe AthelnyThe Human Side as James DaltonMusic in the Air as Ernst WeberHere Is My Heart as Prince Vladimir / VovaThe Good Fairy as Detlaff, the WaiterEnchanted April as Henry ArbuthnotEscapade as PaulThe Call of the Wild as Mr. SmithAnna Karenina as StivaThe Bishop Misbehaves as Guy WallerA Tale of Two Cities as StryverRose Marie as MyersonPetticoat Fever as Sir James FeltonThe Great Ziegfeld as SampstonTrouble for Two as President of ClubYours for the Asking as Dictionary McKinneyThe Girl on the Front Page as Archie BiddleAdventure in Manhattan as Blackton GregoryLove on the Run as Baron Otto SpandermanDangerous Number as Cousin WilliamPersonal Property as Claude DabneyMadame X as Maurice DourelThe Bride Wore Red as Admiral MontiConquest as TallyrandRosalie as ChancellorEverybody Sing as Hillary BellaireParadise for Three as Johann KesselhutKidnapped as Captain HoseasonThree Loves Has Nancy as William, the ButlerVacation from Love as John Hodge LawsonA Christmas Carol as Ebenezer ScroogeThe Girl Downstairs as Charlie GrumpFast and Loose as Vincent CharltonHotel Imperial as General VidenkoBridal Suite as Sir Horace BragdonThe Real Glory as Capt. HartleyBad Little Angel as Edwards, Marvin's ValetRemember? as Mr. BronsonThe Earl of Chicago as Gervase GonwellThe Ghost Comes Home as HemingwayFlorian as Emperor Franz JosefHullabaloo as 'Buzz' FosterBlonde Inspiration as ReginaldFree and Easy as Sir George KelvinA Woman's Face as Bernard DalvikThey Met in Bombay as General AllenCharley's Aunt as RedcliffLady Be Good as Max MiltonA Yank in the R.A.F. as 'Internal Injury' in Air raid drill Tarzan's Secret Treasure as Professor ElliottWoman of the Year as ClaytonWe Were Dancing as Major Berty Tyler-BlaneMrs. Miniver as FoleyI Married an Angel as 'Whiskers'Pierre of the Plains as Noah GlenkinsCairo as Philo CobsonSomewhere I'll Find You as Willie ManningWhite Cargo as Skipper of the Congo QueenRandom Harvest as 'Biffer'Reunion in France as SchultzForever and a Day as SimpsonAssignment in Brittany as Colonel TraneAbove Suspicion as Dr. MespelbrunnThree Hearts for Julia as John GirardSalute to the Marines as Mr. Henry CasparMadame Curie as Dr. BecquerelThe Canterville Ghost as Lord CantervilleNational Velvet as Farmer EdeThe Picture of Dorian Gray as Lord George Farmour The Valley of Decision as McCreadyKitty as Duke of MalmunsterShe Went to the Races as Dr. PembrokeCaptain Kidd as Cary ShadwellThe Sailor Takes a Wife as Mr. AmboyThe Diary of a Chambermaid as Captain LanlaireCluny Brown as Sir Henry CarmelMonsieur Beaucaire as King Louis XVPiccadilly Incident as JudgeThe Imperfect Lady as Mr. HopkinsThunder in the Valley as James MooreGreen Dolphin Street as Captain O'HaraIf Winter Comes as Mr. FortuneThe Pirate as The AdvocateJulia Misbehaves as Benjamin HawkinsThe Three Musketeers as TrevilleHills of Home as HoppsThe Secret Garden as Ben WeatherstaffChallenge to Lassie as Sergeant DavieThe Miniver Story as Mr. FoleyKim as Father VictorGrounds for Marriage as Dely DelacorteThe Great Diamond Robbery as Bainbridge GibbonsRed Garters as Judge Wallace WinthropWhile the City Sleeps as Steven Darby's Rangers as Sir Arthur HollisterFive Weeks in a Balloon as ConsulTammy and the Doctor as Jason TrippThe Thrill of It All as Old Tom FraleighVoice of the Hurricane as Nigel CharterMary Poppins as Admiral BoomRosie! as PatrickBedknobs and Broomsticks as Major General Sir Brian Teagler