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.
128 movies · 9 shows
The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes
1985·8.5
That's Entertainment!
1974·7.4
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
1971·7.0
Rosie!
1967·10.0
Mary Poppins
1964·7.5
Voice of the Hurricane
1964·10.0
The Thrill of It All
1963·7.1
Tammy and the Doctor
1963·5.4
Five Weeks in a Balloon
1962·5.5
Moochie of Pop Warner Football
1960·7.0
Moochie of the Little League
1959·8.0
Red Garters
1954·5.0
The Great Diamond Robbery
1954·10.0
Grounds for Marriage
1951·5.0
Kim
1950·6.5
The Miniver Story
1950·6.3
Challenge to Lassie
1949·5.3
The Secret Garden
1949·7.1
Hills of Home
1948·6.9
The Three Musketeers
1948·6.8
Julia Misbehaves
1948·6.7
The Pirate
1948·6.5
If Winter Comes
1947·6.7
Thunder in the Valley
1947·8.3
Green Dolphin Street
1947·6.3
The Imperfect Lady
1946·0.0
Monsieur Beaucaire
1946·5.7
Piccadilly Incident
1946·6.7
Cluny Brown
1946·7.2
The Diary of a Chambermaid
1946·6.2
The Sailor Takes a Wife
1945·8.0
Captain Kidd
1945·6.3
She Went to the Races
1945·6.0
Kitty
1945·5.7
The Valley of Decision
1945·7.2
National Velvet
1945·7.2
The Canterville Ghost
1944·6.9
Madame Curie
1943·7.2
Salute to the Marines
1943·7.2
Above Suspicion
1943·6.2
Three Hearts for Julia
1943·6.5
Assignment in Brittany
1943·7.1
Forever and a Day
1943·7.5
Reunion in France
1942·6.4
Random Harvest
1942·7.3
White Cargo
1942·6.2
Somewhere I'll Find You
1942·5.7
Cairo
1942·6.3
Pierre of the Plains
1942·4.9
I Married an Angel
1942·6.0
Mrs. Miniver
1942·7.1
We Were Dancing
1942·4.3
Woman of the Year
1942·6.9
Tarzan's Secret Treasure
1941·5.9
Lady Be Good
1941·5.5
Charley's Aunt
1941·6.3
They Met in Bombay
1941·7.3
A Woman's Face
1941·6.8
Free and Easy
1941·6.9
Blonde Inspiration
1941·5.8
Hullabaloo
1940·6.5
Florian
1940·4.5
The Ghost Comes Home
1940·5.7
The Earl of Chicago
1940·6.3
Remember?
1939·6.0
Bad Little Angel
1939·5.5
The Real Glory
1939·6.3
Bridal Suite
1939·5.4
Hotel Imperial
1939·7.0
Fast and Loose
1939·5.9
The Girl Downstairs
1938·4.7
A Christmas Carol
1938·7.0
A Fireside Chat with Lionel Barrymore
1938·7.0
Vacation from Love
1938·10.0
Three Loves Has Nancy
1938·4.2
Paradise for Three
1938·7.4
Kidnapped
1938·6.0
Everybody Sing
1938·5.0
Rosalie
1937·6.0
Conquest
1937·6.6
The Bride Wore Red
1937·6.8
Madame X
1937·6.1
Personal Property
1937·6.9
Dangerous Number
1937·4.9
Love on the Run
1936·6.5
Adventure in Manhattan
1936·6.1
The Girl on the Front Page
1936·7.0
Yours for the Asking
1936·5.3
Trouble for Two
1936·6.5
The Great Ziegfeld
1936·6.3
Petticoat Fever
1936·6.1
Rose Marie
1936·6.2
A Tale of Two Cities
1935·6.9
The Bishop Misbehaves
1935·6.0
Anna Karenina
1935·6.6
Call of the Wild
1935·6.2
Escapade
1935·8.0
The Good Fairy
1935·7.1
Enchanted April
1935·4.9
Here Is My Heart
1934·7.3
Music in the Air
1934·5.6
Madame du Barry
1934·4.6
The Human Side
1934·9.0
Of Human Bondage
1934·6.5
Stingaree
1934·6.1
Where Sinners Meet
1934·4.4
The House of Rothschild
1934·6.2
The Countess of Monte Cristo
1934·6.3
Fashions of 1934
1934·6.6
Mandalay
1934·5.8
Queen Christina
1934·6.9
Nana
1934·6.0
Voltaire
1933·6.2
The Big Brain
1933·8.0
Double Harness
1933·6.5
The Narrow Corner
1933·5.8
A Study in Scarlet
1933·5.6
Robbers' Roost
1932·6.0
Sherlock Holmes
1932·5.9
Downstairs
1932·6.6
The Man Called Back
1932·6.0
A Woman Commands
1932·9.0
Lovers Courageous
1932·6.0
Platinum Blonde
1931·6.7
The Man in Possession
1931·6.7
The Letter
1929·5.6
The Grass Orphan
1922·7.0
Phroso
1922·7.0