Reginald Owen

John Reginald Owen was born on 5 August 1887 in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England, to Joseph and Frances Owen. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and made his professional stage debut in 1905. Before his career took him to America, Owen played a role in bringing a notable theatrical work to life: having met author Mrs. Clifford Mills prior to 1911, he encouraged her to develop her rainbow story concept into a stage production. The resulting play, Where the Rainbow Ends, was co-authored by Owen and Mills, with Owen writing under the pseudonym John Ramsey.

Owen relocated to the United States in 1920 and established himself on Broadway, where his stage career spanned from 1925 to 1972. His Broadway credits included The Marquise, Little Eyolf, Affairs of State, The Importance of Being Oscar, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, among other productions.

Alongside his stage work, Owen built an extensive career in film and television, becoming a recognizable presence in numerous Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer productions after settling in Hollywood. He is perhaps most widely remembered for portraying Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1938 film adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a role he took on after Lionel Barrymore had performed it on radio for years. Owen also holds the distinction of having played both principal figures in the Sherlock Holmes canon: he portrayed Dr. Watson in the 1932 film Sherlock Holmes, which starred Clive Brook in the title role, and then reversed course to play Holmes himself in A Study in Scarlet the following year.

In television, Owen appeared in two episodes of the James Garner series Maverick — "The Belcastle Brand" in 1957 and "Gun-Shy" in 1958 — and made guest appearances on One Step Beyond, Kentucky Jones, and Bewitched. His film work in the 1960s and early 1970s included a small part in the 1962 Irwin Allen production of Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon, as well as featured roles in two Walt Disney films: Mary Poppins in 1964 and Bedknobs and Broomsticks in 1971. In August 1964, his Bel Air mansion served as temporary lodging for the Beatles, who were performing at the Hollywood Bowl at a time when no hotel would accommodate them.

Owen died of a heart attack on 5 November 1972 in Boise, Idaho, at the age of 85, and was buried at Morris Hill Cemetery there.