Thomas William Stevenson Rowbotham (8 April 1949 – 8 November 2022), known professionally as Tom Owen, was a British actor best known for playing Tom Simmonite in the sitcom ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes foll ...

''. He was the son of Bill Owen, who played William "Compo" Simmonite (the father of Tom Simmonite) in the show.

Theatre

Owen trained as a student assistant stage manager at Leatherhead Theatre in 1966. He worked extensively in repertory both as an actor and director. In 1969 Owen played Farley, in 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips' a role first played by John Mills in the original version. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company playing on Broadway in their production of 'London Assurance'. His performance as Krapp in Fiona Baddeley's production of Beckett's masterpiece 'Krapp's Last Tape' was likened to those given by Michael Gambon, John Hurt and Harold Pinter. He has appeared in the West End in 'Lulu'. He also starred in over twenty pantomimes.

Television

Owen made his television debut in 1968 playing Bill Cowan in Southern TV's groundbreaking series ''

Freewheelers ''Freewheelers'' is a British television series made by Southern Television between 1968 and 1973 for the ITV network. It was created by the television producer Chris McMaster, who was aware of the popularity of adult action series such as '' ...

'' appearing in fifty two episodes. Numerous television series followed including '' Tottering Towers'' (13 episodes), ''Wreckers at Deadeye'', ''Horse in the House'', ''

The Piglet Files The Piglet Files is a British sitcom produced by London Weekend Television (LWT). The show consisted of three series totalling 21 episodes that ran between 7 September 1990 and 10 May 1992. The programme follows the life of reluctant MI5 agent ...

'', ''The Hello Goodbye Man'', ''

Z Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted ...

'', ''

Upstairs Downstairs Upstairs Downstairs may refer to: Television *Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series), ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971 TV series), a British TV series broadcast on ITV from 1971 to 1975 *Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series), ''Upstairs Downstairs'' ...

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'', and ''

Our Mutual Friend ''Our Mutual Friend'', written in 1864–1865, is the last novel completed by Charles Dickens and is one of his most sophisticated works, combining savage satire with social analysis. It centres on, in the words of critic J. Hillis Miller, quo ...

''. Owen's debut in ''Last Of The Summer Wine'' was in 1991 as a bank customer at a cash dispenser in the episode "Situations Vacant". Following the death of his father, Bill, who played Compo in 184 episodes over twenty-seven years, Tom joined ''Last of the Summer Wine'' as a regular in 2000 and stayed with the show appearing in 93 episodes until it ended in 2010. Owen appeared with

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...

in the TV film ''Queenie'', with Michael York in ''

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

'' and David Hemmings in '' Unman, Wittering and Zigo''.

Film

Owen starred in two films which were released in 2018: ''

The Bromley Boys ''The Bromley Boys'' is a 2018 British coming-of-age story, coming-of-age comedy film. Based on an eponymous autobiographical book by author Dave Roberts, the film is set in Bromley, in the suburbs of London, during the late 1960s and early 197 ...

'' and ''

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ''The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society'' is a Historical fiction, historical novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows that was published in 2008. It was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (film), adapted into a fi ...

''.

Personal life and death

Owen married Mary Bernadette Therese Moylan in 1978; they had two sons, James and William. Owen died of natural causes on 8 November 2022, at the age of 73.

Television roles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Tom 1949 births 2022 deaths British male comedy actors English male television actors Male actors from Brighton 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English male stage actors Male actors from London People from Marylebone