Tony Owen (May 2, 1907 – May 12, 1984) was an American agent and producer, who was married to

Donna Reed Donna Reed (born Donna Belle Mullenger; January 27, 1921 – January 14, 1986) was an American actress. Her career spanned more than 40 years, with performances in more than 40 films. She is well known for her portrayal of Mary Hatch Bailey in ...

Biography

Owen was born in Chicago and worked in that city as a journalist. In the late 1930s he produced game programs for the Detroit Lions, and in 1940 became a vice president of the football club. He served in the army during the war, but was invalided out. He moved to Los Angeles in 1942 and got work as an agent. He married Donna Reed in 1945 and they would go on to have four children (two were adopted).

Todon Productions

Owen and Reed formed their own company, Todon Productions. Owen moved into film production with ''

Duel in the Jungle ''Duel in the Jungle'' is a 1954 British adventure film combining the detective film with the jungle adventure genres directed by George Marshall and starring Dana Andrews, Jeanne Crain and David Farrar. It was shot at the Elstree Studios near ...

'' (1953). It established a formula of using two American leads, an American director, and 80% British crew, to qualify for the subsidies of being a British film and because it was cheaper to make. "As an independent I can give everybody a percentage", said Owen. "This includes a star who will take a cut in lieu of his regular salary of say, $300,000." Owen added that "I believe the American public loves seeing foreign backgrounds. They're a definite plus value." ''Duel in the Jungle'' made $3 million. This launched Todon on a series of films. He followed it with two films directed by Ken Hughes and distributed by Allied Artists: ''

Little Red Monkey ''Little Red Monkey'', released in the United States as ''Case of the Red Monkey'', is a 1955 British crime film directed by Ken Hughes and starring Richard Conte, Rona Anderson and Russell Napier. Detectives from Scotland Yard investigate a seri ...

'' (1955), with

Richard Conte Nicholas Peter Conte (March 24, 1910 – April 15, 1975), known professionally as Richard Conte, was an American actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from the 1940s through 1970s, including '' I'll Cry Tomorrow'', ''Ocean's 11'', and ''Th ...

, and ''

Timeslip ''Timeslip'' is a British children's science fiction television series made by ATV for the ITV network and broadcast between 1970 and 1971. It was first broadcast on Friday evenings at around 5:10-5:15pm in the ATV region with the other ITV r ...

'' (1955) with

Gene Nelson Gene Nelson (born Leander Eugene Berg; March 24, 1920 – September 16, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, screenwriter, and director. Biography Born Leander Eugene Berg in Astoria, Oregon, he and his family moved to Seattle when he was ...

and Faith Domergue. Then came ''

Portrait of Alison ''Portrait of Alison'' is a 1956 British atmospheric crime film directed by Guy Green. It was based on a BBC television series '' Portrait of Alison'' which aired the same year. In the United States the film was released as ''Postmark for Dang ...

'' (1956) with Terry Moore directed by Guy Green; '' Dial 999'' (1956), with Gene Nelson directed by

Montgomery Tully Montgomery Tully (6 May 190410 October 1988) was an Irish film director and writer. Film career Born in Dublin, Tully studied at the University of London, and originally entered the film industry as a director of documentaries. Later, Tully wo ...

; and '' The Intimate Stranger'' (1956) with

Richard Basehart John Richard Basehart (August 31, 1914 – September 17, 1984) was an American actor. He starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson in the television science-fiction drama '' Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea'' (1964–68). He also portrayed Wilton Knig ...

and Mary Murphy. In 1956 a report said Todon was "perhaps the biggest Anglo-American company next to

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

." As he made '' Beyond Mombasa'' Owen said he'd produced six films and "all of them stink but they made money... But not the final one I made with my wife. In fact, this is the first one I've done that isn't lousy – and I'm worried." "I'm no genius", he said later. "I just wanted to make commercial films." In May 1956 Owen said Todon would make eight films with an overall budget of $9,250,000. That month it was announced Maxwell Setton would run the company in London, to make six films, starting with ''The Nylon Web'' which became ''

Town on Trial ''Town on Trial'' is a 1957 British mystery film directed by John Guillermin and starring John Mills, Charles Coburn, Barbara Bates and Derek Farr. A whole town comes under suspicion when two grisly murders are carried out—particularly membe ...

''. Others included '' The Long Haul'' (1957) with

Victor Mature Victor John Mature (January 29, 1913 – August 4, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actor who was a leading man in Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. His best known film roles include ''One Million B.C.'' (1940), '' My Darlin ...

and

Diana Dors Diana Dors (born Diana Mary Fluck; 23 October 19314 May 1984) was an English actress and singer. Dors came to public notice as a blonde bombshell, much in the style of Americans Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren. Dors was p ...

, directed by Hughes; '' I Was Monty's Double'' (1958) with John Mills directed by

John Guillermin John Guillermin (11 November 192527 September 2015) was a French-British film director, writer and producer who was most active in big-budget, action-adventure films throughout his lengthy career. His more well-known films include ''I Was Monty ...

; Owen said "the last one

ilm Ilm or ILM may refer to: Acronyms * Identity Lifecycle Manager, a Microsoft Server Product * '' I Love Money,'' a TV show on VH1 * Independent Loading Mechanism, a mounting system for CPU sockets * Industrial Light & Magic, an American motion ...

died the death of a dog at the box office. So I came back and started working in television." Owen developed a series for his wife where she would play the secretary of the Secretary of State. A number of scripts were written but they did not feel confident, and eventually developed a show where Reed played the wife of a pediatrician. This became the hugely successful ''

The Donna Reed Show ''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children, Mary ...

''.

Filmography

*''

The Traveling Saleswoman ''The Traveling Saleswoman'' is a 1950 American Western comedy film directed by Charles Reisner and starring Joan Davis, Andy Devine, Adele Jergens, Joe Sawyer, and Dean Riesner. The film was released by Columbia Pictures on February 15, 1950. ...

'' (1950) *''

'' (1954) *'' The Case of the Red Monkey'' (1955) a.k.a. ''Little Red Monkey'' *''

'' (1955) a.k.a. ''The Atomic Man *''

Postmark for Danger ''Portrait of Alison'' is a 1956 British atmospheric crime film directed by Guy Green. It was based on a BBC television series ''Portrait of Alison'' which aired the same year. In the United States the film was released as ''Postmark for Dange ...

'' (1955) a.k.a. ''Portrait of Alison'' *'' Dial 999'' (1955) a.k.a. ''The Way Out'' *'' Finger of Guilt'' (1956) a.k.a. ''The Intimate Stranger'' *'' Beyond Mombasa'' (1956) *''

'' (1957) *'' I Was Monty's Double'' (1958) *'' The Long Haul'' (1957) *''

'' (1958–66)

Unmade films

*''Twist of Night'' (1956) from a book by Roger McDermott *''The Man Inside'' (1956) from a novel bu Victor Canning *''The Last Pursuit'' (1956) *''It's Not Cricket'' (1956) by Lawrence Brollings *''Wherever You Are'' (1956) by

Stirling Silliphant Stirling Dale Silliphant (January 16, 1918 – April 26, 1996) was an American screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his screenplay for '' In the Heat of the Night'', for which he won an Academy Award in 1967, and for creating ...

to star Reed and Rosanno Brazzi *''The Unhappy Warrior'' (1957) with

Van Johnson Charles Van Dell Johnson (August 25, 1916 – December 12, 2008) was an American film, television, theatre and radio actor. He was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during and after World War II. Johnson was described as the embodiment o ...

*''The

Eddie Calvert Albert Edward "Eddie" Calvert (15 March 1922 – 7 August 1978) was an English trumpeter, who enjoyed his greatest success in the 1950s. Between 1953 and 1958, Calvert achieved seven instrumental hits on the UK Singles Chart, including two ch ...

Story'' (1956) *''Wherever You Are'' (1957) – a drama of "transplanted eyes" *biopic of Joseph Conrad. *life story of pianist Roger Williams

References

External links

Tony Owen
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Tony 1907 births 1984 deaths American film producers Detroit Lions executives Military personnel from Illinois Journalists from Illinois Businesspeople from Chicago