Reginald Owen was visited by three ghosts in 1938. One of them pointed a shaking, boney finger at a headstone with his name on it. Well, the name of his character, Ebenezer Scrooge. Owen’s actual headstone, though, is in the Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.
Owen was widely acclaimed for his role as Scrooge. This time of year, the movie is played and replayed to—forgive the pun—death. Scrooge was probably his best remembered character, but he played many of them. Notably, he played both Sherlock Holmes and Watson several times each. The same year he played Scrooge, Owen appeared in another movie as a character named Grump. Fortunately, that didn’t typecast him.
Reggie Owen’s career in film began in 1911 when he appeared as Thomas Cromwell in Henry VIII. His last film was Bedknobs and Broomsticks in 1971 in which he played Major General Sir Brian Teagler. Some might remember him as Admiral Boom in Mary Poppins.
His life on stage was at least equal to his film career and he was a radio star as well. In the TV era he had a part in an episode of Maverick with James Garner.
Finally, of trivial note, Owen rented his mansion in Bel Air to the Beatles when they performed at the Hollywood Bowl when no hotel would book them.
And, Boise? Owen had just wrapped up an appearance in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in New York, when he and his wife decided to visit her son from a previous marriage. Robert Haveman was a labor relations manager at Boise Cascade. The former Barbara Haveman, Owen’s third wife, was a descendent of Russian nobility who had married the actor when he was 69. He spent the last three months of his life in Boise. A stroke or heart attack took him in 1972 at age 85.
Owen was widely acclaimed for his role as Scrooge. This time of year, the movie is played and replayed to—forgive the pun—death. Scrooge was probably his best remembered character, but he played many of them. Notably, he played both Sherlock Holmes and Watson several times each. The same year he played Scrooge, Owen appeared in another movie as a character named Grump. Fortunately, that didn’t typecast him.
Reggie Owen’s career in film began in 1911 when he appeared as Thomas Cromwell in Henry VIII. His last film was Bedknobs and Broomsticks in 1971 in which he played Major General Sir Brian Teagler. Some might remember him as Admiral Boom in Mary Poppins.
His life on stage was at least equal to his film career and he was a radio star as well. In the TV era he had a part in an episode of Maverick with James Garner.
Finally, of trivial note, Owen rented his mansion in Bel Air to the Beatles when they performed at the Hollywood Bowl when no hotel would book them.
And, Boise? Owen had just wrapped up an appearance in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in New York, when he and his wife decided to visit her son from a previous marriage. Robert Haveman was a labor relations manager at Boise Cascade. The former Barbara Haveman, Owen’s third wife, was a descendent of Russian nobility who had married the actor when he was 69. He spent the last three months of his life in Boise. A stroke or heart attack took him in 1972 at age 85.
Reginald Owen as Scrooge in 1938.
The headstone of Reginald Owen at Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.
RSS Feed