Bill Owen [Bill Rowbotham]

(1914-1999) b. London, England.

 

British character actor who started in show business as a holiday camp entertainer, he turned to acting in films after World War II as forthright cockney types and created a series of real-life people.

Stamped with the brightness of his own personality, he was almost elevated to stardom in the mid 1950s as very much a part of the British cinema.

Later he became an integral part of the popular TV comedy series Last of the Summer Wine.