English actor and songwriter William John Owen Rowbotham, MBE (14 March 1914 – 12 July 1999). He was Tom Owen’s father, an actor. In the Yorkshire-based BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine for more than 25 years, he is most known for playing Compo Simmonite. He passed away on July 12th, 1999, and his final on-screen performance was in April of 2000.
Owen, who was raised in a working-class family in Acton Green, London, and whose father was a fervently left-wing tram driver, made his film debut in 1945. However, he did not achieve lasting fame until 1973, when he co-starred as William “Compo” Simmonite in the enduring British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine.
He sported a wool cap and spent a lot of time fantasizing about Nora Batty, a dowdy housewife. The comedy series is currently the longest-running in the world, having premiered in 1973 and ending in 2010. For 26 years, up until his passing, Owen was instrumental in the show’s success and episodes, becoming an icon in the process.
The most adored trio the show has ever produced is Compo, Clegg, and Foggy (the third character was originally Blamire, portrayed by Michael Bates; when Brian Wilde’s Foggy took a break, Michael Aldridge’s Seymour Utterthwaite took his place). Herbert “Truly” Truelove, played by Frank Thornton, took over for Foggy in 1997 and lasted on the show until its final episode in 2010.
What age was Bill Owen when he died?
Bill Owen passed away at the age of 85 years.
Where was Bill Owen buried?
Near his cherished Yorkshire village of Holmfirth, the setting for Last of the Summer Wine, Owen is laid to rest in the churchyard of St. John’s Parish Church, Upperthong. When co-star Peter Sallis passed away in June 2017 at the age of 96, he was buried next to him.
