Bill Owen

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William John Owen Rowbotham (March 14, 1914 – July 12, 1999), better known as Bill Owen, was an English actor and songwriter.<p>Born in London, he made his first film appearance in 1945, but he only achieved lasting fame in the 1970s when he took the starring role of Compo Simmonite in the long-running British sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine. Owen's character is a scruffy working-class pensioner, often made use of by the characters played by Michael Bates, Brian Wilde, Michael Aldridge and Frank Thornton for dirty jobs, stunts and escapades, while his indomitably docile friend Peter Sallis follows and watches with a smirk. He wore a woollen cap and spent much of his time lusting after dowdy housewife, Nora Batty. As Compo, Owen saw off several co-stars. The series, starting in 1973, is today the world's longest-running comedy series, and Owen became an icon, a darling of its audience and central to its success and episodes for 27 years, right until his death. The threesome of Compo,...