Lloyd Owen

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Lloyd Owen
Lloyd Owen at the Miss Potter premiere, Leicester Square, London, England - 20061203-01 (cropped).jpg
Owen in December 2006
Born Richard Lloyd Owen
(1966-04-14) 14 April 1966 (age 58)
Charing Cross, London, England
Years active 1990s–present
Spouse(s) Juliette Mole
Website Official website

Lloyd Owen (born 14 April 1966) is an English actor. Trained at the National Youth Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, he is probably best known for his portrayal of Indiana Jones's father Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles between 1992 and 1993 and for playing Paul Bowman-MacDonald in the BBC Scotland series Monarch of the Glen from 2002 to 2005. He played the role of solicitor William Heelis in the film Miss Potter (2006).His most recent TV role was playing the U.S. President in "You,me and the apocalypse" on Sky.


However, his first love has always been the theatre. His first break on stage was the role of Nick in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1996. Other highlights of his stage career include playing Dan in Closer in 1998, George in The York Realist in 2002, and Peter in Paul in 2005.

Early life

Richard Lloyd Owen was born on 14 April 1966 at the Charing Cross Hospital[1] in Westminster, London, England. He was brought up in London, although both of his parents were Welsh – his father, actor Glyn Owen (1928–2004), was from Caernarfon, Gwynedd, in northwest Wales, while his mother, actress Patricia Mort, was from Morriston in Swansea, Wales.[2] His sister is the actress Cathy Owen.

When he was at Highgate School,[3] because his father was an actor, his teachers thought that he should be able to act, too. However, at first he was not interested. "I was always made to read plays at school but I never wanted to. Then I was made to take part in a school play and I didn't want to do that either but I started to get approval for my acting. I was reasonably academic, good at sport, but somehow with the acting, people said 'that was fantastic'.[4] So I thought,'ok, I'll carry on doing this for a bit and the next thing you know that's how I make my living these days". Born to parents Glyn Owen and Patricia Mort, he grew up around "a mob of entertaining, troublesome, fascinating" actors involved in challenging the Lord Chamberlain during some of the most exciting days of a very controversial Royal Court."[5]

At 16, Owen went straight from school to the National Youth Theatre, and subsequently received some formal training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. While there he managed to get an acting job and an Equity card, but when he told the principal of RADA he needed a term off, the request was denied and he was expelled from the Academy after just a year. Fortunately, Owen landed a job with Cheek by Jowl and followed the theatre company on tour around the world performing Shakespeare plays.[4] Owen has said that he wished he had gone to university, and that he had been "in too much of a rush".[6]

Career

Owen's first big break was clinching the role of Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr., father of Indiana Jones, in eight episodes of the TV series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in 1992 and 1993. Subsequently, he appeared in 25 episodes of the popular BBC Scotland series Monarch of the Glen as Paul Bowman-MacDonald between 2002 and 2005.[7] He also played Professor Jon Ford in the BBC Northern Ireland series The Innocence Project (2006–2007); however, as a result of poor reviews and falling viewership, the series was pulled from the schedules in the middle of the first season and no further seasons were filmed.[8]

Owen's film career has included appearances in short films, and supporting roles in The Republic of Love (2003) (as Peter),[9] which was based on a novel by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carol Shields, and in Miss Potter (2006) (as a solicitor named William Heelis who married children's author Beatrix Potter).[10] However, Owen's first love has always been the theatre. Early in his professional career he was involved in the Cheek by Jowl productions of Philoctetes and the Shakespeare plays Macbeth, The Tempest and Twelfth Night. Owen's break on stage was playing Nick in Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), directed by Howard Davies, at the Almeida Theatre in London in 1996. Owen studied the play during his A-levels, and it is his favourite play. Other highlights of his stage career include playing Dan in Closer by Patrick Marber in 1998 and George in The York Realist by Peter Gill in 2002.[1] Critics praised his performance in the latter play as "astonishing in its power, throttled fury and sadness"[11] and "superb, richly voiced",[12] and called him "a fast-rising star".[13]

Owen has said, "My screen work often funds my theatre career – that's the way I think of it. Theatre is where my heart and soul is, where I feel absolutely vocational. Creatively, theatre is the most democratic forum for an actor because you have near total control over your performance. It's also where the playwright can never be censored and, as such, that makes it a truly democratic forum for debate. And the communal experience, the chemistry that you get between actors and audience can be extraordinary. It can move you in a way that film can't. That's the power of theatre at its best." The role that he would most like to play is Macbeth; other roles on his wish-list include Iago in Othello, Brick in Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Lenny in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, and Hamlet "as long as no one gives it to me because it's completely daunting".[1]

Owen is a baritone, and speaks fluent French.[14]

Personal life

Owen is married to actress and artist Juliette Mole,[2] and they have two children, Maxim and Mimi.[15] They currently reside in Battersea, Wandsworth, in southwest London.[2]

To relax, Owen plays sports such as football and tennis. He also runs frequently, finding it quite meditative,[6] and enjoys watching rugby union matches.[2]

Selected work

Medium Year(s) of
appearance
Production Role
Theatre The PassportYoung Vic, London
The Parquet FloorYoung Vic, London
Philoctetes – (Cheek by Jowl production) (Chorus)
The Tempest – (Cheek by Jowl production) Ferdinand
Macbeth – (Cheek by Jowl production) Donalbain
1986 Twelfth Night – (Cheek by Jowl production) Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Sebastian
1989 HamletHaymarket Theatre, Leicester Laertes
Television 1992–1993
(eight episodes)
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992–1996) Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr.
1993 All in the Game Darren Matthews
1994 The Cinder Path Charlie MacFell
Theatre Henry VI, Part 3 – (Royal Shakespeare Company production) The Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon Edward IV
1995 Our BoysDonmar Warehouse, London Joe
Grab the Dog – The Studio, Royal National Theatre, London
1996 East LynneGreenwich Theatre, London Captain Francis Levison
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?[16]Almeida Theatre, London and Aldwych Theatre, London Nick
Television Young Indiana Jones: Travels with Father Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr.
1998 Get Real Adam
Theatre Closer[17]Lyric Theatre, London Dan
1999 Morphic ResonanceDonmar Warehouse, London Wallace
Film Between Dreams (short film) Stephen Tredre
Television The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Spring Break Adventure (video) Professor Dr. Henry Jones, Sr.
2000
(series 2)
Hearts and Bones James
Theatre 2000 The Way of the World[18]Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester Mirabell
Julius Caesar[19]Young Vic, London Brutus
2001 Edward II[20]Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Mortimer the Younger
Television Des del Balcó Patrick
2002
(three episodes)
Coupling (2000–2004) James
2002–2005
(25 episodes)
Monarch of the Glen (2000–2005) Paul Bowman-MacDonald
2002 Dead Gorgeous Vic
Film The Seasons Alter Oberon
Theatre The York Realist[13][21]Royal Court Theatre, London George
2003 Iphigenia[22]Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Agamemnon
Film The Republic of Love Peter
2004 Get the Picture (short film) Jake Wells
Theatre Clouds[23]Cambridge Arts Theatre, Cambridge, and Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford Owen Shorter
2005 Paul[24] – Cottesloe Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London Peter
Film 2006 Miss Potter William Heelis
Television 2006–2007 The Innocence Project Professor Jon Ford
2007 Viva Laughlin Ripley Holden
2009 Taking The Flak (ep. "Bigfooting"), Jack
Film 2011 Apollo 18 (film) Nathan Walker
Theatre 2012 The Bodyguard Frank Farmer
Television 2012 Fairly Legal Robin Archer
2014 The Originals Ansel
2015 Midsomer Murders episode 17.4 "A Vintage Murder" Louis Paynton
Television 2016 Death in Paradise episode 5.1 Dr Sam Blake

Notes

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  3. As an alumnus of Highgate School, Owen is a member of the Old Cholmeleian Society and Old Cholmeleian Sports Club, both named after the school's founder Sir Roger Cholmeley: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
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  7. See Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. According to Mrs. Elsie Orme, a former assistant stage manager interviewed for the Theatre Archive Project who is a friend of Owen and once his landlady, Owen did not particularly like acting in Monarch of the Glen but did it because it brought in considerable income, which enabled him to take on projects that he really wanted to do for probably very little money: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  8. A BBC spokeswoman said the remaining episodes will "definitely be shown", but that it was not yet known when: Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
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  11. Nicholas de Jongh in the Evening Standard (9 January 2002): see Lloyd Owen at Actors in Good Company. Retrieved on 27 June 2007.
  12. Stephen Brown in The Times Literary Supplement (25 January 2002): Lloyd Owen at Actors in Good Company. Retrieved on 27 June 2007.
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  14. Lloyd Owen at the website of Hamilton Hodell, his agent. Retrieved on 27 June 2007.
  15. In October 2006, the Sunday Post Magazine Online reported that Maxim was aged 15 and Mimi eight: see Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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References

Further reading

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External links