<Tr> <Th> Spouse (s) </Th> <Td> Edith Stevenson (1946--64) (divorced) Kathleen O'Donoghue (1977--99) (his death) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Children </Th> <Td> 2, including the actor Tom Owen . </Td> </Tr> <P> William John Owen Rowbotham, MBE (14 March 1914--12 July 1999), known professionally as Bill Owen, was an English actor and songwriter . He was the father of actor Tom Owen . He is best known for portraying Compo Simmonite in the Yorkshire based BBC comedy series Last of the Summer Wine for 27 years . He died in July 1999, his last appearance on - screen being shown in April 2000 . </P> <P> Born in London, Owen made his first film appearance in 1944, but did not achieve lasting fame until 1973, when he took the starring role of William "Compo" Simmonite in the long - running British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine . Owen's character is a scruffy working - class pensioner, often exploited by the bossy characters played by Michael Bates, Brian Wilde, Michael Aldridge and Frank Thornton for dirty jobs, stunts and escapades, while their indomitably docile friend Norman Clegg, played by Peter Sallis, follows and watches with a smirk . He wore a woollen hat 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 and finishing in 2010, is today the world's longest - running comedy series . Owen became an icon, a darling of its audience and central to its success and episodes for 26 years, right until his death . The threesome of Compo, Clegg and Foggy (this third character was initially Blamire, played by Michael Bates, and when Brian Wilde's Foggy took a hiatus, replaced by Michael Aldridge's Seymour Utterthwaite) remains the most popular group of three the show ever produced . </P>

Bill owen character in last of the summer wine