Bill and Tom

I have seen this before: not that unusual especially in the days when Tom was young.

However, there is a photograph of Tom and Bill near the end of the article - the picture of Tom with heavy spectacles could almost have been me. I had a very similar pair in the mid 1960s and my hair was very similar! But obviosuly we were both stylish young men then!
 
barmpot said:
I have seen this before: not that unusual especially in the days when Tom was young.

However, there is a photograph of Tom and Bill near the end of the article - the picture of Tom with heavy spectacles could almost have been me. I had a very similar pair in the mid 1960s and my hair was very similar! But obviosuly we were both stylish young men then!
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Indeed you were Barmpot :D
 
barmpot said:
I have seen this before: not that unusual especially in the days when Tom was young.

However, there is a photograph of Tom and Bill near the end of the article - the picture of Tom with heavy spectacles could almost have been me. I had a very similar pair in the mid 1960s and my hair was very similar! But obviosuly we were both stylish young men then!
Click to expand...
Iha ha. I remember n the sixties having those "cat frame" glasses. They made me look demented. ha ha
 
What strikes me most about this article is when Tom was asked what his thoughts about Bill's reaction to him being on the show. I can't believe Bill wouldn't be proud to see his son in the show but if Bill was as self-centered as that; it kind of makes sense. It is sad that they were never close.
 
It's hard to take this at full value without hearing from the other person (or persons, as Kathy Staff seemed to have earned his ire also). It's like when one of Bing Crosby's kids accused him of child abuse after he passed away. The rest of his siblings said it was all bull but we'll never know and the stigma from accusations like that never seems to ever go away, even if the accuser was to recant years down the line.
 
I don't find it hard to believe that that is truly how Tom Owen sees things. I'm old enough to know that relationships are often relative - how someone treats you may not be how they treat a different person, and so on. We can't really expect everyone to get along famously, even if they seem such good friends onscreen. So it doesn't bother me if Michael Bates and Bill Owen disliked each other, what matters is that Compo and Blamire on screen had a true friendship you could see. And so on.
 
Sarkus said:
I don't find it hard to believe that that is truly how Tom Owen sees things. I'm old enough to know that relationships are often relative - how someone treats you may not be how they treat a different person, and so on. We can't really expect everyone to get along famously, even if they seem such good friends onscreen. So it doesn't bother me if Michael Bates and Bill Owen disliked each other, what matters is that Compo and Blamire on screen had a true friendship you could see. And so on.
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I can go along with that but I'm also of the opinion that speaking ill of your relatives or others that have passed, while therapeutic in some people's eyes I guess just doesn't sit well with me. Especially the jibe at Kathy Staff.
I remember when she died and Peter said something along the lines of "I can't actually say that I loved Kathy Staff but I'm terribly upset that she's not with us, I just think we don't know quite for sure whether we're going to do any more, but if we do she's going to be terribly missed."
That's tactful and respecting the dead. Of course, that is Peter Sallis speaking so perhaps different strokes for different folks I guess.
 
bwingate said:
What strikes me most about this article is when Tom was asked what his thoughts about Bill's reaction to him being on the show. I can't believe Bill wouldn't be proud to see his son in the show but if Bill was as self-centered as that; it kind of makes sense. It is sad that they were never close.
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Tom actually appeared in the show, in a very minor role in a scene with Foggy in one of the earlier episodes. His father was in it but not the scene, so he must have been ok about it or even put a word in for him to get the role? If Bill Owen was so self-centered or insecure he probably had the clout within the show to say that his son shouldn't have the part even though it was small and insignificant in the scheme of things.

Reading the article suggests that Bill Owen might have been distant and a little cold as a father, he wouldn't be the first to be that way, especially back then when the idea of showing feelings could be seen as not being something a man would do. If anything that article is quite mild, especially when you compare Tom's upbringing with another occasional cast member Norman Wisdom. His father was horrendous to him.
 
Yes I think my generation growing up the father's were normally more distant. When i said Bill was self-centered; I should have included that it stated that most actors are since everything is centered on them. It is their way of protecting their livelihood. I didn't mean to be so rough on Bill. It is better to focus on the positive.
:)
 
I think we are inclined to think of actors as special, when in fact they are only people who act. I learned this from an actress who lived next door to my mother. She was so nice to 'Annie' and kept her amused with anecdotes of her friends in the theatre, she even brought them in to see mother when they visited her. She said once that acting was her job and nothing more. It stands to reason that the Summer Wine folk did not always get on, as long as they did not let it spill out for us all to see, that was fine by me.
There are people in my 'circle' who I have to meet up with, but don't consider friends. They probably don't like me either!!
 
Quite a good topic. It truly was a different time back then. World war 2 and all.
Don, I do agree with the tactfulness of the way Peter handled the statement about Kathy.
Just from my perspective, My father was quite distant as well and very harsh. However, his father was twice as bad. So, I know that he was trying to break the chain. He would open up at times. I know (personally) it is hard to break those chains, when I start acting like my father, my wife will call me by his name instead of mine, it makes me step back and go...hmmmm
I remember a few years before he died, He took me out to his shop and told me, "I have to tell you something". So, I followed him out to the shop, he said, "You know I was married before your mom?" You could have knocked me over with a feather. I was 28 years old !!! When dad died in 03, the were married 43 years. I never knew that he got married when he was 16, moved to Michigan and then got divorced and moved back to Pennsylvania. Holy cow, he waited that long to tell me that!! I asked my brothers that (they are older than I am) and they all laughed at me.
Sorry, for the story, but folks back then just didn't do huggy, kissy and share their feelings. Now with social media, Facebook and all, you know when your friend goes out for ice cream immediately. It's crazy! Some things about technology I like, others..... Not so much.
I wish now I would have had more time to talk with my dad about "life" stuff. But he is gone and I don't. I miss him greatly, this year is 10 years, and there are times that I want to call him to ask him how to build......
However, I do have children and I sit with them a lot and talk "life" so they don't have to sit on a forum when they are 40 wishing they had talked to their dad more ;D Only Kidding, I love this place, very much like a family.
That's my 2 cents....
 
One other thing I forgot to add. I wonder why there are no articles from other family members (kids,brothers,sisters) about the other actors on LOTSW?? Just a thought.
 
First of all, it was probably difficult for Tom to feel close to his father when he was sent away to school beginning at age six and on top of that, his father was away on location for part of every year. And on top of that, since his father was away on location for part of the year, taking the family away on a vacation probably held very little interest. Tom mentioned that his parents fought constantly so perhaps we can say that his father was 50 percent responsible for his childhood unhappiness. And as far as not getting too much help from his father; sometimes the best help you can get from your father is very little involvement. It's like saying something like "Son, I know you can do it. You don't need me" And lastly, what son can have the gift of working with the same people that his father worked with. What a wonderful opportunity that was.
 
Adanor said:
First of all, it was probably difficult for Tom to feel close to his father when he was sent away to school beginning at age six and on top of that, his father was away on location for part of every year. And on top of that, since his father was away on location for part of the year, taking the family away on a vacation probably held very little interest.
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I may be misreading your comment, but LOTSW came much later in life for Bill Owen, so I don't think his being on location for it had anything to do with how Tom was raised. By the time LOTSW started Tom was an adult in his mid-20s. As I understand Bill Owen's career, he was more involved in theatre than anything else for many of the years before LOTSW came along. That kind of life obviously would impact things like vacations, but that is true of any actor, really.
 
fsj1981 said:
Quite a good topic. It truly was a different time back then. World war 2 and all.
Don, I do agree with the tactfulness of the way Peter handled the statement about Kathy.
Just from my perspective, My father was quite distant as well and very harsh. However, his father was twice as bad. So, I know that he was trying to break the chain. He would open up at times. I know (personally) it is hard to break those chains, when I start acting like my father, my wife will call me by his name instead of mine, it makes me step back and go...hmmmm
I remember a few years before he died, He took me out to his shop and told me, "I have to tell you something". So, I followed him out to the shop, he said, "You know I was married before your mom?" You could have knocked me over with a feather. I was 28 years old !!! When dad died in 03, the were married 43 years. I never knew that he got married when he was 16, moved to Michigan and then got divorced and moved back to Pennsylvania. Holy cow, he waited that long to tell me that!! I asked my brothers that (they are older than I am) and they all laughed at me.
Sorry, for the story, but folks back then just didn't do huggy, kissy and share their feelings. Now with social media, Facebook and all, you know when your friend goes out for ice cream immediately. It's crazy! Some things about technology I like, others..... Not so much.
I wish now I would have had more time to talk with my dad about "life" stuff. But he is gone and I don't. I miss him greatly, this year is 10 years, and there are times that I want to call him to ask him how to build......
However, I do have children and I sit with them a lot and talk "life" so they don't have to sit on a forum when they are 40 wishing they had talked to their dad more ;D Only Kidding, I love this place, very much like a family.
That's my 2 cents....
Click to expand...

A couple of years ago we went to visit my old relatives in Jarrow. We had a nice time chatting with them all and when it was time to leave I hugged all of the aunts and uncles. When I spoke to my aunt Betty next she asked 'when did we get to be so 'kissy'. I realised that she was right, it is something new to our family. And there is seldom a day goes by when I wish my mother was back so that I could ask her something or other.
 
My family were never touchy kissy, then I met my wife and was expected to be the same to her family. It took me some time to be comfortable with hugs and kisses with her family :o :-[
 
We were never kissy either, but we knew we were loved. The only time I kissed my parents was when they were in hospital, having said that I have kissed my dad every day since my mam died. :'(
 
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