birth_place birth_date yearsactive article_title name occupation
brighton , sussex , england 08 july 1949 1968 -- present tom owen -lrb- actor -rrb-
 tom owen actor
tom owen -lrb- actor -rrb-

thomas william stevenson rowbotham -lrb- born 8 july 1949 -rrb- is a british actor best known for playing tom simmonite on the longest-running british sitcom `` last of the summer wine '' .
he is the son of bill owen , who played william `` compo '' simmonite -lrb- the father of tom simmonite -rrb- on the show .
owen 's first significant appearance on television was in 1968 at the age of 19 , starring in the series `` freewheelers '' -lrb- 1968 -- 70 -rrb- .
other appearances include `` z-cars '' , `` upstairs , downstairs '' , `` the onedin line '' , `` the piglet files '' and `` minder '' .
before being cast in `` last of the summer wine '' in 1999 following the death of his father , he had not acted for many years and had instead worked for the labour party and taught drama as well as comedy and light entertainment .
he married mary bernadette therese moylan in 1978 ; they have two sons , james and william .
