This is more a collection of reminiscences than a biography, but none the less worth the reading for that. Bill Owen had a fascinating life with much to read about in addition to the 'Summer wine' years.
This book has helped me to realise why older actors and comedians are so much more fun to read about than their younger counterparts. Owen had a life other than acting: he was a stalwart of the Labour party and the Trade union movement, had his struggles and did some foolish things. A modern biography will be written about an entertainer who has been 'famous' for little more than Andy Warhol's fifteen minutes, skips rapidly through anything that happened before this brush with stardom and certainly does not admit to any failing. These tedious clones seem to drop off a production line, serve their short spell and tumble into obscurity with sickening regularity. I hope that at some stage, we get real paople back into the limelight. ( )