Jonathan was born and educated in Birmingham, and attended St.Peter's College,Birmingham Universitiy's Faculty of Education. After training as a Drama & Music Teacher, he taught in various schools & colleges.
As an examiner for Trinity College, London, he has examined Speech, Drama, Effective communication and Musical Theatre throughout the UK, and extensively in India and New Zealand.
Appearances in the West End include; Jesus Christ Superstar, Call Me Madam, Singin' In The Rain, Ziegfeld and Having A Ball.
In the provinces Jonathan has played most major theatres, where some of his favourite roles include: Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (York), The King in The King & I (Weston), Harry Roat in Wait Until Dark (Jersey), Charles Condomine in Blithe Spirit and Mrs Swabb in Habeas Corpus (Isle of Man). His national tours include: Charlie Girl, Some Like It Hot and Singin' In The Rain which also went to Tokyo.
His Television work is extensive amounting to over 50 appearances, including Peter Nuttal, Kate O'Mara's stepson in 26 episodes of the BBC 1 soap Triangle. Peter Gillard in All Creatures Great & Small. Killer John in Prince Among Men, and London's Burning and Extremely Dangerous with Sean Bean for LWT.
Most recent work includes: Doctors (BBC) as Alan Hoggart 'The Great Lubberly Fellow' in Alan Bleasdale's Oliver Twist (Carlton) filmed in Prague with Julie Walters. Emmerdale (YTV) as nasty solicitor Mr. Sutherland , and as Peter Ward a dodgy tractor dealer in Heartbeat (YTV)
His most enjoyable work though, has been in 'Coronation St.' for Granada TV, and he is delighted to have played two very funny & different characters. Initially he caused mayhem as The Great Orlando, psychic-hyponotist, casting his spell on Blanche, Curly, Tyrone & Les'. Recently he was reincarnated as The Rev. Ashbourne, trying to make sense of Rita, Norris, Roy and Emily whilst they were 'high' on cannabis! And again at the dramatic christening of Tracy Barlow's baby.
On Radio he has appeared in numerous plays and serials for BBC Radio 4, but is probably best remembered as Terry Barford in The Archers, a role he played for 10 Years. For two years he was also the voice of 'Uncle Offa' for BBC Radio 4's Farming Week, which Gillian Reynolds of The Telegraph chose as her 'Pick of the year' on Radio 4. Doctor Who fans will have heard him as Antronak on the CD 'The Eye of the Scorpion' opposite Peter Davidson, and as Hamiyun with Colin Baker in 'Her final flight'
Jonathan is one of the UK's leading Pantomime 'Dames', and 2008 marked his 30th year of Pantomime! For five years he has been resident Writer and Director for Bermuda's Annual Pantomimes, before dashing back to play the Dame in the UK.
A hot Summer was spent in Sardinia filming Machiavelli's comedy 'The Mandrake Root' , playing wicked preist 'Brother Timoteo'. The film was released in June 2008, and subsequently nominated for a Royal Television Society award.
He is also author of the stageplay 'Teapots and Superglue', a comedy-drama, which has received much critical acclaim.
The play has now been published online by Treepress. Click HERE to take a look.
| TELEVISION | ||
| Alan Hoggart | Doctors | BBC |
| Brother Timoteo | The Mandrake Root | European Drama Network |
| Rev' Ashbourne | Coronation Sreett | Granada TV |
| Bob Langford | Doctors | BBC |
| Peter Ward | Heartbeat | Yorkshire TV |
| Mr Sutherland | Emmerdale | Yorkshire TV |
| The Great Orlando | Coronation Street | Granada TV |
| Peter Watten | Doctors | BBC |
| Great Lubberly Fellow | Oliver Twist | Carlton TV |
| Killer John | Prince Among Men | BBC |
| P C Harry | Woof | Carlton TV |
| Peter Nutall | Triangle (26 eps) | BBC |
| Peter Gillard | All Creatures Great & Small | BBC |
| Delivery Man | Extremely Dangerous | Carlton TV |
| Cinema Manager | London's Burning | LWT |
| Tony Carthew | Family Pride | Carlton TV |
| Pub Landlord | Back-Up | BBC |
| Biker | Metal Mickey | LWT |
| Soccer Hooligan | The Basil Brush Show | BBC |
| THEATRE | ||
| Steve | Singin' In The Rain | Palladium, London |
| Comedy Roles | Ziegfeld | Palladium, London |
| Hugo Tantinnin | Call Me Madam | Victoria Palace, London |
| Priest | Jesus Christ Superstar | Palace, London |
| Lenny | Having A Ball | Comedy Theatre, London |
| Comedy Roles | Charlie Girl | National Tour |
| Comedy Roles | Some Like It Hot | National Tour |
| Harry Roat | Wait Until Dark | Opera House, Jersey |
| Pseudolus | A Funny Thing Happened... | Theatre Royal, York |
| The King | The King & I | Playhouse, Weston S Mare |
| Number 8 | Take Eight | Royal Exchange, Mancs |
| Lenny | Having A Ball | Gaiety, Isle Of Man |
| Charles Condomine | Blithe Spirit | Gaiety, Isle Of Man |
| Herr Sheinkopf | Fame | Gordon Craig, Stevenage |
| Dr Prospero | Forbidden Planet | Gordon Craig, Stevenage |
| Badger | Wind In The Willows | Gordon Craig, Stevenage |
| Mr Tumnus | The Lion, Witch & Wardrobe | Gordon Craig, Stevenage |
| Mrs Swabb | Habeas Corpus | Gaiety, Isle Of Man |
| Fred Phipps | Dry Rot | Gaiety, Isle Of Man |
| Tweedle Dee | Alice In Wonderland | REP, Birmingham |
| Dandini | Cinderella | REP, Birmingham |
| Judge | Wind In The Willows | REP, Birmingham |
| Hugo Tantinnin | Call Me Madam | REP, Birmingham |
| Various Roles | The Mystery Plays | Belgrade, Coventry |
| Salerio | Merchant Of Venice | Belgrade, Coventry |
| Juvenile | Six Characters In Search... | Belgrade, Coventry |
| RADIO | ||
| Terry Barford | The Archers (10 years) | BBC Radio 4 |
| Over 100... | Plays, serials, comedies | BBC Radio 4 |
| Uncle Offa | Farming Today (2 years) | BBC Radio 4 |
| Antranak | Doctor Who: Eye Of The Scorpion |
Big Finish/BBC |
| Hamiyun | Doctor Who: Her Final Flight | Big Finish/BBC |
| Presenter/reader | Faming Today, Costing The Earth, You & Yours, Dirty News |
BBC Radio 4 |
| PANTOMIME | ||
30 years of Panto. 20 years as 'Dame' At; Southport, Torquay, Stevenage, Dartford, Derby, Hastings, Billingham, Bath, Weston S Mare, Stockport, Barnsley, Sheffield - Crucible, Birmingham Rep, Stevenage, Stoke, Belfast. 5 years resident Director & Writer for Pantos at BMDS in Hamilton, Bermuda. |
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| VOICEOVER/CORPORATE | ||
| Simon's Cross | Everyman | BBC |
| 150 Winter Recpies | Good Morning | BBC |
| Newsreader | Crime Report | Tesco |
| Mr Cadbury | Waterside | Cadbury World |
| Voice-Over | Film | Dixons |
| Voice-Over | Film | British Rail/TJI |
| Voice-Over | Film | London Transport/TJI |
| Voice-Over | Film | Boots |
Plus hundreds of character voices in commercials for: Heart FM, BRMB & Capital Gold, Beacon Radio, Manx Radio, Sound & Picture House, Optical Image, Spotlight Advertising, WKMP Productions, etc.
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© Jonathan Owen MMIX/MMX