Tribute date for comedy legend

Jun 5 2002 By Andrew Baldwin, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Bill Owen: Plaque to be unveiled

A PLAQUE is to be unveiled in memory of Last Of The Summer Wine actor Bill Owen.

Stars from the hit series - filmed in Holmfirth - will gather for the ceremony.

The Comic Heritage blue plaque is to be unveiled at the BBC Television Centre in Wood Lane, London, at the end of next month.

Bill Owen played Compo in the series for 26 years, becoming a British comedy icon.

He died in 1999, losing his fight against cancer just a few days after leaving France, where he had been involved in filming a Last Of The Summer Wine millennium special.

The tribute plaque will be unveiled on July 28 by his son Tom, who was signed on for a part in the TV programme after his father's death.

The ceremony is being organised by the Heritage Foundation, whose aim is to pay tribute to British talent.

It raises money for good causes through its charity, the Arts and Entertainment Charitable Trust.

Also at the unveiling will be Alan J Bell, producer of Last Of The Summer Wine, writer Roy Clarke and cast members Peter Sallis, Frank Thornton and Jean Fergusson.

Other members of the team will also be there, along with other celebrities.

The ceremony will be followed by a lunch, which will include a cabaret and a memorabilia auction, at London's Grosvenor Park Hotel.