Owens went from childhood fascination with early projectors in his hometown of Pine Bluff to working with some of the most important figures such as Carl Laemmle of Universal Studios, William Fox of Fox Movietone, E. H. Griffith, and others in the early days of film making.
An inventor with over 11,000 ideas and 200 patents. It was Freeman Owens and not his employer Dr. Lee DeForest who devised a means to bring synchronized sound to motion pictures. He sold patents such as: A. C. Nielsen Rating System, plastic lens to Kodak, 16MM, 35MM, & 70MM cameras & projectors, slow motion cameras, 3-D, and many others.
A cinematographer/cameraman, he worked for movie studios such as Essanay, Selig Polyscope, IMP, and others. He worked with the stars of the early days of the motion picture industry; Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Gloria Swanson, Gilbert M. "Broncho Billy" Anderson, Francis X. Bushman, Wallace Beery, and others.
A daredevil adventurer, he filmed from the seat of open cockpit planes, from the middle of a hurricane and at news events all over the world.
A military photographer, he filmed "Flying With The Marines", "America's Answer", and immortalized "The Battle of Chateau Thierry".
Freeman Harrison Owens moved back to his old hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas in 1974 and died on December 9, 1979 at the age of 89.
CONTACT:
WGTG Productions, Inc.
P.O. Box 1694
Pine Bluff AR 71613-1694
E-mail:[email protected]
318-573-2561
(c)2004 WGTG Productions, Inc All Rights Reserved.
VIDEOS FOR SALE $29.95 EACH PLUS $4.50 S & H
ID1234 "Freeman Harrison Owens, The Man Who Made Motion Pictures Talk", 30 minutes. See information above.
ID1235 "Of Time And AR River", 30 minutes. It's about the first one hundred years of Pine Bluff, Arkansas' history.
ID1236 "Of Character And Characters", 30 minutes. Learn about the history of the homes in Pine Bluff and the people who lived in them.
ID1237 "The Band Museum", 30 minutes. See the collection of horns collected by curator Mr. Jerry Horne, the only one of its kind in the USA.
