Freeman Harrison Owens (July 20, 1890 – December 9, 1979) was an early American filmmaker and aerial photographer.
Biography
was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the only child of Charles H. Owens and Christabel Harrison. He attended Pine Bluff High School in Pine Bluff, but quit in his senior year to work at a local movie theatre as a projectionist.
In June 1923, DeForest began legal action against Owens alleging patent infringement. In 1924, Owens sold his patents for the Movietone sound-on-film process to Fox Film Corporation owner William Fox. In July 1926, Fox acquired the patents of Theodore Case (1888–1944) – and acquired the U.S. rights to the German Tri-Ergon patents – to create the FoxMovietonesound-on-film system.
Freeman Harrison Owens died on December 9, 1979, in Pine Bluff, at the age of 89, and is buried at Bellwood Cemetery in his hometown of Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in Pine Bluff on October 3, 2003, and was inducted into the Arkansas Walk of Fame in Hot Springs (Garland County) on December 6, 2003.