Born Roger Daniel Owens to ordained Baptist minister Ross W. Owens, Jr. and Italian registered nurse Mary N. DiRisio in 1943 in Glendale, California. Eldest of nine children. Owens family faced daunti ...Show More
Born Roger Daniel Owens to ordained Baptist minister Ross W. Owens, Jr. and Italian registered nurse Mary N. DiRisio in 1943 in Glendale, California. Eldest of nine children. Owens family faced daunting poverty from such a large family and little income that Roger's mother suffered a mental breakdown which sent her to live in a state mental hospital for seven years.Ross sent the siblings to foster homes in San Diego County. Roger and younger brother Philip endured two abusive foster homes before finding comfort in a sheriff's home. The five girls enjoyed a loving foster ranch for girls in Alpine, California. Roger's youngest brother was born while Mary was in the mental hospital and was taken away from her for three years. After three years, Roger convinced his father to reunite the Owens family. In 1956, 13 year old Roger had his family back together in Los Angeles again except for his mother who was still recovering and didn't join the family permanently until 1960. Soon after she became pregnant with their ninth child at the age of 45.Roger found work at a drug store, at a newspaper stand, and at a grocery store before finding work at the L.A. Coliseum at age 15 in 1958 when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved West to play baseball in Los Angeles. While growing up in rough parts of inner city Los Angeles, down the street from the Coliseum, Roger moved up the pecking order of soda, ice cream, and then peanuts in one year, a feat that would take beginning vendors 20 years to accomplish.Roger first gained attention for his trademark peanut bag tosses under the leg, behind the back, and two bags at at time to two different people at different seats - all with uncanny accuracy even for more than 30 rows - when he sent one behind his back to an impatient Dodger fan at the brand new ballpark in 1962. The only ones that sat up and took noticed and applauded him were those fans that day. But after 10 years of consistent hard work and showmanship, local news got wind of his unusual talent and by 1973 he was on his way to more than 30 years of game show appearances, "Tonight Show" appearances as well as news stories, TV roles, and even a bit role in a major motion picture.Roger's uncle was the famous singer songwriter Jack Owens, "The Cruising Crooner" who starred on radio shows in the 1930s and 1940s and wrote million selling songs such as "The Hukilau Song" by Don Ho among others and "How Soon?" by Bing Crosby. Jack Owens also had a 1950s TV show called "The Jack Owens Show." Owens also had his song writing publishing business located on present-day "Walk of Fame" in Hollywood.Roger's father Rev. Ross Owens was shot in a holdup that made headline in Nov. 1968. The bullet was stopped by a large wad of Gospel tracts stuffed in the minister's front coat pocket. The L.A. Times and Paul Harvey's KABC radio show covered the "miraculous" story.The following year, in June 1969, just seven years before his career-launching appearance with Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show," Roger himself was in a near fatal military jeep accident while finishing his last year of Army National Guard summer training in the Mojave Desert. Life-saving emergency brain surgery performed by Pres. Lyndon Johnson's personal neurosurgeon, Dr. Schorn, is what Roger had to endure, not to mention the nearly 3 day coma he had been in, and the loss of his sense of smell ever since then. His progress amazed the physicians and he went on to become the most celebrated peanut vendor of all time and of the great figures in Los Angeles Dodger history, a pitcher has pitched a perfect game every Dodger home game for the past 46 years.He has become associated with the finest that the Dodger organization has to offer including the best ballpark in baseball, the Dodger Dog, and of course Vin Scully. He has thrown peanuts at Pres. Carter's inaugural parties in 1977, has been flown to Japan's Yokohama Stadium, to Dallas Cowboy's Texas Stadium for 12 years in a row for Cowboy games benefiting Dallas youth charities, and was even the Peanut Advisory Board's National Spokesperson at one time. His approachable charm and fast wit holds a special place in the hearts of generations of Dodger fans just as much as his amazing and accurate peanut tosses. Hide
