SIMON CALLOW

'Simon Philip Hugh Callow,' CBE (born June 15, 1949^[1]) is an English stage, film and television actor. He was born in Streatham, London, England to Neil Francis Callow (British) and Yvonne Mary Guise (French) and was raised in the Roman Catholic faith of his mother. He studied at the Queen's University of Belfast before giving up his degree course to go into acting at the Drama Centre, London.
He was already a successful stage actor before making his film debut in a minor role in ''Amadeus'' in 1984 (having played Mozart in the original stage production at the Royal National Theatre).
His first TV role was in ''Carry On Laughing'' episode ''Orgy and Bess'', in 1975, but it was apparently cut from the final print. He starred in several series of the Channel 4 situation comedy, ''Chance in a Million'', as Tom Chance, an eccentric individual to whom coincidences happened regularly. Roles like this and his part in ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' brought him a wider audience than his many critically acclaimed stage appearances.
At the same time, he was successful both as a director and as a writer. His ''Being An Actor'' (1984) was a critique of 'director dominated' theatre, in addition to containing autobiographical sections relating to his early career as an actor. At a time when subsidised theatre in the UK was under severe pressure from the Thatcher government, the work's original appearance caused a minor controversy.
In 1995 he directed a stage version of the classic French film ''Les Enfants du Paradis'' (known as ''Children of Paradise'' in the United States) for the RSC. Unfortunately, the production was not a success. Callow has also directed opera productions.
One of Callow's best-known books is ''Love Is Where It Falls'', a poignant analysis of his eleven-year relationship with Peggy Ramsay (1908-91), a prominent British theatrical agent from the 1960s to the 1980s. He has also written extensively about Charles Dickens, whom he has played in a one-man show on stage, ''The Mystery of Charles Dickens'', in the film '', and on television several times, including in "The Unquiet Dead", a 2005 episode of the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who''.
He appeared with Saeed Jaffrey in 1994 British television series ''Little Napoleons''. In 2004, he appeared on a Comic Relief episode of ''Little Britain'' for charity causes. In 2006, he wrote a piece for the BBC1 programme ''This Week'' bemoaning the lack of characters in modern politics.
He has starred as Count Fosco, the villain of ''Wilkie Collins's novel ''The Woman in White'', in film (1997) and on stage (2005, in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical in the West End).
In December 2004, he hosted the London Gay Men's Chorus' Christmas Show, ''Make the Yuletide Gay'' at the Barbican Centre in London. He is currently one of the Patrons of the Michael Chekhov Studio London.
Callow narrated the audio book of Robert Fagles' 2006 translation of Virgil's ''The Aeneid''.
Simon Callow was also the reader of “The Twits” and “The Witches” in the Puffin Roald Dahl Audio Books Collection (ISBN 978-0-140-92255-4)
Callow is one of the most prominent gay actors in Britain. In 1999, he was awarded the CBE for his services to acting. He has also written biographies of Orson Welles and Charles Laughton.

Contents

Selected filmography

Filmography

Television

External links

References

Selected filmography

Filmography

'Year'	'Title'	'Role'	'Other notes'
1984	''Amadeus''	''Emanuel Schikaneder/Papageno''
1985	''The Good Father''	''Mark Varda''
	''A Room with a View''	''The Reverend Mr. Beebe''	Merchant Ivory Film
1987	''Maurice''	''Mr. Ducie''	Merchant Ivory Film
1988	''Manifesto''	''Police Chief Hunt''
1990	''Postcards from the Edge''	''Simon Asquith''
	''Mr. & Mrs. Bridge''	''Dr. Alex Sauer''	Merchant Ivory Film
1991	''The Ballad of the Sad Cafe''	''director only''	Merchant Ivory Film
1991	''Howards End''	''Music and Meaning Lecturer'' (cameo)	Merchant Ivory Film
1992	''Soft Top Hard Shoulder''	''Eddie Cherdowski''
1994	''Four Weddings and a Funeral''	''Gareth''
	''Street Fighter''	''A.N. Official''
1995	''England, My England''	''Charles II''
	''Victory''	''Zangiacomo''
	''Jefferson in Paris''	''Richard Cosway''	Merchant Ivory Film
	''	''Vincent Cadby''
1996	''James and the Giant Peach''	''Grasshopper (voice)''
1998	''The Scarlet Tunic''	''Captain Fairfax''
	''Bedrooms and Hallways''	''Keith''
	''Shakespeare in Love''	''Sir Edmund Tilney''
1999	''Around the World in 80 Days''	''Phileas Fogg (voice)''
	''Junk''
2001	''No Man's Land''	''Soft''
2002	''Thunderpants''	''Sir John Osgood''
	''Merci Docteur Rey''	''Bob''	Merchant Ivory Film
2003	''Bright Young Things''	''King of Anatolia''
2004	''George and the Dragon''	''King Edgar''
	''The Phantom of the Opera''	''Andre''
2005	''Rag Tale''	''Fat Boy''
	''The Civilization of Maxwell Bright''	''Mr. Wroth''
2006	''Sabina''	''Eugene Bleuler''
2007	''Chemical Wedding''	''Professor Haddo/Aleister Crowley''

Television

★ ''Chance in a Million'' (1984)

★ ''Dead Head'' (1986)

★ ''Little Napoleons'' (1994)

★ ''Angels in America'' (2003)

★ ''Shoebox Zoo'' (2004) (voice)

★ ''Doctor Who'' - The Unquiet Dead (2005) (as Charles Dickens)

★ ''Rome'' (2005)

★ ''Derren Brown'' - Trick or Treat: Episode 4 (2007) (as Guest)

External links

★

★

★ Simon Callow - ''Downstage Center'' interview at American Theatre Wing.org, September 2006

★ Simon Callow on BBC1's ''This Week''

References

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