Bill Homewood facts for kids

Bill Homewood is an English actor and singer. He has worked on television and stage. In the 1970s and 1980s, he was known for his roles in many BBC children's TV shows. Later, he became famous for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and in London's West End. He has also recorded many audiobooks and is a published poet.

Bill Homewood's Acting Career

Starting Out in Acting

After finishing his training, Bill Homewood joined the Sadler's Wells New Opera Company. He performed in operas and concerts. He also traveled around Britain, singing songs and playing the guitar.

His television career began on BBC Children's Television. He became a regular on popular shows like Watch, Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Saturday Superstore, and Rainbow.

He was often called "The Backwards Man" because he could speak and sing backwards! He showed this skill as the character Rongad in the BBC show The Adventure Game. For the BBC, he also played Blondel in The Talisman and Player King in Hamlet.

Voice Acting and Audiobooks

Bill Homewood has lent his voice to many radio dramas. He played Captain Hook in Peter Pan for PBS Radio in the US.

He has recorded many popular audiobooks for companies like Naxos. Some of these include Les Misérables, The Three Musketeers, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and The Man In The Iron Mask. His recording of The Count Of Monte Cristo is a very popular audiobook.

In 2016, he released an album called Great French Poems. On this album, he performs 35 classic poems. He reads each poem first in French, then in his own English translation.

Teaching and Academia

In 1979, Bill Homewood was made an Honorary Citizen of Austin, Texas, in the United States. He has also taught at several universities and drama schools.

He was a Visiting Fellow in Theatre at Lancaster University. He also served as the Dean of the British American Drama Academy. He was twice named Eminent Chair in Theatre at Florida Atlantic University.

In 1983, he started a special course at RADA (the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in London. This course focused on understanding and performing Shakespeare's plays.

Bill Homewood's Published Works

Bill Homewood is also a writer. His books include:

• Theatrical Letters (1995): This book shares 400 years of English-speaking theatre history through letters written by actors.
• Under The Blue – Selected Poems by Bill Homewood (2015): A collection of his poems.
• Poésies – Poèmes et Chansonnettes by Bill Homewood (2017): A collection of his poems and songs written in French.

He also translated Terre Des Hommes (which means "Land Of Men") by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This translation was released as an audiobook in 2016. He has also written many screenplays and plays. One of his plays was Kafka's The Trial, which was first performed in London in 1993.