Josette Simon facts for kids

Josette Patricia Simon, OBE, is a British actor famous for her work on stage, in movies, and on television. She is well-known for playing Dayna Mellanby in the science fiction TV show Blake's 7 from 1980 to 1981.

Simon has had a long and successful career in the theatre. She has performed in over 50 plays with the famous Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). She was the first Black woman to play a leading role for the company. This happened in 1984 when she played Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost.

She is a leader in what is called colour-blind casting. This means casting the best actor for a role, no matter their race. She has played many parts that were traditionally given to white actors. For example, she played a character based on Marilyn Monroe in the play After the Fall.

For her amazing acting, Simon has won many awards. In 2000, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her contributions to drama.

Early Life and First Steps in Acting

Josette Patricia Simon was born in Leicester, England, in 1959 or 1960. Her parents moved to the United Kingdom from the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Anguilla in the 1950s.

Simon's interest in acting began when she was 14. She joined the choir for the first major production of the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in her hometown of Leicester. The famous actor Alan Rickman, who was also in the show, saw her talent. He encouraged her to apply to a top acting school, the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and she was accepted.

Acting Career

A Sci-Fi Star in Blake's 7

While still in drama school, Simon got the role of Dayna Mellanby in the BBC science fiction series Blake's 7. She played Dayna in the show's third and fourth seasons, from 1980 to 1981.

Her character, Dayna, was a skilled fighter and an expert with weapons. Simon brought a lot of energy and excitement to the role, making Dayna a memorable hero.

Breaking Barriers in the Theatre

Simon has performed many times with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and the Royal National Theatre, two of the most important theatre companies in the UK.

In 1982, she became the first Black woman to act in an RSC play. A few years later, in 1984, she made history again. She was cast as the lead character, Rosaline, in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. This was the first time a Black woman had played a main character for the RSC. Her performance was a huge success.

Simon became a pioneer of colour-blind casting. She believed that an actor's talent was more important than their race. She once said, "You're an actor, full stop." This idea allowed her to play a wide variety of roles, including many that had only been played by white actors before.

Famous Stage Roles

Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe at their wedding in 1956. Simon won several awards for playing a character in Miller's play After the Fall who is thought to be based on Monroe.

One of Simon's most celebrated roles was in the play After the Fall in 1990. The play was written by Arthur Miller, and Simon played Maggie, a character believed to be based on Miller's famous wife, Marilyn Monroe. For this role, Simon won three major Best Actress awards.

Other important stage roles for the RSC include:

• Isabelle in Measure for Measure (1987)
• Titania, the queen of the fairies, in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
• The powerful Egyptian queen Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra (2017)

Roles in Movies and Television

Besides her stage work, Simon has appeared in many movies and TV shows.

Her movie roles include Dr. Ramphele in Cry Freedom (1987) and Joanna in Milk and Honey (1988), where she played a nanny from Jamaica who moves to Canada. More recently, she appeared as Grams in the movie Detective Pikachu (2019).

On television, she has often played strong, intelligent characters. She has appeared as senior police officers in popular shows like Silent Witness (1998), Minder (2009), and Broadchurch (2017). In 2022, she played a defense lawyer in the series Anatomy of a Scandal.

Personal Life

Simon was married to the singer Mark Padmore. They have one daughter together and are now divorced, but they remain good friends.

She is involved with several charities. She and her dog, Milo, visit patients in hospitals as part of the Pets As Therapy charity. She also supports groups that help deaf people, including the Kaos Signing Choir for Deaf and Hearing Children. In her free time, Simon enjoys playing the saxophone and practicing yoga.

Honours and Awards

In 1995, the University of Leicester gave Simon an honorary Master of Arts degree. In 2000, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to drama.