Simon Callow facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Simon Callow CBE
Callow in 2009
Born	Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (1949-06-15) 15 June 1949 (age 76) Streatham, London, England
Occupation	Actor director author musician singer
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	Sebastian Fox ​ (m. 2016)​

Simon Phillip Hugh Callow is a famous English actor, director, and writer. He is well-known for playing interesting characters on stage and in movies. He has won several awards, including an Olivier Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 1999, Queen Elizabeth II made him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his great work in acting.

Simon Callow first became famous for playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the play Amadeus in 1979. He was even nominated for an Olivier Award for this role. Later, he appeared in the 1984 movie version of Amadeus, playing Emanuel Schikaneder. In 1992, he won an Olivier Award for directing the musical Carmen Jones.

He is also loved for his funny roles in movies like A Room with a View (1985) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). For both of these, he was nominated for a BAFTA Award. Some of his other notable movie roles include Maurice (1987), Howards End (1992), Shakespeare in Love (1998), and The Phantom of the Opera (2004).

On television, he played Tom Chance in the series Chance in a Million (1984) and The Duke of Sandringham in Outlander from 2014 to 2016. He has also played famous historical figures like Napoleon and Charles Dickens in various TV projects. You might have seen him in shows like Midsomer Murders, Rome, Doctor Who, Galavant, Hawkeye, and The Witcher.

Early Life and Education

Simon Callow was born on June 15, 1949, in Streatham, South London. His mother, Yvonne Mary, was a secretary, and his father, Neil Francis Callow, was a businessman. His father left when Simon was very young, and he was raised by his mother and grandmothers.

When he was nine, he traveled with his mother to Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) to try and reconnect with his father. This didn't work out, and Simon spent three years at a boarding school in South Africa. He and his mother returned to Britain when he was twelve. He attended the London Oratory School and later studied briefly at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland. He left university after a year to study acting at the Drama Centre London.

A Look at Simon Callow's Career

Becoming an Actor

Simon Callow's journey into acting began when he wrote a fan letter to Sir Laurence Olivier, a very famous actor and director. Olivier was in charge of the National Theatre at the time. Simon received a reply suggesting he work in their box office. While working there and watching actors rehearse, he realized he wanted to be on stage himself.

He made his first stage appearance in 1973 in a play called The Three Estates in Edinburgh. In the 1970s, he joined a theatre company and performed in several plays. In 1979, he played Mozart in the first performance of Amadeus at the National Theatre. He later said that he already loved Mozart's music, which might have helped him get the part.

Simon Callow has appeared in many different plays. In 2008, he performed William Shakespeare's sonnets in Canada. He also performed stories by Charles Dickens at the Edinburgh Festival. From 2009 to 2010, he played Pozzo in the famous play Waiting for Godot alongside Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. In 2010, he started touring with a one-man play about Shakespeare called Shakespeare: the Man from Stratford, which later became Being Shakespeare.

Simon Callow in Movies

Simon Callow's first film role was in 1984 as Schikaneder in Amadeus. The next year, he played the Reverend Mr Beebe in A Room with a View. His funny roles, like the one in Four Weddings and a Funeral, helped him become known to many more people.

He has also done voice work, like playing Mr Grasshopper in James and the Giant Peach (1996) and Ebenezer Scrooge in Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001). He played Pliny the Elder in the children's TV series Roman Mysteries in 2007. More recently, he appeared as Armand Duquesne in Marvel's Hawkeye on Disney+.

Directing and Writing

Besides acting, Simon Callow has also directed many plays and operas. He directed the musical My Fair Lady in 1992. In 1995, he directed a stage version of the classic French film Les Enfants du Paradis for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has directed operas like Così fan tutte and Die Fledermaus.

He is also a talented writer. One of his well-known books is Being An Actor (1984), where he shared his thoughts on acting and his early career. He has written several books about famous people like Oscar Wilde, Charles Laughton, Orson Welles, and Richard Wagner. He has also written a lot about Charles Dickens, whom he has played many times in films and on television, including in Doctor Who.

Simon Callow has also narrated many audiobooks, including The Twits and The Witches by Roald Dahl. He has also narrated books by P.G. Wodehouse and Virgil's The Aeneid.

Awards and Recognition

Simon Callow has received many honors for his contributions to acting. In 1999, he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II. This is a special award given to people who have made a big difference in their field. He has also won an Olivier Award for directing and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his acting in Shakespeare in Love.

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film Roles

Simon Callow's film credits with year of release, film titles and roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Amadeus	Emanuel Schikaneder / Papageno	Callow created the role of Mozart in the premiere stage production
1985	The Good Father	Mark Varda
	A Room with a View	The Reverend Mr Beebe	Nominated – BAFTA Film Award for Best Actor in a Supporting role
1987	Maurice	Mr Ducie
1988	Manifesto	Police Chief Hunt
1990	Postcards from the Edge	Simon Asquith
	Mr. & Mrs. Bridge	Dr Alex Sauer
1991	The Ballad of the Sad Cafe	N/A	Director Nominated – Golden Berlin Bear
1992	Howards End	Music and Meaning Lecturer	Cameo
	Soft Top Hard Shoulder	Eddie Cherdowski
1994	Four Weddings and a Funeral	Gareth	Nominated – BAFTA Film Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
	Street Fighter	A.N. Official
1995	England, My England	Charles II
	Jefferson in Paris	Richard Cosway	Fifth Merchant-Ivory film
	Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls	Vincent Cadby
1996	James and the Giant Peach	Mr Grasshopper	Voice role
	Victory	Zangiacomo
1998	The Scarlet Tunic	Captain Fairfax
	Bedrooms and Hallways	Keith
	Shakespeare in Love	Sir Edmund Tilney	Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1999	Around the World in 80 Days	Phileas Fogg	Voice role
	Junk	N/A
	Notting Hill	Himself	Uncredited film-within-a-film role
2001	No Man's Land	Colonel Soft
	Christmas Carol: The Movie	Ebenezer Scrooge	Voice role
2002	Thunderpants	Sir John Osgood
	Merci Docteur Rey	Bob
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 Rourke
	The Civilization of Maxwell Bright	Mr Wroth
	Bob the Butler	Mr Butler
2006	Sabina	Eugene Bleuler
2007	Chemical Wedding	Professor Haddo / Aleister Crowley
	Arn - The Knight Templar	Father Henry
2011	No Ordinary Trifle	Guy Witherspoon
2012	Acts of Godfrey	Godfrey
2014	Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles	Himself
2016	Golden Years	Royston
	Viceroy's House	Cyril Radcliffe
2017	Hampstead	The Judge
	Victoria & Abdul	Giacomo Puccini
	The Man Who Invented Christmas	John Leech
2018	Blue Iguana	Uncle Martin
2022	Surprised by Oxford	Dr Sterling
	The Pay Day	Gates
2023	Doctor Jekyll	Journalist
	Murder Ballads: How to Make It in Rock 'n' Roll	Richard O'Keefe
2024	Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2	Cavendish
TBA	Eternal Return	Malcolm	Post-production

Television Roles

See also

In Spanish: Simon Callow para niños