Name
Simon Callow
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1949-06-13 (77 years old)
Place of Birth
Streatham, London, England, UK
Biography
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow CBE (born 15 June 1949) is an English actor. Known as a character actor on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Olivier Award and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to acting by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999.
Callow rose to prominence originating the title role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 1979 Peter Shaffer play Amadeus, for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination. Callow joined the Miloš Forman 1984 film adaptation, this time portraying Emanuel Schikaneder. In 1992, Callow won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director of a Musical for Carmen Jones. As an actor, he won acclaim for his comedic roles in A Room with a View (1985) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) earning a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination for each. Other notable roles include in Maurice (1987), Howards End (1992), Shakespeare in Love (1998), and The Phantom of the Opera (2004).
His television roles include Tom Chance in the Channel 4 series Chance in a Million (1984) and The Duke of Sandringham in the series Outlander from 2014 to 2016. He portrayed Napoleon in The Man of Destiny (1981), and Charles Dickens in numerous television projects. He has also appeared on numerous shows such as Midsomer Murders, Rome, Angels in America, Doctor Who, Galavant, Hawkeye, and The Witcher.
Callow was born on 15 June 1949 in Streatham, South London, the son of Yvonne Mary (née Guise), a secretary and Neil Francis Callow, a businessman. His father was of French descent and his mother was of Danish and German ancestry. His father left when Simon was 18 months old, and he was brought up by his mother and grandmothers. He and his mother travelled to Northern Rhodesia (now called Zambia) when he was nine to try and reconcile with his father. This did not happen and Callow was sent for three years to boarding school in South Africa. He and his mother returned to Britain when he was twelve. He was raised as a Catholic. Callow was a student at the London Oratory School in West Brompton, and then went on to study briefly at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, where he was active in the gay liberation movement.[5] He gave up his degree course after a year to take a three-year acting course at the Drama Centre London.
He made his first film appearance in 1984 as Schikaneder in Amadeus. The following year, he appeared as the Reverend Mr Beebe in A Room with a View. His first television role was in the Carry On Laughing episode "Orgy and Bess" in 1975, but it was 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 to a wider audience. Callow portrayed Pliny the Elder in CBBC's 2007 children's drama series, Roman Mysteries in the episode "The Secrets of Vesuvius". He played Armand Duquesne in Marvel's Hawkeye on Disney+.
Known For
7.263
London bookstore owner William Thacker's quiet life turns upside down when a chance encoun...
6.3
Summoned from an ashram in Tibet, Ace finds himself on a perilous journey into the jungles...
4.678
Colonel Guile and various other martial arts heroes fight against the tyranny of dictator ...
6.772
Over the course of five social occasions, a committed bachelor must consider the notion th...
5.8
Five months following the murders, Christopher Robin struggles to maintain a regular life ...
7.27
A young soprano becomes the obsession of a disfigured and murderous musical genius who liv...
7
A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of moder...
- 1984 Amadeus as Emanuel Schikaneder
- 1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral as Gareth
- 1996 James and the Giant Peach as Grasshopper (voice)
- 1998 Shakespeare in Love as Tilney
- 2010 Save Our Bacon as The Swinesbury's Boss (voice)
- 2004 George and the Dragon as King Edgar
- 1986 A Room with a View as The Reverend Mr. Beebe
- 2011 Ice as Prime Minister
- 1990 Postcards from the Edge as Simon Asquith
- 2015 Creditors
- 1994 Street Fighter as A. N. Official
- 1987 Maurice as Mr. Ducie
- 1995 Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls as Vincent Cadby
- 2005 The Best Man as Big-Time Publisher
- 2004 The Phantom of the Opera as Andre
- 2007 Arn: The Knight Templar as Father Henry
- 2021 The Amazing Mr. Blunden as Mr. Blunden
- 2001 Christmas Carol: The Movie as Charles Dickens / Ebenezer Scrooge (voice)
- 2014 Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2008 Chemical Wedding as Haddo
- 1996 Victory as Zangiacomo
- 1985 The Good Father as Mark Varda
- 2021 Alexander Pope: Rediscovering a Genius as Alexander Pope
- 2016 There's Something About Romcoms as Self
- 2022 Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye
- 2013 The Sarah Millican Television Programme - Best of Series 1-2 as Self
- 2024 It's Christmas! as Samuel
- 1998 The Scarlet Tunic as Captain Fairfax
- 2011 Late Bloomers as Richard
- 2002 The Mystery of Charles Dickens as Charles Dickens
- 1990 Mr. & Mrs. Bridge as Dr. Alex Sauer
- 2017 Grindsploitation 3: Video Nasty
- 2022 American: An Odyssey to 1947 as Self
- 1996 Moses as Meneptah II (voice)
- 2009 Theatreland as Self
- 1988 Manifesto as Police Chief Hunt
- 2024 Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 as Cavendish
- 1991 The Trials of Oz as John Mortimer
- 2005 Revisiting Brideshead as Narrator
- 2011 The British Guide to Showing Off as Self
- 2023 Surprised by Oxford as Dr. Sterling
- 2014 Miss in Her Teens as The Author
- 2002 Thunderpants as Sir John Osgood
- 2023 Murder Ballads: How to Make It in Rock 'n' Roll as Richard O'Keefe
- 2024 Merchant Ivory as Self
- 2000 Around The World In 80 Days as Phileas Fogg (voice)
- 2008 Maggie Smith at the BBC: a portrait as Self
- 2005 A Tribute To Ismail Merchant as Self (archive footage)
- 2022 The Fringe, Fame and Me as Self
- 2026 Eternal Return as Malcolm
- 1987 Cariani and the Courtesans as Raimondi
- 1995 Jefferson in Paris as Richard Cosway
- 1987 The Reluctant Dragon as Dragon (voice)
- 2023 Dodger Special: Coronation as Archbishop of Canterbury
- 2005 The Civilization of Maxwell Bright as Mr. Wroth
- 2022 The Pay Day as Gates
- 2012 Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story as Dickie Attenborough
- 1993 Femme Fatale as Vicar Ronnie
- 2002 Galileo’s Battle for the Heavens as Galileo
- 2022 Judi Dench: Our National Treasure as Narrator
- 2007 Surveillance 24/7 as St John
- 2023 Doctor Jekyll as Journalist
- 2005 Bob the Butler as Mr. Butler
- 2003 Bright Young Things as King of Anatolia
- 1989 Revolutionary Witness as Franciscus Palloy
- 2014 Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles as Self - Actor and Welles' Biographer
- 2016 Golden Years as Royston
- 2017 Victoria & Abdul as Mr. Puccini
- 2014 The First Silent Night: The Christmas Carol That United the World as Self - Host - Narrator
- 1995 England, My England as Charles II
- 2017 Viceroy's House as Cyril Radcliffe
- 2003 Thank You, Doctor Rey as Bob
- 1998 Bedrooms and Hallways as Keith
- 1999 Notting Hill as Simon Callow (uncredited)
- 1992 Howards End as Music and Meaning Lecturer (uncredited)
- 2017 Hampstead as Judge
- 2011 Art of Freedom as Self
- 2016 Mindhorn as Himself
- 1995 El pasajero clandestino as Major Owens
- 2000 Deadly Appearances as Rick Spencer
- 2012 Acts of Godfrey as Godfrey
- 2005 Rag Tale as Cormac Rourke
- 2018 Blue Iguana as Uncle Martin
- 2017 The Man Who Invented Christmas as Leech
- 1991 The Crucifer of Blood as Inspector Lestrade
- 2007 How Gay Sex Changed the World as Self
- 2001 No Man's Land as Colonel Soft
- 1990 Old Flames as Nathanial Quass
- 2006 The Curse of King Tut's Tomb as George Russell
- 2017 50 Years Legal as Self
- 2018 The Dead Room as Aubrey Judd
- 2011 Love's Kitchen as Guy Witherspoon
- 2006 Men of Mystery as Himself
- 2006 Reviving Harry Lime as Himself
- 2018 A Christmas Carol
- 2018 They'll Love Me When I'm Dead as Self
- 1985 Honour, Profit & Pleasure as George Frideric Handel
- 1997 The Woman In White as Count Fosco
- 2006 The Madness of Boy George as Narrator (voice)
- 2010 The Unforgettable Harry Secombe as Self
- 2009 Orson Welles Over Europe as Self - Presenter
- 1979 Instant Enlightenment Including VAT as Maximillian
- 1981 The Man of Destiny as Napoleon
- 1993 Soft Top Hard Shoulder as Eddie Cherdowski
- 2012 Being Shakespeare
- 2012 Shakespeare's Sonnets
- 2020 Nutcracker Delights: English National Ballet as Narrator
- 2000 Animated Epics: Don Quixote as Don Quixote
- 2007 Ripley Under Ground as Dean Bentliffe
- 1996 An Audience with Charles Dickens as Charles Dickens
- 1993 Camp Christmas
- 2024 Alec Guinness: A Class Act as self
- 2022 The Marvellous Maggie Smith: A Celebration as Self
- 2024 Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration as Self
- 1984 Royal Variety Performance 1984
- 2017 Born Silly as Narrator (voice)
- 1986 The Christmas Tree as Jacob Weinberg
- 2006 Phantom of the Opera: Behind the Mask as Self
- 2026 The Man with the Plan as William Beveridge
- Soon The Reformation of Sister Edith as Abbot Pentecost
- 2025 Amadeus: The Making of a Masterpiece as Himself
- 2024 Aguska as Patrick Carter
- 2004 Shoebox Zoo ( 26 episodes ) as Wolfgang the Wolf (voice) / Hunter the Horse (voice)
- 1975 The Sweeney ( 1 episode ) as Detective Sergeant
- 1984 Chance in a Million ( 18 episodes ) as Tom Chance
- 2007 The Company ( 3 episodes ) as MI6 liaison officer Elihu
- 2001 Don't Eat the Neighbours ( 26 episodes )
- 2003 Angels in America ( 0 episode ) as Prior 2
- 1989 Agatha Christie's Poirot ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Lutz
- 2021 The Cleaner ( 1 episode ) as Mr. Abahassine
- 2011 Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags ( 3 episodes ) as Narrator
- 1987 Acting ( 1 episode )
- 2007 Roman Mysteries ( 2 episodes ) as Pliny
- 2005 Doctor Who ( 2 episodes ) as Charles Dickens
- 2025 Étoile ( 8 episodes ) as Crispin Shamblee
- 1987 Inspector Morse ( 1 episode ) as Theodore Kemp
- 1991 Performance ( 1 episode ) as John Mortimer
- 1974 NOVA ( 1 episode ) as Galileo
- 2017 Tate Britain's Great Art Walks ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2011 Ice ( 2 episodes ) as Prime Minister
- 2013 Plebs ( 1 episode )
- 2007 Derren Brown: Trick or Treat ( 1 episode ) as Himself
- 2014 Outlander ( 5 episodes ) as Duke of Sandringham
- 2021 Hawkeye ( 1 episode ) as Armand Duquesne III
- 2019 The Witcher ( 2 episodes ) as Codringher
- 2015 Galavant ( 1 episode ) as Edwin the Magnificent
- 1996 Dennis the Menace and Gnasher ( 1 episode ) as Hugo Trenchfoot (voice)
- 2004 Agatha Christie's Marple ( 1 episode ) as Colonel Melchett
- 2013 A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley ( 3 episodes ) as Self
- 2006 The Curse of King Tut's Tomb ( 2 episodes ) as George Russell
- 1986 Dead Head ( 4 episodes ) as Hugo Silver
- 2002 Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale ( 2 episodes ) as Charles Dickens
- 2009 The Addictions of Sin: WH Auden in His Own Words ( 1 episode ) as Readings (voice)
- 2011 Death in Paradise ( 1 episode ) as Larry South
- 2022 Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors ( 6 episodes ) as Self - Narrator (voice)
- 2012 Them From That Thing ( 2 episodes ) as Various
- 1979 Question Time ( 1 episode ) as Himself - Panellist
- 2011 Jamie's Dream School ( 1 episode ) as Himself
- 2014 Inside No. 9 ( 1 episode ) as Dick
- 2008 Q&A ( 1 episode ) as Self - Panellist
- 1997 Midsomer Murders ( 1 episode ) as Dr. Wellow
- 1996 Testament: The Bible in Animation ( 1 episode ) as Meneptah (voice)
- 1999 Loose Women ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2010 Arn: The Knight Templar ( 2 episodes ) as Fader Henry
- 2016 The Rebel ( 9 episodes ) as Henry Palmer
- 1998 Parkinson ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2021 Classical Destinations: The Great Composers ( 8 episodes ) as narrator
- 2007 The Sarah Jane Adventures ( 2 episodes ) as Tree Blathereen (voice)
- 1967 Omnibus ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1984 Saturday Review ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1975 Carry On Laughing ( 1 episode ) as Crew Member
- 1986 David Copperfield ( 7 episodes ) as Wilkins Micawber
- 2024 The Boy That Never Was ( 4 episodes ) as Cozimo
- 1971 A Ghost Story for Christmas ( 1 episode ) as Aubrey Judd
- 1976 Victorian Scandals ( 1 episode ) as Duval
- 1994 Little Napoleons ( 4 episodes ) as Edward Feathers
- 2003 Angels in America ( 2 episodes ) as Prior Walter Ancestor #2 (uncredited)
- 2012 Playhouse Presents ( 1 episode ) as Dudley
- 2006 Great British Menu ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest Judge
- 1977 The Sunday Drama ( 1 episode ) as The Prince
- 1986 ScreenPlay ( 1 episode ) as Raimondi
- 1997 Trial & Retribution ( 2 episodes ) as Rupert Halliday
- 1985 Screen Two ( 1 episode ) as Nathanial Quass
- 1986 Split Screen ( 1 episode )
- 2007 British Film Forever ( 1 episode )
- 2007 Lewis ( 1 episode ) as Vernon Oxe
- 1997 The Woman In White ( 2 episodes ) as Count Fosco
- Soon The Northumbria Mysteries ( 8 episodes ) as David
- 2025 Bookish ( 3 episodes ) as E
