Simon Gipps-Kent
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Simon Gipps-Kent (born Simon Trevor Kent; 25 October 1958 – 16 September 1987) was a prolificAlistair D. McGown & Mark J. Dochert
''The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia''
British Film Institute, 2003, p. 97. 20th-century
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
and film
actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
in the 1970s–80s, noted for his teenage portrayals of British royalty and
nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...
.Profile
RememberingBrandon.net; accessed 27 October 2015. He was born into a show business family in Kensington, London. His television debut was on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 1971 followed with a London
West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...
debut in 1972. He continued to act on stage, film and television until the year before his death in 1987.


Early life and education

Simon Trevor Kent was born in London to Peter Gipps Kent, a variety artist, and Sonia (née Aebersold) Kent, a dancer. At age 12 he decided acting would be his career. As a youth he attended the Ladbroke Grove School in West London where he wrote, produced, directed and acted in his own play as a way of gaining recognition. Brought up as a Catholic, he attended the London Oratory School in Brompton from September 1970 to June 1974, moving to Cardinal Manning Roman Catholic Boys' School, also in London.


Theatre

Simon Gipps-Kent, as he would later call himself, had early experience on the British stage that, according to his talent agency listings, included alternately playing one of the royal children (either Prince Bertie or Prince Alfie) in ''
I and Albert ''I and Albert'' is a 1972 musical by composer Charles Strouse, and lyricist Lee Adams. The plot is based on the lives of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and was adapted for the stage by Jay Presson Allen. P ...
'' at the
Piccadilly Theatre The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, London, England. Early years Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A. Stone ...
in 1972–73 and as Max-Ernst Von Kellig in '' A Lesson in Blood and Roses'' headlining with
Ben Kingsley Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Pandit Bhanji; 31 December 1943) is an English actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning five decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Grammy Award, and tw ...
at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1973. He appeared in the production '' Fantastic Fairground'' at the Young Vic in 1974 and a Young Vic tour of '' Macbeth'', playing
Fleance Fleance (also spelled Fléance, ) is a figure in legendary Scottish history. He was depicted by 16th-century historians as the son of Lord Banquo, Thane of Lochaber, and the ancestor of the kings of the House of Stuart. Fleance is best known a ...
, in Mexico and Spain in 1975. Gipps-Kent played "Emmanuel" to
Herbert Lom Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. In a career lasting more than 60 ye ...
's
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
in
William Douglas-Home William Douglas Home (3 June 1912 – 28 September 1992) was a British dramatist and politician. Early life Douglas-Home (he later dropped the hyphen from his surname) was the third son of Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home, and Lady Lili ...
's ''Betzi'' at the Haymarket Theatre and road tour in 1975. In 1976–77 he appeared in ''
Where the Rainbow Ends ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' is a children's play, originally written for Christmas 1911 by Clifford Mills and John Ramsey. The incidental music was composed by Roger Quilter. ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' is a fantasy story which follows the journe ...
'' at the Gardner Theatre, Brighton. Gipps-Kent, in a 1979 newspaper interview headlined ''Simon's Problem Is Time'', expressed his desire to move on to adult roles, including more
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
, but in spite of his accumulated credentials to date, had been denied those opportunities. Due to his "boyish good looks and modest figure", he found himself playing younger characters than his real age, mostly on British television, for the majority of his career. Gipps-Kent later returned to West End theatre work in the 1981 run of Romulus Linney's ''
Childe Byron ''Childe Byron'' is a 1977 play by Romulus Linney about the strained relationship between the poet, Lord Byron, and his daughter, Ada Lovelace. Of Linney's more than sixty plays, ''Childe Byron'' is one he identified as holding a "deeply persona ...
'' at the Young Vic with
David Essex David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. Since the 1970s, he has attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. Internationally, Essex had the most ...
as
Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...
.Theatre Special Collections
University of Kent; accessed 27 October 2015. For five months in 1983 he appeared in the London Shakespeare Group's productions of ''Betrayal'' and ''
Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
'', which also played a short season at the
Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...
and toured extensively for the
British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...
in China, Japan and throughout the Far East, Middle East and Africa. Gipps-Kent appeared in a
Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...
stage and road tour production of Sue Townsend's ''
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ ''The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾'' is the first book in the Adrian Mole series of comedic fiction, written by Sue Townsend. The book is written in a diary style, and focuses on the worries and regrets of a teenager who believes h ...
'' from 1984 to 1986 as the character "''Barry'' ''Kent''".Theatricalia: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4
accessed 20 May 2018.


Television and films

Gipps-Kent's first television appearance was at age 13 in
Philip Saville Philip Saville (28 October 1927 – 22 December 2016) was a British director, screenwriter and former actor whose career lasted half a century. The British Film Institute's Screenonline website described Saville as "one of Britain's most prolifi ...
's 1971 '' O Fat White Woman'' for BBC's '' Play for Today'', in a story by
William Trevor William Trevor Cox (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016), known by his pen name William Trevor, was an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded as one of th ...
of a teacher who takes pleasure in abusing his students."O Fat White Woman"
British Film Institute; accessed 27 October 2015. He returned to ''Play for Today'' in 1974 in ''After the Solo''. He appeared as the bookworm orphan Peter Beresford in the 1972–73 BBC adaptation of
Noel Streatfeild Mary Noel Streatfeild Order of the British Empire, OBE (24 December 1895 –11 September 1986) was an English author, best known for children's books including the "Shoes" books, which were not a series (though some books made references to ...
's 1970
children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
'' Thursday's Child''. At age 15 he headlined as the preteen orphan Stephen in the BBC television adaptation of
M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...
' ''
Lost Hearts "Lost Hearts" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, originally published in 1895. It was later collected in his 1904 book '' Ghost Stories of an Antiquary''. Plot summary The tale tells the story of Stephen Elliott, a young orphan boy, ...
'', first broadcast on Christmas Day 1973, as part of the ''
A Ghost Story for Christmas ''A Ghost Story for Christmas'' is a strand of annual British short television films originally broadcast on BBC One between 1971 and 1978, and revived sporadically by the BBC since 2005. With one exception, the original instalments were direc ...
'' series and now preserved in the
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...
(BFI) collection. In 1974 Gipps-Kent appeared in " The Doomsday Men" episodes of the children's science fiction television series ''
The Tomorrow People ''The Tomorrow People'' is a British children's science fiction television series created by Roger Price. Produced by Thames Television for the ITV Network, the series first ran from 30 April 1973 to 19 February 1979. The theme music was ...
'' and played young Pip (to
Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...
's adult Pip) in a
made-for-TV A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
retelling of the
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
novel '' Great Expectations'' for the ''Bell System Family Theatre'', airing in the United States on 22 November 1974.''Great Expectations (1974)''
nytimes.com; accessed 30 October 2015. In 1974, in a film for the then
Children's Film Foundation The Children's Film Foundation (CFF) was a non-profit organisation which made films for children in the United Kingdom originally to be shown as part of childrens' Saturday morning matinée cinema programming. The films typically were about 55 ...
, he starred in '' The Firefighters'' as a "junior firefighter" accused of arson who must, with the aid of his younger brother and sister, prove his innocence and find the real arsonists before his court appearance.''The Firefighters''
bfi.org.uk; accessed 27 October 2015. That production and the entire CFF archive are now curated by the BFI. Also in 1975, he appeared in ''
Edward the Seventh ''Edward the Seventh'' is a 1975 British historical drama series, made by ATV in 13 episodes. Based on the biography of King Edward VII by Philip Magnus, it starred Annette Crosbie as Queen Victoria, Timothy West as the elder Edward VII, w ...
'', again portraying young Prince Edward ("Bertie"), this time for ITV. For a time he also played Kenton Archer in the BBC radio serial ''
The Archers ''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural sett ...
''. Gipps-Kent starred in ''A Traveller in Time'' (1978), a BBC series based on the children's book by Alison Uttley about the
Babington Plot The Babington Plot was a plan in 1586 to assassinate Queen Elizabeth I, a Protestant, and put Mary, Queen of Scots, her Catholic cousin, on the English throne. It led to Mary's execution, a result of a letter sent by Mary (who had been imp ...
, and in "V for Victory", an episode of the TV series '' Enemy at the Door''. Also in 1978, he was featured in episodes of ''
The Devil's Crown ''The Devil's Crown'' is a BBC television series which dramatised the reigns of three medieval Kings of England: Henry II and his sons Richard I and John. It is also known as ''La couronne du Diable'' in French. The series was written by Jack ...
'' as Arthur I, Duke of Brittany and played the part of "Willie" in
Peter McDougall Peter McDougall (born 1947, Greenock, Scotland) is a Scottish television playwright whose major success was in the 1970s. McDougall claims to have had very little schooling and to rarely read books, He began his working life at the age of fourte ...
's supernatural drama '' Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man'', both for the BBC. Gipps-Kent had the uncredited speaking part of a posh party boy in ''
Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, Whil ...
'' (1979), based loosely on the 1973
rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
of the same name by
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
and appeared in the ''
Doctor Who (season 17) The seventeenth season of British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' began on 1 September 1979 with the story '' Destiny of the Daleks'', and ended with '' The Horns of Nimon''. This was Graham Williams' final series producing Doc ...
'' story "
The Horns of Nimon ''The Horns of Nimon'' is the fifth and final broadcast serial of the 17th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 22 December 1979 to 12 January 1980. I ...
". Gipps-Kent headlined in two Southern Television serials based on books written by British children's authors; ''Midnight is a Place'' (1977), by
Joan Aiken Joan Delano Aiken (4 September 1924 – 4 January 2004) was an English writer specialising in supernatural fiction and children's alternative history novels. In 1999 she was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature. For ''The ...
, and ''Noah's Castle'' (1980), by
John Rowe Townsend John Rowe Townsend (19 May 1922 – 24 March 2014) was a British children's writer and children's literature scholar. His best-known children's novel is ''The Intruder'', which won a 1971 Edgar Award. His best-known academic work is a reference s ...
. As "Chad Boyer", he reunited with ''Devil's Crown'' actor
John Duttine John Arthur Duttine (born 15 March 1949) is an English actor noted for his roles on stage, films and television. He is well known for his role as Sgt George Miller in '' Heartbeat'' and also Bill Masen in the TV series ''The Day of the Triffid ...
in his BBC series '' To Serve Them All My Days'' (1980), based on the R. F. Delderfield novel. Also in 1980, his appearance in
Jill Gascoine Jill Viola Gascoine (11 April 1937 – 28 April 2020) was an English actress and novelist. She portrayed Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series '' The Gentle Touch'' and its spin-off series '' C.A.T.S. Eyes''. In the ...
's ITV series ''
The Gentle Touch ''The Gentle Touch'' is a British police drama television series made by London Weekend Television for ITV which began on 11 April 1980 and ran until 1984. The series is notable for being the first British series to feature a female police of ...
'' paired him with soon-to-be pop star Limahl. Gipps-Kent was "Rudkin the Messenger" in the never-broadcast pilot episode for the Rowan Atkinson comedy series ''
The Black Adder ''The Black Adder'' is the first series of the BBC sitcom ''Blackadder'', written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, directed by Martin Shardlow and produced by John Lloyd. The series was originally aired on BBC 1 from 15 June 1983 to 20 ...
'' in 1982. That same year Gipps-Kent guest-starred in a series 4 episode of the popular British children's programme ''
Metal Mickey Metal Mickey is a fictional five-foot-tall robot, as well as the name of a spin-off television show starring the same character. The robot character was created, controlled and voiced by Johnny Edward. The character of Metal Mickey first appe ...
''. He was a series regular on ''
Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
'' in the 80s, playing numerous historic and fictional characters, such as J.P. Knight, with other series regulars like
Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...
.''Eureka , Radio Times''
genome.ch.bbc.co.uk; accessed 09 January 2018.


Death

Simon Gipps-Kent died in his flat on Cavendish Road in the London Borough of Brent on 16 September 1987. His funeral was held on 28 September at the
Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...
. His body was cremated there and his ashes were later scattered on the Crocus Lawn, Section 3H. A
coroner's inquest A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within the coroner's jur ...
held on 14 January 1988 ruled his death as misadventure caused by
morphine Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...
poisoning, the death certificate being registered the following day.Simon Trevor Gipps-Kent death certificate/Registered January 15, 1988.


Filmography


References


External links

*
Simon Gipps-Kent at the British Film Institute
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gipps-Kent, Simon 1958 births 1987 deaths People educated at London Oratory School 20th-century English male actors Male actors from London English male child actors English male stage actors English male Shakespearean actors English male film actors English male television actors English male radio actors English Roman Catholics Accidental deaths in England Drug-related deaths in England Golders Green Crematorium