David John Townsend (born 17 May 1943,

Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

), known professionally as David Simeon, is a British actor.

Career

David Simeon began his acting career after being accepted into

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

, the Rose Bruford College and the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

. Ultimately he chose the latter and completed his training in 1964. After years working in

rep and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

rep, Simeon began working extensively in theatre and television from the late 1960s. His first television role was as a murderer in ''

Sexton Blake Sexton Blake is a fictional British detective, whose adventures captivated readers for over eight decades from 1893 to 1978. Blake featured in more than 4,000 stories by approximately 200 different authors, making him one of the most prolifica ...

'', which Simeon puts down to his honest face being the reason for his casting. From this point he moved to London and continued working in theatre in between television roles, which by the early 1970s were becoming plentiful. Among these were small parts in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' serials '' Inferno'' (1970) and '' The Dæmons'' (1971), which Simeon now says despite his vast experience, "I’m now known as being in ''Doctor Who''". During the 1970s he secured guest roles in television series such as '' Paul Temple'', ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'', ''

Fawlty Towers ''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, originally broadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a dysfunctional fictional ...

'', '' The Pathfinders'' and '' The Liver Birds''. In 1973 he starred in his first major regular role as Detective Constable Mickey Finn in ''Hunter's Walk'', appearing in 38 episodes until 1976. From 1980 onwards he continued to gain further regular roles in television series ''

End of Part One ''End of Part One'' is a British television comedy sketch show written by David Renwick and Andrew Marshall; it was made by London Weekend Television. It ran for two series on ITV, from 1979 to 1980 and was an attempt at a TV version of '' ...

'' (1979–80) impersonating television personalities such as

Frank Muir Frank Herbert Muir (5 February 1920 – 2 January 1998) was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wr ...

and Derek Batey, '' Vice Versa'' (1981) as Mr Blinkhorn, ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' (December 1981) as sales rep Bobby Simpson - love interest of ''

Bet Lynch Elizabeth Theresa "Bet" Lynch (also Gilroy) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Played by Julie Goodyear, the character first appeared on screen during the episode airing on Monday 25 May 1966. Appear ...

'' & '' Mavis Riley'', ''The New Adventures of

Lucky Jim ''Lucky Jim'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel and won the 1955 Somerset Maugham Award for fiction. The novel follows the academic and romantic tribulations ...

'' (1982) as Philip Lassiter, ''

Jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

'' (1983) as David Farrell. He also appeared in several episodes of the hospital drama ''

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

''. In 1988 he had a role in the hit

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

film ''

A Fish Called Wanda ''A Fish Called Wanda'' is a 1988 heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and written by Crichton and John Cleese. It stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The film follows a gang of diamond thieves who double- ...

''. During the 1990s and 2000s he continued extensively in theatre and on television appearing in ''

'' as Gareth Bird, a hospital consultant in July 1998 , ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'', ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' and ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

''. He also secured another recurring role in '' Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married'' as Ken Kennedy between 1999 and 2000.

Personal life

Simeon married the actress Elizabeth Counsell (daughter of John Counsell and

Mary Kerridge Mary Kerridge (3 April 1914 – 22 July 1999) was an English actress and theatre director, who (with her husband, John Counsell) ran the Theatre Royal, Windsor and its in-house repertory company from the 1930s to the 1980s. Her daughter is ...

) in 1978 and had a son in 1979.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simeon, David English male stage actors English male television actors Living people Male actors from Wiltshire 1943 births Actors from Chippenham