Hywel Simons (born 10 February 1970) is a British

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

from

Porthcawl Porthcawl () is a town and community in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales. It is located on the south coast, west of Cardiff and south-east of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the South ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Born in

, he was brought up in

. He started acting while a pupil at Porthcawl Comprehensive School, before he went on to study at

LAMDA The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

. Simons first TV role came soon after graduation in 1993, as

oil rig An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that Drilling, drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construc ...

worker Wilf Granelli in '' Roughnecks.'' He is known for playing the role of Sergeant Craig Gilmore in the long running

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

drama ''

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 ...

''. Simons can also be seen in two episodes of ''

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (TV series), a British radio and then television series ** '' Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album ''Second ...

,'' where he plays Glynn, a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

featured in scenes about Dafydd Thomas (A homosexual with homophobic tendencies who believes he is the "only gay in the village"). Hywel Simons also made an appearance in the TV series Dreamland in 2023. He also appears in BBC’s Wolf. Simons married actress

Sarah Tansey Sarah Victoria M Tansey (born 1971) is a British actress. She had a role in '' Heartbeat'' as pharmacist Jenny Merton (née Latimer) who was brought in to help Dr Summerbee (Clare Calbraith) in the Aidensfield surgery. When Dr Summerbee was kil ...

in August 2005. He enjoys

wood carving Wood carving (or woodcarving) is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculpture, ...

, using a

lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, threading and turning, with tools that are applied to the w ...

to make bowls out of pieces of wood he finds on beaches.

References

External links

* 1970 births Living people 20th-century Welsh male actors 20th-century British actors 21st-century Welsh male actors 21st-century British actors Actors from Neath Welsh television actors British television actors British male soap opera actors Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Actors from Porthcawl Male actors from Bridgend County Borough {{UK-tv-actor-1970s-stub