Simon Chilvers (born 5 April 1939) is an English-born,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
-based television actor.
Early life
Chilvers was born in London in 1939, and discovered art as a young child, drawing images of planes flying overhead during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
[
He attended ]Knox Grammar School
Knox Grammar School is an independent Uniting Church day and boarding school for boys, located in Wahroonga, New South Wales, an Upper North Shore suburb of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1924 by the Presbyterian Church of Australia as an all- ...
, in the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga
Wahroonga is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire. ...
, from 1949 to 1956. Upon leaving school, his parents encouraged him to pursue a career in advertising. Unenthused, he was instead inspired by his grandmother to attend an acting audition, where he was immediately offered a role.[
]
Career
Chilvers started off his career acting for the stage, at the Melbourne Theatre Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...
, playing roles In productions by Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 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 ...
, Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...
and Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...
.A Country Practice
''A Country Practice'' is an Australian television soap opera/serial which was broadcast on the Seven Network from 18 November 1981 until 22 November 1993, and subsequently on Network Ten from 13 April 1994 to 5 November 1994. Altogether, 14 ...
'', ''Prisoner
A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...
'', ''Homicide
Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...
'' and ''Division 4
''Division 4'' is an Australian television police drama series broadcast by the Nine Network and created by Crawford Productions airing between 1969 and 1975 for 301 episodes.
Synopsis
The series was one of the first to follow up on the enor ...
''.[ He also played the main role of Sergeant Julian Flicker in drama series '']Rafferty's Rules
''Rafferty's Rules'' is an Australian television drama series which ran from 1987 to 1991 on the Seven Network.
The producers of the series were Posie Graeme-Evans (1987–1988), and Denis Phelen. The directors were Graham Thorburn, Mike Sm ...
''.
Chilvers won the 1986 AFI Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Mini Series for his role in the miniseries '' The Dunera Boys''. He was nominated for the same award in 1988 for political miniseries '' True Believers'' (in which he played Doctor Evatt), and for the 1983 AFI Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for comedy-drama film '' Buddies''.
Chilvers' acting career was upended in 1996 when he was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...
, after experiencing an incident on stage. He gradually became less mobile and eventually his work was limited mostly to narration work in documentaries.[
]
Personal life
Chilvers and his wife Sally met at the ages of 43 and 21, respectively, while working together on a Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in the Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...
production of ''A Happy and Holy Occasion'' in 1982. Sally was the assistant manager on the production. After conducting a long distance relationship between Melbourne and Sydney, they moved into a flat together in Manly in 1986.[
Chilvers has resided in the ]Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
suburb of Fairlight Fairlight may refer to:
In places:
* Fairlight, East Sussex, a village east of Hastings in southern England, UK
* Fairlight, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia
* Fairlight, Saskatchewan, Canada
In other uses:
* Fairlight (company), ...
for 30 years.[
]
Awards and nominations
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
As actor
As director
Radio (partial credits)
References
External links
*
Biographical cuttings on Simon Chilvers, actor, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals
at the National Library of Australia.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chilvers, Simon
Australian male film actors
Australian male television actors
Living people
1939 births