Simon Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 26 December 1956, in

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between St ...

, England) is a writer and broadcaster. He contributes frequently to British newspapers, television and radio. He is also now a consultant and non-executive director of public and private organisations. Fanshawe was one of the founders of the LGBT charity Stonewall. He won the

Perrier Comedy Award The Dave's Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. ...

in 1989. In 2019, he became one of the supporters of the initialive that led to the formation of the

LGB Alliance The LGB Alliance is a British advocacy group founded in the UK in 2019, in opposition to the policies of LGBT rights charity Stonewall on transgender issues. Its founders were Bev Jackson, Kate Harris, Allison Bailey, Malcolm Clark and Ann Sin ...

Career

Fanshawe first came to public attention as a comedian in the early 1980s. In 1984, he appeared on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

comedy sketch/stand-up show ''The Entertainers'', which showcased up-and-coming comedy talent, and later that year appeared in his comedy act ''Three of a Different Kind'' at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

. Following a nomination in 1987, he later won the prestigious

in 1989. He had a stint as a presenter on the BBC television programme ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...

'' in 1990. Alongside working in comedy, Fanshawe has been a frequent contributor on a variety of subjects from arts to politics in newspapers and on many BBC radio and TV programmes. His BBC Radio 4 profile light-heartedly describes him as a "media tart". Fanshawe has been involved in many community and campaigning groups and public bodies – often as a board member. He led the successful campaign to make Brighton and Hove a city in 2000. He was the chairman of the board for the

Brighton Festival Fringe Brighton Fringe is an open-access arts festival held annually in Brighton, England. It is the largest annual arts festival in England and one of the largest fringe festivals in the world. The programme of 2018 included 1008 events at over 166 v ...

and is on the board of the

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. He founded and chaired the economic strategy body of his home town, The Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership. He was chairman of Brighton & Hove Local Radio Ltd from 1996 to 2000, when the company was acquired by Forever Broadcasting. In 2006, Fanshawe made the documentary ''The Trouble with Gay Men'', shown on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, cov ...

. Fanswhawe was a co-founder of the LGBT charity Stonewall. In 2007, Fanshawe presented the first programme in the

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. ...

's ''Building Britain'' series, concentrating his attentions on the key role of developers in making cities over the last two centuries. In 2017, Fanshawe presented the BBC documentary ''Brighton: 50 Years of Gay'' in which he examined the landmark

Sexual Offences Act 1967 The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1967 c. 60). It legalised homosexual acts in England and Wales, on the condition that they were consensual, in private and between two men who had attained th ...

, which decriminalised male homosexual acts in England and Wales, and its effect on the population of the City of Brighton. In 2019, he publicly broke with Stonewall due to their "intolerance of disagreement and discussion" and helped found the

later that year.

Personal life

Fanshawe was educated at two independent boarding schools: Chafyn Grove School in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in Wiltshire, and

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

in Wiltshire, followed by the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

near Brighton, where he studied law. He is now chair of the university's governing council. He was appointed

in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to higher education. Fanshawe lives in the

Kemp Town Kemp Town Estate, also known as Kemp Town, is a 19th-century Regency architecture residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England, UK. It consists of Arundel Terrace, Lewes Crescent, Sussex Square, Chichester Terrace, and ...

area of Brighton.

Newspapers and magazines

Fanshawe has contributed articles to the following publications: * ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' * ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper Sunday editions, published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group, Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. ...

'' * ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, wh ...

'' * ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' * ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' * '' Time Out'' * ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

Radio

Fanshawe has been a presenter or contributor on the following radio programmes: * ''

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

'' * Sunday Brunch * '' Fanshawe on Five'' * '' The Reference Library'' * '' Live From London'' * '' Fanshawe Gets to the Bottom Of...'' * '' Loose Ends'' * '' The Motion Show''

Television

* ''

'', a BBC television light entertainment series. A humour contributor, for one series only, in 1990. * '' Thames Roadshow'' * ''

Cabaret at the Jongleurs Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often di ...

'' * ''Brighton: 50 Years of Gay'' (2017)

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

Fanshawe's website

Official site for ''The Done Thing''

Blog
for ''The Done Thing''
Biography on BBC Radio 4 site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanshawe, Simon People from Brighton and Hove 1956 births Living people British gay writers English LGBT writers People educated at Chafyn Grove School People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of the University of Sussex British republicans Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Devizes