Simon Ward

Simon Ward (born London, October 19, 1941) is an English stage and film actor.

Early life

The son of a car dealer, Ward had a pretty fair idea of what he wanted to do with his life from an early age. He was educated at Alleyn's School, London, the home of the National Youth Theatre, which he joined at age 13 and stayed with for eight years. Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he made his professional stage debut with the Northampton repertory in 1963 and his London theatrical bow one year later in The 4th of June. After the Royal Academy, he worked in repertory in Northampton, Birmingham, and Oxford and occasionally in London's West End.

Big break

His big break in theater came in 1967 when he played in Joe Orton's "Loot," which led to a number of small film and television roles. All of Ward's major film roles were in the 1970s. He starred with some of the finest actors and directors of the time and in some of the most prestigious and popular films made during that decade.

Persistent rumours suggest his first film appearance was an uncredited role as one of the sociopathic students in Lindsay Anderson's "If...." (1968) however this is not true.

In 1972, he played the title role in "Young Winston" (Churchill), and the following year played the Duke of Buckingham in Richard Lester's "The Three Musketeers" (1973) and "The Four Musketeers" (1974).. He played Lt. William Vereker in the 1979 film, Zulu Dawn. He was also seen as a fictional Nazi functionary (the sympathetic one, with whom the audience is supposed to identify) in "" (1973). Later film roles ran the gamut from author/veterinarian James Herriot in "All Creatures Great and Small" (1974) to Zor-El in "Supergirl" (1984).

Later career

He has made few movies since the 1970s, although he did have a major role in the Ralph Fiennes version of "Wuthering Heights" made in the early 1990s, which also starred Ward's daughter, Sophie Ward.

In 1995, he took over Stephen Fry's role in "Cell Mates", after Fry left the production shortly after opening.

He currently appears as Sir Monty Everard in the BBC television series "Judge John Deed."

Filmography

* "Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights" (1992)
* "" (1992)
* "Around the World in 80 Days" (1989)
* "Supergirl" (1984)
* "Dominique is Dead" (1979)
* "Zulu Dawn" (1979)
* "Holocaust 2000" (1978)
* "The Four Feathers" (1977)
* "Deadly Strangers" (1976)
* "Aces High" (1976)
* "Children of Rage" (1975)
* "All Creatures Great and Small" (1974)
* "Dracula" (1974)
* "The Four Musketeers" (1974).
* "The Three Musketeers" (1973)
* "" (1973)
* "Young Winston" (1972)
* "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" (1969)

External links

*imdb name|id=0911844