Andrew Lynford

Andrew Lynford is a British television presenter and actor. He is widely remembered for playing the role of Simon Raymond in the popular BBC soap opera "EastEnders", but is now an arts and entertainment presenter for Anglia Television.

Lynford trained at the Mountview Theatre School in London. He has had many theatre Roles including Ralph in "Bouncers"; Tim in "Up On The Roof"; Adrian in "The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole" and Hal in "Loot", among others. He is also a veteran of musical theatre, starring in "The Little Shop Of Horrors"; "Oliver!"; "The King & I" and "Anything Goes".

In 1996 Lynford joined the cast of "EastEnders" where he played Simon Raymond, the homosexual brother of Martine McCutcheon's character, Tiffany Raymond. His character made headlines in the British press, following a gay kiss with the show's resident bisexual, Tony Hills (Mark Homer), who happened to be dating his sister at the time. Both Lynford and Homer left the show in 1999, after the onetime Executive Producer, Matthew Robinson, decided that their characters had fulfilled their potential [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/226581.stm] .

After leaving "EastEnders", Lynford started presenting various shows for Anglia television, including "Wild Thing", "Taste Today" and the comedy quiz "Arty Facts", which he also devised. He still acts and has recently appeared as Mike in "Making Time", a BBC pilot.

Lynford has also written a 1970s musical called "Disco Crazee", which was produced by Bruce James in 2005, at the Edinburgh Festival and subsequently toured Britain. More recently, Lynford directed "The Cheeky Chappie", a play about the comedian Max Miller and "Side By Side By Sondheim" at the Union Theatre in London. He also directed the Jermyn Street Theatre "Christmas Revue" in 2005 and 2006.

External links

*imdb name|id=0528570|name=Andrew Lynford
* [http://www.andrewlynford.com/index.htm Official site]