David Simeon:
The sandy-haired and usually horn-rimmed Mr Simeon was once a solid regular of British TV, turning up in an assortment of middling comedies and dramas throughout the '70s and early '80s, after getting of to a good start with a decent part in the now-lost 1967 TV series of 'Sexton Blake'. He was one of the key members of the teatime comedy show 'End of Part One' alongside the over-excitable Denise Coffey and kids favourites Fred 'Ragtime' Harris and Tony Aitken, and played the straight man in sketches for comedians as diverse(?) as Dick Emery and Lenny Henry. His sitcom work is a bit patchy: from top-notch stuff like 'Fawlty Towers', 'The New Statesman' and 'Ever Decreasing Circles', to schedule-fillers 'Birds of a Feather' and 'Sykes', and a lot of rubbish along the lines 'Rings on their Fingers', 'The Many Wives of Patrick', and the abysmal Leslie Phillips vehicle 'Casanova '73'.
On the drama front, he shows up in ho-hum '70s cop soaps 'Z-Cars', 'Hunters Walk', and 'Special Branch', and the obligatory 'Dr Who' or two ('The Daemons' and 'Inferno'), and appears for an instant in the famously hard-boiled (or gratuitously violent) Brit 1969 gangster series 'Big Breadwinner Hog'. After all that comes the wasteland of '80s hospital and courtroom tosh: 'Angels', 'The Bill', 'Casualty' and 'Doctors'. A rare starring role comes in Nigel Kneale's 'Murrain', a segment of the interesting drama series 'Beasts'.
He hasn't hit Hollywood, or even Borehamwood, in a big way, but minor credits include 'A Fish Called Wanda' (1988), 'Sweet William' (1980) and the interesting-sounding 'Freelance' (1971), a gangland thriller starring Ian McShane and with a soundtrack by Basil Kirchin.
David Simeon - imdb
Fred 'Ragtime' Harris. Now there's a blast from the past! Bless him.
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across your blog, and thought ;
ReplyDelete"what a bloody good idea!" I love those familiar faces that seemed to do the round of shows back when I was a boy, playing such pivotal roles as "bank manager" "posh woman" or "officious armed forces officer" or "man at bus stop" on some kind of rota.
I'd recommend someone but I haven't perused your blog enough to know if they are already represented.
What the hell, how about - John Clive ? oops he's dead, )thanks imdb)
Is Derek Griffiths too obvious?
ps remember when it was the law that Sam Kydd had to appear in every British Film, ever?
Thanks Bill, very good to hear from you. I did a salute to John Clive back in April, but as you say he died in October. Derek Griffiths could be on the cards , he's been in a few real stinkers. All suggestions welcome.
ReplyDeleteAubrey Woods ?
ReplyDeleteGreat suggestion. Aubrey's salute now posted.
ReplyDelete"Murrain" was a play from the ATV series "Against The Crowd" & included as an extra on the "Beasts" dvd as it was written by Nigel Kneale.
ReplyDeleteI remember that Goodnight Sweetheart appearence (bowtie and cigarette) as the owner of high-end club. "I am Peter Strangefellow!"
ReplyDelete