1949-06-13 Streatham, London, England, UK
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow CBE (born 15 June 1949) is an English actor. Known as a character actor on stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades including an Olivier Award and Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for two BAFTA Awards. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to acting by Queen Elizabeth II in 1999. Callow rose to prominence originating the title role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 1979 Peter Shaffer play Amadeus, for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination. Callow joined the Miloš Forman 1984 film adaptation, this time portraying Emanuel Schikaneder. In 1992, Callow won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Director of a Musical for Carmen Jones. As an actor, he won acclaim for his comedic roles in A Room with a View (1985) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) earning a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role nomination for each. Other notable roles include in Maurice (1987), Howards End (1992), Shakespeare in Love (1998), and The Phantom of the Opera (2004). His television roles include Tom Chance in the Channel 4 series Chance in a Million (1984) and The Duke of Sandringham in the series Outlander from 2014 to 2016. He portrayed Napoleon in The Man of Destiny (1981), and Charles Dickens in numerous television projects. He has also appeared on numerous shows such as Midsomer Murders, Rome, Angels in America, Doctor Who, Galavant, Hawkeye, and The Witcher. Callow was born on 15 June 1949 in Streatham, South London, the son of Yvonne Mary (née Guise), a secretary and Neil Francis Callow, a businessman. His father was of French descent and his mother was of Danish and German ancestry. His father left when Simon was 18 months old, and he was brought up by his mother and grandmothers. He and his mother travelled to Northern Rhodesia (now called Zambia) when he was nine to try and reconcile with his father. This did not happen and Callow was sent for three years to boarding school in South Africa. He and his mother returned to Britain when he was twelve. He was raised as a Catholic. Callow was a student at the London Oratory School in West Brompton, and then went on to study briefly at Queen's University Belfast in Northern Ireland, where he was active in the gay liberation movement.[5] He gave up his degree course after a year to take a three-year acting course at the Drama Centre London. He made his first film appearance in 1984 as Schikaneder in Amadeus. The following year, he appeared as the Reverend Mr Beebe in A Room with a View. His first television role was in the Carry On Laughing episode "Orgy and Bess" in 1975, but it was cut from the final print. He starred in several series of the Channel 4 situation comedy Chance in a Million, as Tom Chance, an eccentric individual to whom coincidences happened regularly. Roles like this and his part in Four Weddings and a Funeral brought him to a wider audience. Callow portrayed Pliny the Elder in CBBC's 2007 children's drama series, Roman Mysteries in the episode "The Secrets of Vesuvius". He played Armand Duquesne in Marvel's Hawkeye on Disney+.
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Eternal Return | Malcolm | 2026-03-19 |
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The Holiday List | Samuel | 2024-11-11 |
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Merchant Ivory | Self | 2024-08-30 |
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Alec Guinness: A Class Act | self | 2024-09-03 |
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Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2 | Cavendish | 2024-03-26 |
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Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration | Self | 2024-12-14 |
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Murder Ballads: How to Make It in Rock 'n' Roll | Richard O'Keefe | 2023-10-29 |
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Surprised by Oxford | Dr. Sterling | 2023-09-27 |
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Doctor Jekyll | Journalist | 2023-10-27 |
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Dodger Special: Coronation | Archbishop of Canterbury | 2023-11-29 |
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The Marvellous Maggie Smith: A Celebration | Self | 2022-07-23 |
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American: An Odyssey to 1947 | Self | 2022-10-20 |
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Judi Dench: Our National Treasure | Narrator | 2022-07-15 |
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The Pay Day | Gates | 2022-11-11 |
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The Fringe, Fame and Me | Self | 2022-08-08 |
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Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye | 2022-02-09 | |
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Alexander Pope: Rediscovering a Genius | Alexander Pope | 2021-10-10 |
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The Amazing Mr. Blunden | Mr. Blunden | 2021-12-20 |
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Nutcracker Delights: English National Ballet | Narrator | 2020-12-24 |
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The Dead Room | Aubrey Judd | 2018-12-24 |
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Blue Iguana | Uncle Martin | 2018-08-23 |
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They'll Love Me When I'm Dead | Self | 2018-08-31 |
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A Christmas Carol | 2018-11-08 | |
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Viceroy's House | Cyril Radcliffe | 2017-03-03 |
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50 Years Legal | Self | 2017-06-27 |
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Hampstead | Judge | 2017-06-23 |
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Victoria & Abdul | Mr. Puccini | 2017-09-13 |
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The Man Who Invented Christmas | Leech | 2017-10-12 |
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Grindsploitation 3: Video Nasty | 2017-10-31 | |
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Born Silly | Narrator (voice) | 2017-12-17 |
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There's Something About Romcoms | Self | 2016-08-20 |
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Golden Years | Royston | 2016-04-29 |
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Mindhorn | Himself | 2016-10-09 |
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Creditors | 2015-01-01 | |
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Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles | Self - Actor and Welles' Biographer | 2014-12-12 |
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Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule | Narrator (voice) | 2014-12-20 |
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Miss in Her Teens | The Author | 2014-04-15 |
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The First Silent Night: The Christmas Carol That United the World | 2014-12-18 | |
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The Sarah Millican Television Programme - Best of Series 1-2 | Self | 2013-11-11 |
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Shakespeare's Sonnets | 2012-07-18 | |
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Acts of Godfrey | Godfrey | 2012-01-27 |
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Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story | Dickie Attenborough | 2012-10-02 |
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Being Shakespeare | 2012-01-31 | |
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Art of Freedom | Self | 2011-05-21 |
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Ice | Prime Minister | 2011-01-02 |
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The British Guide to Showing Off | Self | 2011-11-11 |
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Late Bloomers | Richard | 2011-07-13 |
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Love's Kitchen | Guy Witherspoon | 2011-06-24 |
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Save Our Bacon | The Swinesbury's Boss (voice) | 2010-09-25 |
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The Unforgettable Harry Secombe | Self | 2010-12-20 |
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Theatreland | Himself | 2009-01-01 |
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Orson Welles Over Europe | Himself - Presenter | 2009-12-27 |
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Chemical Wedding | Haddo | 2008-05-04 |
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Maggie Smith at the BBC: a portrait | Self | 2008-07-10 |
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How Gay Sex Changed the World | Self | 2007-01-01 |
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Surveillance 24/7 | St John | 2007-06-11 |
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Arn: Tempelriddaren | Father Henry | 2007-12-25 |
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Reviving Harry Lime | Himself | 2006-04-18 |
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The Madness of Boy George | Narrator (voice) | 2006-10-17 |
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Men of Mystery | Himself | 2006-01-01 |
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Phantom of the Opera: Behind the Mask | Self | 2006-12-26 |
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The Curse of King Tut's Tomb | George Russell | 2006-04-11 |
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Revisiting Brideshead | Narrator | 2005-10-15 |
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The Best Man | Big-Time Publisher | 2005-07-09 |
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Ripley Under Ground | Dean Bentliffe | 2005-11-06 |
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The Civilization of Maxwell Bright | Mr. Wroth | 2005-06-06 |
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A Tribute To Ismail Merchant | Self (archive footage) | 2005-10-30 |
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Bob the Butler | Mr. Butler | 2005-03-10 |
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Rag Tale | Cormac Rourke | 2005-10-07 |
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George and the Dragon | King Edgar | 2004-03-28 |
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Merci Docteur Rey | Bob | 2004-08-20 |
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The Phantom of the Opera | Andre | 2004-12-08 |
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Bright Young Things | King of Anatolia | 2003-10-03 |
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Galileo’s Battle for the Heavens | Galileo | 2002-10-29 |
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Thunderpants | Sir John Osgood | 2002-05-24 |
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The Mystery of Charles Dickens | Charles Dickens | 2002-10-17 |
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No Man's Land | Colonel Soft | 2001-05-12 |
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Christmas Carol: The Movie | Charles Dickens / Ebenezer Scrooge (voice) | 2001-12-07 |
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Around The World In 80 Days | Phileas Fogg (voice) | 2000-01-01 |
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Deadly Appearances | Rick Spencer | 2000-04-23 |
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Animated Epics: Don Quixote | Don Quixote | 2000-01-01 |
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Notting Hill | Simon Callow (uncredited) | 1999-05-21 |
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The Scarlet Tunic | Captain Fairfax | 1998-06-12 |
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Shakespeare in Love | Tilney | 1998-12-11 |
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Bedrooms and Hallways | Keith | 1998-08-01 |
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The Woman In White | Count Fosco | 1997-01-01 |
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James and the Giant Peach | Grasshopper (voice) | 1996-04-12 |
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An Audience with Charles Dickens | Charles Dickens | 1996-01-01 |
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Victory | Zangiacomo | 1996-12-13 |
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Moses | Meneptah II (voice) | 1996-10-15 |
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Jefferson in Paris | Richard Cosway | 1995-03-31 |
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Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls | Vincent Cadby | 1995-11-10 |
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El pasajero clandestino | Major Owens | 1995-01-01 |
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England, My England | Charles II | 1995-01-01 |
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Four Weddings and a Funeral | Gareth | 1994-03-09 |
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Street Fighter | A. N. Official | 1994-12-23 |
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Soft Top Hard Shoulder | Eddie Cherdowski | 1993-01-15 |
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Camp Christmas | 1993-12-24 | |
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Femme Fatale | Vicar Ronnie | 1993-02-07 |
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Howards End | Music and Meaning Lecturer (uncredited) | 1992-03-13 |
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The Crucifer of Blood | Inspector Lestrade | 1991-11-04 |
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The Trials of Oz | John Mortimer | 1991-11-09 |
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Postcards from the Edge | Simon Asquith | 1990-09-14 |
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Mr. & Mrs. Bridge | Dr. Alex Sauer | 1990-11-23 |
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Old Flames | Nathanial Quass | 1990-01-14 |
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Revolutionary Witness | Franciscus Palloy | 1989-12-31 |
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Manifesto | Police Chief Hunt | 1988-01-27 |
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Maurice | Mr. Ducie | 1987-09-18 |
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The Reluctant Dragon | Dragon (voice) | 1987-12-31 |
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Cariani and the Courtesans | Raimondi | 1987-08-05 |
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The Christmas Tree | Jacob Weinberg | 1986-12-21 |
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A Room with a View | The Reverend Mr. Beebe | 1986-03-07 |
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Honour, Profit & Pleasure | George Frideric Handel | 1985-06-01 |
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The Good Father | Mark Varda | 1985-11-01 |
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Royal Variety Performance 1984 | 1984-11-25 | |
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Amadeus | Emanuel Schikaneder | 1984-09-19 |
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The Man of Destiny | Napoleon | 1981-05-05 |
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Instant Enlightenment Including VAT | Maximillian | 1979-11-22 |
