Simon Callow
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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Movies (127)
Eternal Return
2026 · Malcolm
The Man with the Plan
2026 · William Beveridge
The Twelfth Night Reunion
2026 · Self - Performer
Amadeus: The Making of a Masterpiece
2025 · Himself
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration
2024 · Self
Aguska
2024 · Patrick Carter
It's Christmas!
2024 · Samuel
Alec Guinness: A Class Act
2024 · self
Merchant Ivory
2024 · Self
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2
2024 · Cavendish
Dodger Special: Coronation
2023 · Archbishop of Canterbury
Murder Ballads: How to Make It in Rock 'n' Roll
2023 · Richard O'Keefe
Doctor Jekyll
2023 · Journalist
Surprised by Oxford
2023 · Dr. Sterling
The Pay Day
2022 · Gates
American: An Odyssey to 1947
2022 · Self
The Fringe, Fame and Me
2022 · Self
The Marvellous Maggie Smith: A Celebration
2022 · Self
Judi Dench: Our National Treasure
2022 · Narrator
Creando Hawkeye
2022
Amazing Mr. Blunden
2021 · Mr. Blunden
Alexander Pope: Rediscovering a Genius
2021 · Alexander Pope
Nutcracker Delights: English National Ballet
2020 · Narrator
The Dead Room
2018 · Aubrey Judd
A Christmas Carol
2018 · Writer
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
2018 · Self
Blue Iguana
2018 · Uncle Martin
Born Silly
2017 · Narrator (voice)
Grindsploitation 3: Video Nasty
2017
El hombre que inventó la Navidad
2017 · Leech
Victoria & Abdul
2017 · Mr. Puccini
50 Years Legal
2017 · Self
Una cita en el parque
2017 · Judge
El último virrey de la India
2017 · Cyril Radcliffe
Mindhorn
2016 · Himself
There's Something About Romcoms
2016 · Self
Golden Years
2016 · Royston
Creditors
2015 · John Allen
Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule
2014 · Self - Narrator (voice)
The First Silent Night: The Christmas Carol That United the World
2014 · Self - Host - Narrator
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
2014 · Self - Actor and Welles' Biographer
Miss in Her Teens
2014 · The Author
The Sarah Millican Television Programme - Best of Series 1-2
2013 · Self
Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story
2012 · Dickie Attenborough
Shakespeare's Sonnets
2012
Being Shakespeare
2012
Acts of Godfrey
2012 · Godfrey
The British Guide to Showing Off
2011 · Self
Late Bloomers
2011 · Richard
Love's Kitchen
2011 · Guy Witherspoon
Art of Freedom
2011 · Self
Ice
2011 · Prime Minister
The Unforgettable Harry Secombe
2010 · Self
Save Our Bacon
2010 · The Swinesbury's Boss (voice)
Orson Welles Over Europe
2009 · Self - Presenter, Writer
Theatreland
2009 · Self
Maggie Smith at the BBC: a portrait
2008 · Self
Chemical Wedding
2008 · Haddo
Arn: The Knight Templar
2007 · Father Henry
Ripley Under Ground
2007 · Dean Bentliffe
Surveillance 24/7
2007 · St John
How Gay Sex Changed the World
2007 · Self
Phantom of the Opera: Behind the Mask
2006 · Self
The Madness of Boy George
2006 · Narrator (voice)
Reviving Harry Lime
2006 · Himself
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb
2006 · George Russell
Men of Mystery
2006 · Himself
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant
2005 · Self (archive footage)
Revisiting Brideshead
2005 · Narrator
Rag Tale
2005 · Cormac Rourke
The Best Man
2005 · Big-Time Publisher
The Civilization of Maxwell Bright
2005 · Mr. Wroth
Bob the Butler
2005 · Mr. Butler
El fantasma de la ópera
2004 · Andre
George and the Dragon
2004 · King Edgar
Thank You, Doctor Rey
2003 · Bob
Bright Young Things
2003 · King of Anatolia
Galileo’s Battle for the Heavens
2002 · Galileo
The Mystery of Charles Dickens
2002 · Charles Dickens
Thunderpants
2002 · Sir John Osgood
Richard Rodgers: Some Enchanted Evening
2002 · Director
Christmas Carol: The Movie
2001 · Charles Dickens / Ebenezer Scrooge (voice)
No Man's Land
2001 · Colonel Soft
Deadly Appearances
2000 · Rick Spencer
Around The World In 80 Days
2000 · Phileas Fogg (voice)
Animated Epics: Don Quixote
2000 · Don Quixote
Un lugar llamado Notting Hill
1999 · Simon Callow (uncredited)
Shakespeare enamorado
1998 · Tilney
Bedrooms and Hallways
1998 · Keith
The Scarlet Tunic
1998 · Captain Fairfax
The Woman In White
1997 · Count Fosco
Victory
1996 · Zangiacomo
Moses
1996 · Meneptah II (voice)
Jim y el durazno gigante
1996 · Grasshopper (voice)
An Audience with Charles Dickens
1996 · Charles Dickens
Ace Ventura: Cuando la naturaleza llama
1995 · Vincent Cadby
Jefferson in Paris
1995 · Richard Cosway
England, My England
1995 · Charles II
El pasajero clandestino
1995 · Major Owens
Street Fighter: La última batalla
1994 · A. N. Official
Cuatro bodas y un funeral
1994 · Gareth
Camp Christmas
1993
Femme Fatale
1993 · Vicar Ronnie
Soft Top Hard Shoulder
1993 · Eddie Cherdowski
Howards End
1992 · Music and Meaning Lecturer (uncredited)
The Trials of Oz
1991 · John Mortimer
The Crucifer of Blood
1991 · Inspector Lestrade
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe
1991 · Director
Mr. & Mrs. Bridge
1990 · Dr. Alex Sauer
Recuerdos de Hollywood
1990 · Simon Asquith
Old Flames
1990 · Nathanial Quass
Revolutionary Witness
1989 · Franciscus Palloy
Manifesto
1988 · Police Chief Hunt
The Reluctant Dragon
1987 · Dragon (voice)
Maurice
1987 · Mr. Ducie
Cariani and the Courtesans
1987 · Raimondi
The Christmas Tree
1986 · Jacob Weinberg
A Room with a View
1986 · The Reverend Mr. Beebe
The Good Father
1985 · Mark Varda
Honour, Profit & Pleasure
1985 · George Frideric Handel
Royal Variety Performance 1984
1984
Amadeus
1984 · Emanuel Schikaneder
The Man of Destiny
1981 · Napoleon
Instant Enlightenment Including VAT
1979 · Maximillian
The Reformation of Sister Edith
· Abbot Pentecost
The Amazing Maurice: The Waters of Life
· Werewolf (voice)
About A Bell
· Director
TV shows (68)
The Northumbria Mysteries
2026 · Father David Rutherford
Bookish
2025 · E
Étoile: la danza de las estrellas
2025 · Crispin Shamblee
The Boy That Never Was
2024 · Cozimo
Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors
2022 · Self - Narrator (voice)
Hawkeye
2021 · Armand Duquesne III
The Cleaner
2021 · Mr. Abahassine
Classical Destinations: The Great Composers
2021 · narrator
The Witcher
2019 · Codringher
Secrets of Britain's Great Cathedrals
2018 · Creator
Tate Britain's Great Art Walks
2017 · Self
The Rebel
2016 · Henry Palmer
Galavant
2015 · Edwin the Magnificent
Outlander
2014 · Duke of Sandringham
Inside No. 9
2014 · Dick
A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley
2013 · Self
Plebs
2013
Them From That Thing
2012 · Various
Playhouse Presents
2012 · Dudley
Crimen en el paraíso
2011 · Larry South
Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags
2011 · Narrator
Jamie's Dream School
2011 · Himself
Hielo
2011 · Prime Minister
Arn: The Knight Templar
2010 · Fader Henry
The Addictions of Sin: WH Auden in His Own Words
2009 · Readings (voice)
Q&A
2008 · Self - Panellist
The Sarah Jane Adventures
2007 · Tree Blathereen (voice)
La Compañía
2007 · MI6 liaison officer Elihu
British Film Forever
2007
Roman Mysteries
2007 · Pliny
Derren Brown: Trick or Treat
2007 · Himself
Lewis
2007 · Vernon Oxe
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb
2006 · George Russell
Great British Menu
2006 · Self - Guest Judge
Doctor Who
2005 · Charles Dickens
Agatha Christie's Marple
2004 · Colonel Melchett
Shoebox Zoo
2004 · Wolfgang the Wolf (voice) / Hunter the Horse (voice)
Ángeles en América
2003 · Prior 2, Prior Walter Ancestor #2 (uncredited)
Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale
2002 · Charles Dickens
Don't Eat the Neighbours
2001
Loose Women
1999 · Self
Parkinson
1998 · Self
The Woman In White
1997 · Count Fosco
Trial & Retribution
1997 · Rupert Halliday
Los asesinatos de Midsomer
1997 · Dr. Wellow
Testament: The Bible in Animation
1996 · Meneptah (voice)
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
1996 · Hugo Trenchfoot (voice)
Little Napoleons
1994 · Edward Feathers
Performance
1991 · John Mortimer
Agatha Christie's Poirot
1989 · Dr. Lutz
Comic Relief
1988
Acting
1987
Inspector Morse
1987 · Theodore Kemp
David Copperfield
1986 · Wilkins Micawber
ScreenPlay
1986 · Raimondi
Split Screen
1986
Dead Head
1986 · Hugo Silver
Screen Two
1985 · Nathanial Quass
Chance in a Million
1984 · Tom Chance
Saturday Review
1984 · Self
Question Time
1979 · Himself - Panellist
The Sunday Drama
1977 · The Prince
Victorian Scandals
1976 · Duval
Carry On Laughing
1975 · Crew Member
The Sweeney
1975 · Detective Sergeant
NOVA
1974 · Galileo
A Ghost Story for Christmas
1971 · Aubrey Judd
Omnibus
1967 · Self