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Simon Shepherd
Simon Shepherd was born in Bristol in 1956. When he was about three years old, his parents Ben and Margot moved to Stratford-upon-Avon as proprietors of the 15th century Blac
What a real treat it was to see the fast-moving and very funny play Our Man in Havana at the Nottingham Playhouse in October 2009. It was brilliantly performed by four fantastic actors whom I met at the stage door afterwards.
Simon Shepherd played the main character, Wormold, and I was so pleased to get this super photo with him.
Black Swan - a traditional pub now known to all as The Dirty Duck! It stands opposite the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Simon and his older brother Robin, had their bedroom above the bar. Simon often attended 'first nights' with his parents, and enjoyed 'the buzz' of the party atmosphere afterwards when the pub was filled with actors and theatregoers.
Despite his father's hope that Simon would not become either a publican or an actor, his in
interest in the theatre remained during his school days at Clifton College, the public school in Bristol which he went to during the late 60s and early 70s. Trevor Howard, Sir Michael Redgrave and John Cleese are well known actors who were educated at the school. After graduating from Manchester Metropolitan University, Simon trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He was also a member of the National Youth Theatre.
Simon Shepherd
The Dirty Duck, Stratford-upon-Avon
Simon's stage appearances are many and varied. At the Bristol Old Vic he has performed the roles of Robert in Harold Pinter's Betrayal (2003), Dr Dorn in Chekhov's The Seagull (2005) and Mander
I have now seen Simon Shepherd twice in Nottingham. At the Theatre Royal he was in Pack of Lies in March 2009 with Jenny Seagrove, playing Bob Jackson whose house is taken over by MI5 for surveillance. It is based on a true story about the capture of husband and wife Cold War spies, the Krogers.
Manders in Ibsen's Ghosts (2007) whilst a success in Plymouth was the comedy Born in the Gardens (2008). His West End credits include Art at the Whitehall Theatre in 2002 and The Secret Rapture at the Lyric Theatre in 2003.
At the Playhouse in Our Man in Havana in October 2009 Simon pl
Simon Shepherd & Jenny Seagrove in
Simon Shepherd publicity image for
Stephanie Cole & Simon Shepherd in
Born in the Gardens
Simon Shepherd & Jenny Seagrove in
The Secret Rapture
Pack of Lies
Our Man in Havana
Simon Shepherd & Philip Franks in
Our Man in Havana
programme for Our Man in Havana
Simon with Beth Cordingly in Our Man in Havana
Simon Shepherd signed his page in my
plays Wormold, the vacuum cleaner salesman-turned-spy in this stage version of Graham Greene's comedy novel. The Shake
between them! Simon however, just has the one character. “The others have all the hard work, I can keep my linen suit and panama hat on the whole time!” he says.
Shakespeare line from As You Like It, "they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts”, could have been written for this show, because the other three cast members, Philip Franks, Norman Pace and Beth Cordingly play over 30 parts betwe
A super memento! With Philip Franks, Norman Pace & Simon Shepherd
after the performance of Our Man in Havana at the Playhouse
Simon had previously performed the role of Wormold in 2007, at theatres in Bromley and Windsor, and says that he prefers theatre to TV work. "There is noth
nothing more exhilarating than feeling an audience going with the story. When I came out of Peak Practice, I hadn't done any theatre for 10 years. Then I went and did Art and thought, 'Why did it take me so long to come back to it?'"
Away from the theatre, Simon Shepherd's work has been mostly for TV. His earliest role was as Lord Alfred Douglas in the biographical mini-ssee
series Lillie (1978) about the actress Lillie Langtry. Other appearances over the following twenty years included The Jewel in the Crown (1984); Agatha Christie's A Murder is Announced (1985); fifteen episodes of Chancer (1990-91); Catherine Cookson's Tilly Trotter (1999) and Warriors (1999) a brutal drama about the war in Bosnia.
Tilly Trotter dvd
Samantha Bond, Simon Shepherd & Kevin
Whately in A Murder is Announced
Simon Shepherd as.......
.....Mark Sopwith in Tilly Trotter
.....Major 'Brick' Stone in Warriors
.....Piers Garfield-Ward in Chancer
However, it is as Dr Will Preston in the ITV series Peak Practice that Simon Shepherd is best known. Set in Cardale (a fictitious village in Derbyshire but based on the actual village of
of Crich) it follows the lives of the doctors who work at the Beeches surgery, and the patients that they treat. The series ran for 12 seasons (152 episodes in all) from 1993 to 2001 before it was axed by the TV company. Simon appeared in 52 episodes, but took a three year break between 1998 and 2001 as he wanted to prove that he could do other roles as well. "I didn't become an actor just to play the same part" he said in a TV interview on Des and Mel.
Amanda Burton & Simon Shepherd in
Peak Practice (1995)
Simon Shepherd in Peak Practice (2001)
Simon Shepherd plays Dr Will Preston
In ITV's Peak Practice
Jacqueline Leonard & Simon Shepherd
in Peak Practice (1993)
Simon's more recent TV work includes Agatha Christie's Christi
Mrs McGinty's Dead (2008) and A Touch of Frost (2009).
He has also appeared as himself on Masterchef (1999), Celebrity Masterchef (2009) and three episodes of Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (1999-2001). One TV show that never got off the ground wa
Simon Shepherd as Dr Rendell in Mrs McGinty's Dead
Simon with James Dreyfus
in Gimme, Gimme, Gimme
was the comedy drama Avenging Angels, made by Granada in 2002 with Simon Shepherd cast in the role of nasty office boss Pete Thorburn. Although completed, with a strong cast including Jessica Stevenson & Jack Ellis, it has never been screened.
Simon Shepherd's 'big-screen' parts have been much more limited. After brief appearances in films like The Lords of Discipline (1983) and The Doctor and the Devils (1985), he
Simon Shepherd as Pete Thorburn
in Avenging Angels
Simon Shepherd in Rogue Trader
he had more substantial roles as Gloucester in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V (1989) and as Edgar Linton in an adaptati
in Wuthering Heights
Simon Shepherd as Edgar Linton
Simon Shepherd in Luke & the Void
adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights (1992). Rogue Trader (1999), was a film
film about the discredited banker Nick Leeson, with Simon playing Leeson's boss Peter Norris. Simon's most recent film is the sci-fi 'short' set in 1986, Luke & the Void (2009).
Simon Shepherd as Gloucester in Henry V
In 2006, Simon Shepherd hit the headlines when he was cast as Von Trapp in The Sound Of Music alongside Connie Fisher. However, he withdrew from the show, for reasons not made public, after just two preview performances.
Simon is married to costume designer Alexandra Byrne and they have four children - Ben (b.1988), twins Billie and Ar
Simon Shepherd & Connie Fisher
Arthur (b.1992) and Beatrice (b.1996). Alexandra is a highly talented costume designer whose film work includes Persuasion (1995), Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001) Phantom of the Opera (2004) and the historical film Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007) for which she won an Oscar.
Simon supports several charities, especially those helping children - Barnardo's, Tearfund and Save the Children.
(left) Simon's wife Alex with her costume design
Oscar for Elizabeth: The Golden Age
With Simon at the Theatre Royal after
Simon has signed this photo to me. It shows him as Edgar Linton in Wuthering Heights
seeing the play Pack of Lies
VIDEO INTERVIEWS
Some of Simon Shepherd's interviews can be seen on YouTube
Publicity for the play Art
