Simon Callow
Acting • Born 1949-06-13
Biography
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+.
Filmography
175 credits
Amadeus
Movie • 1984
Emanuel Schikaneder
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Movie • 1994
Gareth
James and the Giant Peach
Movie • 1996
Grasshopper (voice)
Shakespeare in Love
Movie • 1998
Tilney
Save Our Bacon
Movie • 2010
The Swinesbury's Boss (voice)
George and the Dragon
Movie • 2004
King Edgar
A Room with a View
Movie • 1986
The Reverend Mr. Beebe
Ice
Movie • 2011
Prime Minister
Postcards from the Edge
Movie • 1990
Simon Asquith
Creditors
Movie • 2015
Street Fighter
Movie • 1994
A. N. Official
Maurice
Movie • 1987
Mr. Ducie
Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls
Movie • 1995
Vincent Cadby
The Phantom of the Opera
Movie • 2004
Andre
The Best Man
Movie • 2005
Big-Time Publisher
Arn: The Knight Templar
Movie • 2007
Father Henry
The Amazing Mr. Blunden
Movie • 2021
Mr. Blunden
Christmas Carol: The Movie
Movie • 2001
Charles Dickens / Ebenezer Scrooge (voice)
Rik Mayall: Lord of Misrule
Movie • 2014
Narrator (voice)
Chemical Wedding
Movie • 2008
Haddo
Victory
Movie • 1996
Zangiacomo
The Good Father
Movie • 1985
Mark Varda
Alexander Pope: Rediscovering a Genius
Movie • 2021
Alexander Pope
There's Something About Romcoms
Movie • 2016
Self
Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Hawkeye
Movie • 2022
The Sarah Millican Television Programme - Best of Series 1-2
Movie • 2013
Self
The Holiday List
Movie • 2024
Samuel
The Scarlet Tunic
Movie • 1998
Captain Fairfax
Late Bloomers
Movie • 2011
Richard
The Mystery of Charles Dickens
Movie • 2002
Charles Dickens
Mr. & Mrs. Bridge
Movie • 1990
Dr. Alex Sauer
Grindsploitation 3: Video Nasty
Movie • 2017
American: An Odyssey to 1947
Movie • 2022
Self
Moses
Movie • 1996
Meneptah II (voice)
Theatreland
Movie • 2009
Himself
Manifesto
Movie • 1988
Police Chief Hunt
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey 2
Movie • 2024
Cavendish
The Trials of Oz
Movie • 1991
John Mortimer
Revisiting Brideshead
Movie • 2005
Narrator
The British Guide to Showing Off
Movie • 2011
Self
Surprised by Oxford
Movie • 2023
Dr. Sterling
Miss in Her Teens
Movie • 2014
The Author
Thunderpants
Movie • 2002
Sir John Osgood
Murder Ballads: How to Make It in Rock 'n' Roll
Movie • 2023
Richard O'Keefe
Merchant Ivory
Movie • 2024
Self
Around The World In 80 Days
Movie • 2000
Phileas Fogg (voice)
Maggie Smith at the BBC: a portrait
Movie • 2008
Self
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
The Fringe, Fame and Me
Movie • 2022
Self
Eternal Return
Movie • 2026
Malcolm
Cariani and the Courtesans
Movie • 1987
Raimondi
Jefferson in Paris
Movie • 1995
Richard Cosway
The Reluctant Dragon
Movie • 1987
Dragon (voice)
Dodger Special: Coronation
Movie • 2023
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Civilization of Maxwell Bright
Movie • 2005
Mr. Wroth
The Pay Day
Movie • 2022
Gates
Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story
Movie • 2012
Dickie Attenborough
Femme Fatale
Movie • 1993
Vicar Ronnie
Galileo’s Battle for the Heavens
Movie • 2002
Galileo
Judi Dench: Our National Treasure
Movie • 2022
Narrator
Surveillance 24/7
Movie • 2007
St John
Doctor Jekyll
Movie • 2023
Journalist
Bob the Butler
Movie • 2005
Mr. Butler
Bright Young Things
Movie • 2003
King of Anatolia
Revolutionary Witness
Movie • 1989
Franciscus Palloy
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Movie • 2014
Self - Actor and Welles' Biographer
Golden Years
Movie • 2016
Royston
Victoria & Abdul
Movie • 2017
Mr. Puccini
The First Silent Night: The Christmas Carol That United the World
Movie • 2014
Self - Host - Narrator
England, My England
Movie • 1995
Charles II
Viceroy's House
Movie • 2017
Cyril Radcliffe
Thank You, Doctor Rey
Movie • 2004
Bob
Bedrooms and Hallways
Movie • 1998
Keith
Notting Hill
Movie • 1999
Simon Callow (uncredited)
Howards End
Movie • 1992
Music and Meaning Lecturer (uncredited)
Hampstead
Movie • 2017
Judge
Art of Freedom
Movie • 2011
Self
Mindhorn
Movie • 2016
Himself
El pasajero clandestino
Movie • 1995
Major Owens
Deadly Appearances
Movie • 2000
Rick Spencer
Acts of Godfrey
Movie • 2012
Godfrey
Rag Tale
Movie • 2005
Cormac Rourke
Blue Iguana
Movie • 2018
Uncle Martin
The Crucifer of Blood
Movie • 1991
Inspector Lestrade
The Man Who Invented Christmas
Movie • 2017
Leech
How Gay Sex Changed the World
Movie • 2007
Self
No Man's Land
Movie • 2001
Colonel Soft
Old Flames
Movie • 1990
Nathanial Quass
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb
Movie • 2006
George Russell
50 Years Legal
Movie • 2017
Self
The Dead Room
Movie • 2018
Aubrey Judd
Love's Kitchen
Movie • 2011
Guy Witherspoon
Men of Mystery
Movie • 2006
Himself
Reviving Harry Lime
Movie • 2006
Himself
A Christmas Carol
Movie • 2018
They'll Love Me When I'm Dead
Movie • 2018
Self
Honour, Profit & Pleasure
Movie • 1985
George Frideric Handel
The Woman In White
Movie • 1997
Count Fosco
The Madness of Boy George
Movie • 2006
Narrator (voice)
The Unforgettable Harry Secombe
Movie • 2010
Self
Orson Welles Over Europe
Movie • 2009
Himself - Presenter
Instant Enlightenment Including VAT
Movie • 1979
Maximillian
The Man of Destiny
Movie • 1981
Napoleon
Soft Top Hard Shoulder
Movie • 1993
Eddie Cherdowski
Being Shakespeare
Movie • 2012
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Movie • 2012
Nutcracker Delights: English National Ballet
Movie • 2020
Narrator
Animated Epics: Don Quixote
Movie • 2000
Don Quixote
Ripley Under Ground
Movie • 2005
Dean Bentliffe
An Audience with Charles Dickens
Movie • 1996
Charles Dickens
Camp Christmas
Movie • 1993
Alec Guinness: A Class Act
Movie • 2024
self
The Marvellous Maggie Smith: A Celebration
Movie • 2022
Self
Dame Maggie Smith - A Celebration
Movie • 2024
Self
Royal Variety Performance 1984
Movie • 1984
Born Silly
Movie • 2017
Narrator (voice)
The Christmas Tree
Movie • 1986
Jacob Weinberg
Phantom of the Opera: Behind the Mask
Movie • 2006
Self
Poohniverse: Monsters Assemble
Movie
Cavendish
Shoebox Zoo
TV • 2004
Wolfgang the Wolf (voice) / Hunter the Horse (voice)
The Sweeney
TV • 1975
Detective Sergeant
Chance in a Million
TV • 1984
Tom Chance
The Company
TV • 2007
MI6 liaison officer Elihu
Don't Eat the Neighbours
TV • 2001
Angels in America
TV • 2003
Prior 2
Agatha Christie's Poirot
TV • 1989
Dr. Lutz
The Cleaner
TV • 2021
Mr. Abahassine
Lily Allen: From Riches to Rags
TV • 2011
Narrator
Acting
TV • 1987
Roman Mysteries
TV • 2007
Pliny
Doctor Who
TV • 2005
Charles Dickens
Étoile
TV • 2025
Crispin Shamblee
Inspector Morse
TV • 1987
Theodore Kemp
Performance
TV • 1991
John Mortimer
NOVA
TV • 1974
Galileo
Playhouse Presents
TV • 2012
Dudley
Tate Britain's Great Art Walks
TV • 2017
Self
Ice
TV • 2011
Prime Minister
Plebs
TV • 2013
Derren Brown: Trick or Treat
TV • 2007
Himself
Outlander
TV • 2014
Duke of Sandringham
Hawkeye
TV • 2021
Armand Duquesne III
The Witcher
TV • 2019
Codringher
Galavant
TV • 2015
Edwin the Magnificent
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
TV • 1996
Hugo Trenchfoot (voice)
Agatha Christie's Marple
TV • 2004
Colonel Melchett
A Very British Murder with Lucy Worsley
TV • 2013
Himself
The Curse of King Tut's Tomb
TV • 2006
George Russell
Dead Head
TV • 1986
Hugo Silver
Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale
TV • 2002
Charles Dickens
The Addictions of Sin: WH Auden in His Own Words
TV • 2009
Readings (voice)
Death in Paradise
TV • 2011
Larry South
Angels in America
TV • 2003
Prior Walter Ancestor #2
Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors
TV • 2022
Self - Narrator (voice)
Them From That Thing
TV • 2012
Various
Question Time
TV • 1979
Himself - Panellist
Jamie's Dream School
TV • 2011
Himself
Inside No. 9
TV • 2014
Dick
Q&A
TV • 2008
Self - Panellist
Midsomer Murders
TV • 1997
Dr. Wellow
Testament: The Bible in Animation
TV • 1996
Meneptah (voice)
Loose Women
TV • 1999
Self
Arn: The Knight Templar
TV • 2010
Fader Henry
The Rebel
TV • 2016
Henry Palmer
Parkinson
TV • 1998
Self
Classical Destinations: The Great Composers
TV • 2021
narrator
The Sarah Jane Adventures
TV • 2007
Tree Blathereen (voice)
Omnibus
TV • 1967
Self
Saturday Review
TV • 1984
Self
Carry On Laughing
TV • 1975
Crew Member
David Copperfield
TV • 1986
Wilkins Micawber
The Boy That Never Was
TV • 2024
Cozimo
A Ghost Story for Christmas
TV • 1971
Aubrey Judd
Victorian Scandals
TV • 1976
Duval
Little Napoleons
TV • 1994
Edward Feathers