Acting

Stage

Callow made his stage debut in 1973, appearing in The Thrie Estates at the Assembly Hall Theatre, Edinburgh. In the early 1970s he joined the Gay Sweatshop Theatre Company and performed in Martin Sherman's critically acclaimed Passing By. During the late 1970s he took various parts in the Joint Stock Theatre Company's production of Epsom Downs and starred in Snoo Wilson's The Soul of the White Ant at the Soho Poly. He went on to play Mozart in the original stage production of Amadeus at the Royal National Theatre in the late 1970s.  

His first appearance in a musical was in 2005, when he starred as the villainous Count Fosco in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White. In 2008, he appeared as the psychiatrist in Chichester Festival Theatre’s production of Peter Shaffer’s Equus.

During the summer of 2008, Callow performed There Reigns Love at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada, an acclaimed performance of Shakespeare’s sonnets. This was followed by the solo show, Dr Marigold & Mr Chops, at the Edinburgh Festival. The play, originally by Charles Dickens, was subsequently adapted and directed by Patrick Garland. This production was re-staged at the Riverside Studios from December 2009 to January 2010 prior to a national tour.

In 2009, Callow played Pozzo in Sean Mathias’s production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett, starring opposite Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart and Ronald Pickup. An extensive national tour ended at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, where the run was extended due to demand.

Callow’s national tour of his one-man play, Shakespeare: The Man from Stratford ran from June to November 2010. It was written by Jonathan Bate, directed by Tom Cairns and produced by the Ambassador Theatre Group. The play was renamed Being Shakespeare for its West End debut at the Trafalgar Studios, where it opened on 15 June 2011. It is returning to the West End this year.

 

Film

Simon made his first film appearance as Schikaneder, in Amadeus (1984), having played Mozart in the original stage production at the Royal National Theatre in the late 1970s.  Following this has been a number of much-loved film roles, the first of which was playing Gareth in the hugely popular British comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral. He has played the part of Charles Dickens on a number of occasions, and on film in Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale. Callow also featured in the film adaptation of Wilkie Collin’s novel The Woman in White, as Count Fosco, a role he later revisited on stage.

Year Title Character
2011 No Ordinary Trifle Guy Witherspoon
2007 Chemical Wedding Professor Haddo/Aleister Crowley
2007 Arn – The Knight Templar Father Henry
2006 Sabina Eugene Bleuler
2005 Rag Tale Fat Boy
2005 The Civilization of Maxwell Bright Mr. Wroth
2005 Bob the Butler Mr. Butler
2004 George and the Dragon King Edgar
2004 The Phantom of the Opera Andre
2003 Bright Young Things King of Anatolia
2002 Thunderpants Sir John Osgood
2002 Merci Docteur Rey Bob
2001 No Man's Land Soft
2001 Christmas Carol: The Movie Ebenezer Scrooge
1999 Around the World in 80 Days Phileas Fogg (voice)
1999 Junk
1998 The Scarlet Tunic Captain Fairfax
1998 Bedrooms and Hallways Keith
1998 Shakespeare in Love Sir Edmund Tilney
1996 James and the Giant Peach Grasshopper (voice)
1995 England, My England Charles II
1995 Victory Zangiacomo
1995 Jefferson in Paris Richard Cosway
1995 Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls Vincent Cadby
1994 Four Weddings and a Funeral Gareth
1994 Street Fighter A.N. Official
1992 Soft Top Hard Shoulder Eddie Cherdowski
1991 The Ballad of the Sad Cafe Director only
1991 Howards End Music and Meaning Lecturer (cameo)
1990 Postcards from the Edge Simon Asquith
1990 Mr. & Mrs. Bridge Dr. Alex Sauer
1988 Manifesto Police Chief Hunt
1987 Maurice Mr. Ducie
1985 The Good Father Mark Varda
1985 A Room with a View The Reverend Mr. Beebe
1984 Amadeus Emanuel Schikaneder/Papageno

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Television

Callow starred in several series of Chance in a Million (Channel 4), a sitcom in which Callow played the eccentric protagonist Tom Chance.  He once again stepped into the role of Charles Dickens in An Audience with Charles Dickens (BBC, 1996) and, on two occasions, in BBC1’s hit science-fiction series Doctor Who.

In addition, Simon has appeared in the television series Little Napoleons (1994) alongside Saeed Jaffrey and in 2004’s Comic Relief episode of Little Britain.

 

Date Title Character Broadcaster
2011 Doctor Who - "The Wedding of River Song" Charles Dickens BBC
2011

Popstar to Operastar

 Himself ITV
2011 Jamie's Dream School Himself Channel 4
2009 Lewis - "Counter Culture Blues" Vernon Oxe ITV
2008 The Mr. Men Show narrator Five
2007 The Company Elihu TNT
2007 How Gay Sex Changed the World[18] Himself Channel 4
2007 Trick or Treat - Episode 4 Himself Channel 4
2006 Midsomer Murders - "Dead Letters" Doctor Richard Wellow ITV
2006 Classical Destinations[19][20] Narrator Sky Arts
2005 Rome Publius Servilius BBC
2005 Doctor Who - "The Unquiet Dead" Charles Dickens BBC
2004 Shoebox Zoo Wolfgang the Wolf/Hunter the Horse BBC Scotland
2003 Angels in America Prior Walter Ancestor #2 Avenue Pictures Productions
2001 Don't Eat The Neighbours Fox & Bear CITV
1998 Trial & Retribution II Rupert Halliday La Plante Productions
1996 An Audience With Charles Dickens 1996, Ambassador Theatre Charles Dickens BBC
1994 Little Napoleons Edward Feathers Channel 4
1993 Femme Fatale Vicar Ronnie BBC
1990 Old Flames Nathaniel Quass BBC
1987 Inspector Morse: The Wolvercote Tongue Theodore Kemp ITV
1986 Dead Head Hugo Silver BBC
1986 David Copperfield Mr Micawber BBC
1984 Chance in a Million Tom Chance Channel 4
1981 The Man of Destiny Napoleon BBC
1976 The Sweeney Detective Sergeant Thames Television
1975 Get Some In! Wally Thames Television