Michael Simkins
Encyclopedia
Michael Simkins is an English
actor
.
, Sussex
. He attended Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School and while still at school performed works by Gilbert and Sullivan
in a group called the Wandering Minstrels, which he co-founded in Brighton
in the 1970s.
Simkins graduated from RADA
in the mid-1970s in the same year as Timothy Spall
and is now an Associate Member of RADA.
.
In 2007 Simkins published Fatty Batter, a book about his lifelong obsession with cricket
. The book tells how, from his earliest awkward days as a fat boy growing up in Brighton
to his years running a team of dysfunctional inadequates still chasing the sweet spot, cricket offered him a shelter from life's irksome realities and a place in which to quietly dream. The book was shortlisted for the Costa book prize and has sold well in excess of 40,000 copies.
In 2009 Detour De France: An Englishman In Search Of A Continental Education by Michael Simkins, is published by Ebury on May 7. Michael decided to take a break from his day-job as an actor to spend three months discovering his very own Gallic fantasy.
) as well as West End theatre productions including Mamma Mia!
and Chicago
. In the late 1980s he starred in a short video on energy conservation with Rebecca Front
. In 1996, Simkins played Paul in the Sondheim
Musical Company
directed by Sam Mendes
. From 16 April 2007, Simkins played the character Billy Flynn in the London production of Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre
. This is the role played by Richard Gere
in the 2002 film version. He also played the role of Sam Carmichael in the stage version of Mamma Mia
, a role played in the 2008 film version by Pierce Brosnan
.
Michael can regularly be seen playing Dr Lionel Mead in the TV series Doctors.
He is married to the actress Julia Deakin
.
He appeared in Donkeys Years in the West End and directed the national tour in autumn 2007
In June 2009, he appeared in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I
at the Royal Albert Hall
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
Life and career
Simkins was born in BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
. He attended Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School and while still at school performed works by Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
in a group called the Wandering Minstrels, which he co-founded in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
in the 1970s.
Simkins graduated from RADA
Rada
Rada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
in the mid-1970s in the same year as Timothy Spall
Timothy Spall
Timothy Leonard Spall, OBE is an English character actor and occasional presenter.-Early life:Spall, the third of four sons, was born in Battersea, London. His mother, Sylvia R. , was a hairdresser, and his father, Joseph L. Spall, was a postal worker...
and is now an Associate Member of RADA.
Books
His autobiography, What's My Motivation, published in March 2004, describes the highs and lows of a jobbing actor. This work came out of a series of weekly articles published in The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
.
In 2007 Simkins published Fatty Batter, a book about his lifelong obsession with cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
. The book tells how, from his earliest awkward days as a fat boy growing up in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
to his years running a team of dysfunctional inadequates still chasing the sweet spot, cricket offered him a shelter from life's irksome realities and a place in which to quietly dream. The book was shortlisted for the Costa book prize and has sold well in excess of 40,000 copies.
In 2009 Detour De France: An Englishman In Search Of A Continental Education by Michael Simkins, is published by Ebury on May 7. Michael decided to take a break from his day-job as an actor to spend three months discovering his very own Gallic fantasy.
Acting
Simkins has starred in film and television (including a recurring character in Foyle's WarFoyle's War
Foyle's War is a British detective drama television series set during World War II, created by screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz, and was commissioned by ITV after the long-running series Inspector Morse came to an end in 2000. It has aired on ITV since 2002...
) as well as West End theatre productions including Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...
and Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
. In the late 1980s he starred in a short video on energy conservation with Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front is a BAFTA Award–winning English comedian and actress best known for her performances in The Thick of It in the late 2000s, and series of critically acclaimed satirical comedies in the early 1990s: On The Hour, The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You...with Alan Partridge...
. In 1996, Simkins played Paul in the Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
Musical Company
Company (musical)
Company is a musical with a book by George Furth and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The original production was nominated for a record-setting fourteen Tony Awards and won six....
directed by Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes
Samuel Alexander "Sam" Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He is best known for his Academy Award-winning work on his debut film American Beauty and his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret , Oliver! , Company and Gypsy . He's currently working on the 23rd James Bond...
. From 16 April 2007, Simkins played the character Billy Flynn in the London production of Chicago at the Cambridge Theatre
Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929-30. It was designed by Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie; interior partly by Serge Chermayeff, with interior bronze friezes by sculptor Anthony Gibbons...
. This is the role played by Richard Gere
Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor. He began acting in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar, and a starring role in Days of Heaven. He came to prominence in 1980 for his role in the film American Gigolo, which established him as a leading man and a sex symbol...
in the 2002 film version. He also played the role of Sam Carmichael in the stage version of Mamma Mia
Mamma Mia!
Mamma Mia! is a stage musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on the songs of ABBA, composed by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, former members of the band. Although the title of the musical is taken from the group's 1975 chart-topper "Mamma Mia", the plot is fictional, not...
, a role played in the 2008 film version by Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brosnan
Pierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
.
Michael can regularly be seen playing Dr Lionel Mead in the TV series Doctors.
He is married to the actress Julia Deakin
Julia Deakin
-Work:On television, Deakin played Stella Tulley in Side by Side and Marsha, the ageing but lovely divorcée landlady, in the British sitcom Spaced ....
.
He appeared in Donkeys Years in the West End and directed the national tour in autumn 2007
In June 2009, he appeared in Rodgers & Hammerstein's The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
.