40 Facts About Simon MacCorkindale

Simon Charles Pendered MacCorkindale was a British actor, film director, writer, and producer from Ely, England.

Simon MacCorkindale spent much of his childhood moving around owing to his father's career as an officer with the Royal Air Force.

Simon MacCorkindale went on to appear in numerous roles in television, including the series I, Claudius and Jesus of Nazareth, before starring as Simon Doyle in the film Death on the Nile.

Simon MacCorkindale appeared in a variety of films and TV series including Quatermass, The Riddle of the Sands, The Sword and the Sorcerer and Jaws 3-D.

In 1983, MacCorkindale starred in the short-lived series Manimal as the lead character, Dr Jonathan Chase, reprising the role in Night Man, before taking up the longer-running role of lawyer Greg Reardon in Falcon Crest.

Simon MacCorkindale returned to the United Kingdom in 2002 and joined the cast of the BBC medical drama Casualty, appearing in the role of Harry Harper for six years until 2008.

Simon MacCorkindale spent some of his childhood in Edinburgh, where his father was stationed for a period, although Peter Simon MacCorkindale's changing postings necessitated 17 moves to places across Europe.

Simon MacCorkindale attended Haileybury and Imperial Service College from 1965 to 1970, where he was Head Boy and a member of the Air Training Corps.

Simon MacCorkindale considered joining the diplomatic corps to become an ambassador, but instead opted to become a stage director after developing an interest in theatre.

Simon MacCorkindale opted to continue acting after graduating from the Theatre of Arts; he decided to amass more experience in the role to have better confidence as a director.

Simon MacCorkindale started his acting career in theatre, touring the United Kingdom with a repertory theatre group.

Simon MacCorkindale made his West End theatre debut in a production of Pygmalion in 1974, appearing alongside Alec McCowen and Diana Rigg in the role of "Sarcastic Bystander".

Simon MacCorkindale went on to appear in a number of other TV series, including Within These Walls, Sutherland's Law, I, Claudius and Jesus of Nazareth.

Simon MacCorkindale was cast as Simon Doyle in the 1978 film adaptation of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile at the age of 25.

Simon MacCorkindale won the London Evening Standard Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer for this part.

Simon MacCorkindale went on to star as sailor and spy Arthur Davies in The Riddle of the Sands, the film adaptation of the celebrated Erskine Childers' novel.

Simon MacCorkindale played astronomer Joe Kapp in Nigel Kneale's TV serial Quatermass, starring alongside John Mills.

Simon MacCorkindale had previously starred in an episode of Kneale's series Beasts and enjoyed appearing in the role of Kapp, finding it a change from the typecast romantic roles that he had become accustomed to playing, while noting that it was "challenging" conveying the character's strong Jewish faith.

Kneale later expressed disappointment with Simon MacCorkindale's performance, commenting, "We had him in Beasts playing an idiot and he was very good at that".

Simon MacCorkindale was eventually cast in the adventure series Manimal for NBC in 1983, in which he played the lead character Professor Jonathan Chase, an Englishman who assists police in the fight against crime with his ability to transform into animals.

The role impressed Simon MacCorkindale, who considered Chase to be a "very cerebral individual".

Simon MacCorkindale "found himself in the first wave of British stars to make it big in America," along with Joan Collins in Dynasty, which led to a further influx of British actors finding work in the United States.

Simon MacCorkindale asked for the character, originally an American named Brad, to be rewritten as British, and directed one episode.

Simon MacCorkindale appeared in the films Caboblanco and The Sword and the Sorcerer, and starred as Philip FitzRoyce in the third part of the Jaws film series, Jaws 3-D.

Simon MacCorkindale was offered the part by producer Robert Lantos, who wanted to work with MacCorkindale while for his part the actor wished to return to acting after three years running Amy International.

Simon MacCorkindale starred in numerous TV films throughout the 1990s, including a part as the villain in The Girl Next Door.

Simon MacCorkindale was surprised to be offered the role of Harper given the many years that he had spent working in North America, but having settled in Exmoor found Bristol to be an accessible production base.

Simon MacCorkindale appeared as Harper in the Casualty spin-off series Holby City and Casualty@Holby City.

In January 2007, Simon MacCorkindale was given a five-month sabbatical from Casualty because a plotline required that his character be temporarily removed from the series.

Simon MacCorkindale took the opportunity to tour the United Kingdom in a revival of the Agatha Christie murder mystery play The Unexpected Guest.

Simon MacCorkindale then returned to Casualty, but having re-discovered his taste for theatre, left the series permanently in 2008 to appear as Andrew Wyke in a UK tour of Anthony Shaffer's Sleuth.

Simon MacCorkindale produced, directed and wrote a number of film, television and theatre productions throughout his career.

Simon MacCorkindale subsequently directed, wrote and produced a number of projects for Amy International, including the film Stealing Heaven, and the film Djavolji Raj, which stars George and features romantic theme music composed by MacCorkindale.

Simon MacCorkindale then wrote the screenplay for a biographical film of the missing peer Lord Lucan, which he planned to produce and act in, although financial problems resulted in the cancellation of the project in 1996.

Simon MacCorkindale served as co-executive producer for the 2000 syndicated TV series Queen of Swords, and as co-producer for the 2002 series Adventure Inc.

Simon MacCorkindale co-produced the third season of Relic Hunter in 2002.

Simon MacCorkindale underwent surgery to remove part of his bowel during a two-week break from filming Casualty.

Simon MacCorkindale did not disclose his condition to his colleagues, often finding it surreal when his character had to inform patients about cancer or other incurable diseases.

Simon MacCorkindale invested significantly in private cancer treatments in the United States, though these efforts met with limited success.

In November 2009, Simon MacCorkindale publicly announced that his cancer was terminal.