16 Facts About Simon Ward

Simon Anthony Fox Ward was a British stage and film actor from Beckenham, England.

Simon Ward was known chiefly for his performance as Winston Churchill in the 1972 film Young Winston.

Simon Ward played many other screen roles, including those of Sir Monty Everard in Judge John Deed and Bishop Gardiner in The Tudors.

Simon Ward was born on 16 October 1941 in Beckenham, the son of Leonard Fox Ward, a car dealer, and his wife Winifred.

Simon Ward received his formal education at Alleyn's School, London, where from the age of 14 he was one of the founding members of its drama group that became the National Youth Theatre, and stayed for eight years.

Simon Ward trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1961.

Simon Ward worked in repertory in Northampton, Birmingham and Oxford and occasionally in London's West End.

Simon Ward was primarily a stage actor when selected to play the title role in Young Winston in 1971, the role which brought him to national prominence.

The in-demand Simon Ward starred in several high-profile films during the remainder of the 1970s.

Simon Ward was seen as Captain Hoffmann, a fictional Nazi functionary, in Hitler: The Last Ten Days.

In 1986, Simon Ward starred in the title role of Ross, the first West End revival of Terence Rattigan's play since its original run in 1960.

Simon Ward made few films after the 1970s, although he did have a major role in the Ralph Fiennes version of Wuthering Heights, alongside his daughter Sophie Simon Ward.

Simon Ward believed the attack, which left him with a broken skull that needed brain surgery, caused the chronic blood disorder, polycythaemia that affected his career.

In 2010, Simon Ward appeared in the title role in the British tour of Alan Bennett's play The Madness of George III.

In 1964, Simon Ward married Alexandra Malcolm, whom he met while they were students at RADA.

Simon Ward's body was buried in Highgate Cemetery in London.