Simon Callow

Simon Philip Hugh Callow (born June 13, 1949) is a highly-regarded British actor of stage, film and television, and the biographer of Orson Welles and Charles Laughton.

He was born in London, England, and studied at Queen's University, Belfast[?] before giving up his degree course to go into acting. He was already a successful stage actor before making his film debut in a minor role in Amadeus in 1984 (having played Mozart in the original stage production at the National Theatre[?]).

By his thirties, Callow's appearance had condemned him to playing character, and often comic, parts. He starred in several series of the Channel 4 sitcom, Chance in a Million, as Tom Chance, an eccentric individual to whom coincidences happened regularly. Ironically, roles like this and his part in Four Weddings and a Funeral (the "funeral" was his) brought him a wider audience than his many critically-acclaimed stage appearances. At the same time, he was successful both as a director and as a writer -- mostly of works about acting.

Callow, who is openly gay, also wrote about a former relationship in his partial autobiography, Love Is Where It Falls (1998).

In 1999, he was awarded the CBE for his services to acting.