MSN is reporting the death of British stage and screen actor Simon Ward, after a lengthy illness. Born 16 October 1941 in London, England, the star of Zulu Dawn (1979) and The Three Musketeers (1973) was “a staple of the British theatre, TV and film industries for five decades. He recently starred as Bishop Gardiner in Showtime’s The Tudors.”
He joined the National Youth Theatre at the age of 13, and stayed there for eight years. He then attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and worked in regional theatre before moving to the West End. His big theatre break came in 1967, in Joe Orton’s Loot, which led to film and television roles. “He gained acclaim for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in director Richard Attenborough’s epic Young Winston in 1972 and he portrayed the Duke of Buckingham in The Three Musketeers a year later.”
His genre roles include appearances in: Around the World in 80 Days (1989), Supergirl (1984), The Monster Club (1981), Dominique (1979), Holocaust 2000 (1977), Deadly Strangers (1976), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1974), Quest for Love (1971), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), and six episodes of Jackanory (1967-68).
Among his survivors are his daughter, actress Sophie Ward.