Ward, the star who captured Winston, dies at 70
THE acclaimed actor Simon Ward, who made his name in Richard Attenborough’s Churchill biopic Young Winston, has died aged 70 after a long illness.
His wife Alexandra and daughters Sophie, Claudia and Kitty, who is married to comedian Michael McIntyre, were by his bedside when he died in his sleep on Friday.
The son of a car dealer from Beckenham in Kent, Ward decided to go into
‘I’ve never desperately
wanted fame’
acting when he was in his teens. He joined the National Youth Theatre at 13 before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
His first break came in 1967 when he played the lead in Joe Orton’s dark satire Loot in the West End.
His film career began five years later after Attenborough picked him for the title role in Young Winston, alongside Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft.
He went on to play the Duke of Buckingham in The Three Musketeers, William Vereker in Zulu Dawn and author and veterinarian James Herriot in the film adaptation of All Creatures Great and Small.
He starred alongside his daughter Sophie in Wuthering Heights and ITV1’ s Heartbeat, and more recently appeared in the historical drama The Tudors.
Ward faced some significant struggles in his personal life.
He underwent major brain surgery in the 1980s after being found unconscious with his skull broken beside a canal in Camden, North London. He is believed to have been attacked by a man armed with a shovel, but no one was charged because there were no witnesses.
He later developed the blood disorder polycythaemia, which leaves sufferers with higher-than-normal concentrations of red cells and an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and other problems. He said in an interview: ‘My career has suffered because of the jobs I have missed out on and I am convinced my blood disorder developed as a result of the attack.’
In 1996 his daughter Sophie, who was married to vet Paul Hobson and had two children, announced she was a lesbian.
In 2001 Ward moved from London to Somerset, and returned to performing on stage.
Most recently he appeared in touring productions of Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband and Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III.
Of his move, he said: ‘It’s taken the edge off my hunger for working because it’s so beautiful here. I love spending time with my children and six grandchildren.’
Ward confessed he had never been driven, even starting out at Rada: ‘I’ve never desperately wanted anything, neither fame nor riches.
‘The guy who taught us said: “Simon Ward, the thing is, you don’t want anything and, until you do, you will always be a bloody awful actor.” There’s a terrible truth in that!’
Actress Susan Penhaligon, who starred alongside Ward in what she believes was his last stage performance in The Madness of George III, described him as a loyal friend.
She said he had ‘triumphed’ in the play during its three-month run in 2010, showing courage despite his illness.
‘He was a witty, frighteningly clever and handsome, complex man who I worked with a lot. I feel sorry that he is gone,’ she added.