ALBION FOREVER AT SUN HILL NICK;
BAGGIES FAN GED LEAVES THE BILL - WITH A REMINDER
The 41-year-old is shamelessly using his national TV exposure to plug his beloved team.
'I'm a die-hard fan,' said Ged, who was born and grew up in a house in Oxhill Road, Handsworth, close to The Hawthorns. 'It's been in my family for generations and I try and go and see as many games as possible. I was thrilled I got tickets for the Crystal Palace game when Albion got promoted. When I was told DI Cullen was leaving I decided to make an on-screen statement of my allegiance by getting my Baggies mug in every shot!'
Ged will be seen in about five more pre-recorded episodes before departing from our screens.
The Bill was Ged's first big acting break. But he nearly didn't get it because he was on the brink of a career change to become a fireman.
'There was a spell when I did consider jacking it all in and applied to the fire service,' he said.
Sharp-eared viewers noticed DI Cullen's slight Brummie accent.
'When they created that part they originally wanted him to be real East End, but when I got the role they told me they were happy to keep my own accent,' Ged said.
Ged was axed when a new executive producer took over last September and decided to give the programme a new image - which included a massive cull of characters.
'I'm sad to go in one sense because I enjoyed it and it was well paid,' he said. 'But in another sense I'm glad because I hadn't been there long enough to get typecast.
Ged is in an episode of Holby City in September and will also appear in daytime soap The Doctors, made at Pebble Mill.
He will be returning to his home city in late October in a national tour with the Told by an Idiot Theatre Company at the MAC.
Ged went to St Augustine's primary school, then Handsworth Grammar, and represented the region in athletics, football and basketball.
He got the acting bug while doing his A-levels and taking part in a school play and went on to Walsall College before joining local amateur dramatics group The Grange Players.
From there he got a place at East 15 drama school and slogged away doing theatre and fringe work.
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![[Pic from Black Country Evening mail]](gedbcem2a.jpg)
Ged Simmons in Victoria Square
Birmingham Evening Mail August 5, 2002/Black Country Evening Mail August 5, 2002
A HUGE thanks to Susan, who supplied the Cult with this article, to the Evening Mail who took pity on a poor desperate Austrlalian and sent me a back copy of the Black Country Evening mail for free and to Laura B who found out about the possibility of back orders being available.