| There is a Ged. |
| In fact, not only is there a Ged - but he's very kindly supplied us with a load of information about himself and his career! So settle down here to find out all you wanted to know about ~ Ged Simmons~ Ged Simmons was born on the 26th of September 1960 in Handsworth, Birmingham. He has three brothers and a sister and both his parents are still alive. Ged says he is little over 6'1". He grew up in Handsworth where he represented his area in athletics and played football for Aston Boys. Ged completed a Bachelor of Arts in Leisure and Recreational Studies at West Midlands College in Walsall, just outside Birmingham. Shortly after that, in 1984, he spent a year in Australia, where he has relatives. He got see all the states except for the ACT and Western Australia on this trip and in Ged�s words: ��.had a thoroughly fantastic time while I was there.� Ged has since visited Australia for second time. �I returned to Oz about four years ago for a six week visit, during which time I learned to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef - one of the best things I've ever done in my life.� It was after his return to England from the first trip that Ged joined an amateur drama group based in Walsall - 'The Grange Players' based in Walsall. He then auditioned for, and was accepted by, East 15 drama school. At East 15 Ged met another Brummie actor who would go on to star in The Bill - Clive Wedderburn. Clive was a first year on the three year course and Ged was doing the one year post- graduate course. They're now both represented by the same agents in a further coincidence. �I left drama school in I988. The first 6-8 years of my acting 'career' were spent mainly doing unpaid or low paid theatre productions and the odd corporate video. The theatre jobs were good experience as I got to play some interesting roles, including a couple of major Shakespearean characters. My first break in TV was in a kids' show called Timebusters� In Timebusters Ged played the evil Edwardian Inspector Devereaux and a Bow Street Runner . In 1994 Ged played his first role in The Bill as Mr Hopkins, the father of a teenage toerag, in A Touch of Braid. �My TV career really started picking up speed over the eighteen months or so after my last Aussie trip, when I was getting pretty much a job a month playing small roles in a variety of British TV productions.� These roles included the following: Doctors - Mr John Marsh - Under Pressure (2000) Doctors - Too Much Pressure (2001) The Bill - Jack Richards - Pressure Point (1999) The Bill � Danny Greaves - Animals (1997) Bodyguards - DC Murray Doomwatch: Winter Angel - Police Sergeant In The Land Of Plenty - soccer referee Shiner - Paramedic Touching Evil III - Prison Warden Eleven Men Against Eleven - Tommy Smith The Stretch - Murphy Trust - Prison Guard �I seemed to corner the market playing anything in a uniform (coppers, security guards, prison warders, paramedics) so it was ironic that when I got my big break (Cullen) it was playing a plain clothes copper.� It turns out that we were lucky to get Ged as Cullen � �At the time I was cast in the role I was seriously thinking (for the third time in my career) about jacking it all in and getting a 'proper' job. Fortunately, every time I've almost given up, I've been saved by the offer of a really good job. (Next time I have a bit of a quiet period I'll think about giving up immediately!) My most high profile theatre job (one of those ones that saved me) was playing Boxer the horse in a high-energy physical theatre adaptation of George Orwell's 'Animal Farm'. It was a very successful production which toured the UK, came into London and we also took it to the Jerusalem festival for a week, which was a tremendous experience.� SPOILER WARNING!!!!! Cullen has been written out and Ged finished up at The Bill in about April 2002 with last episode being screeend in the UK on the 2oth October, 2002. Ged, though, says that , �In one sense I will be sad to leave 'The Bill' as I love working here �However, now isn't a bad time to be coming out in terms of my career; I haven't been in the show so long that people identify me too strongly with the character but I've been in long enough to have gained a lot of very useful experience. I think I'm a better screen actor now than when I started. Let's see where it will lead. I'm always excited by new challenges, which is why a lot of people go into acting - things are always in flux for most of us.� So, devastated as we are to lose Cullen from our TV screens, we can at least be comforted that Ged is looking forward to the opening up of new opportunities � and live in hope that we may soon be seeing Ged in other roles. ;o) As well as acting Ged is keen on a variety of sports. �I got to go diving again last year in the Red Sea. I try to keep fit by running, swimming, playing football (soccer to you antipodean heathens!) and walking. I support West Bromwich Albion football team, who are having quite a good season this year.� There is also a chance Ged may be out in Australia again one day. �I like travelling and look forward to seeing more of the world when I get the time and money. I have relatives in Oz and would certainly love to get over there again and visit them, but I don't know when.� Perhaps we�d better all start writing to UK TV and the ABC and telling them what a great promotion a visit from Ged would be! ;o) |
| Whilst most of this information was supplied by Ged I have also made use of information to be found at The Bill Official Website and at TVTome |
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| A huge thank you to Ged Simmons who wrote me the nicest letter and supplied a load of information about himself for the website - when I wasn't even really expecting I'd get an answer to my letter. |
| There is a God! ~ DI Alex Cullen, in heartfelt tones in 'Suffer Little Children' |
| Updated 23-5-02 |
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| Ged as Danny Greaves in Animals. |