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| name = Simon Gipps-Kent
| name = Simon Gipps-Kent
| image = SimonGipps-Kent.gif
| image = SimonGipps-Kent.gif
| imagesize = 150px
| caption = Gipps-Kent in 1979
| caption = Gipps-Kent in 1979
| birth_name = Simon Trevor Kent
| birth_name = Simon Trevor Kent
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1958|10|25|df=yes}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1958|10|25|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[London]], England, UK
| birth_place = [[London]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|9|16|1958|10|25|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1987|9|16|1958|10|25|df=y}}
| death_place = London, England, UK
| death_place = London, England
| resting_place = [[Cremation| Cremains]] scattered at [[Golders Green Crematorium]]<br>Section 3H
| resting_place = [[Cremation| Cremains]] scattered at [[Golders Green Crematorium]]
| nationality = [[English people|English]]
| employer =
| employer =
| occupation = [[Theatre|Stage]], [[film]], [[television]] [[actor]]
| occupation = [[Theatre|Stage]], [[film]], [[television]] [[actor]]
| years_active = 1971–86
| years_active = 1971–1986
| notable_works = ''[[Lost Hearts]]''<br>''[[List of The Tomorrow People serials#Series 2|The Tomorrow People]]''<br>''[[Great Expectations]]''<br>''[[The Devil's Crown]]''<br>''[[Doctor Who]]''<br>''[[To Serve Them All My Days (TV series)|To Serve Them All My Days]]''
| notable_works = ''[[Lost Hearts]]''<br>''[[List of The Tomorrow People serials#Series 2|The Tomorrow People]]''<br>''[[Great Expectations]]''<br>''[[The Devil's Crown]]''<br>''[[Doctor Who]]''<br>''[[To Serve Them All My Days (TV series)|To Serve Them All My Days]]''
| height = {{convert|5|ft|7|in|m|sigfig=3}}<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook">[http://www.simon-gipps-kent.info/simon-gipps-kent-scrapbook Simon-Gipps-Kent.info: Simon Gipps-Kent Scrapbook], scanned documents; accessed 20 May 2018.</ref>
| height = {{convert|5|ft|7|in|m|sigfig=3}}<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook">[http://www.simon-gipps-kent.info/simon-gipps-kent-scrapbook Simon-Gipps-Kent.info: Simon Gipps-Kent Scrapbook], scanned documents; accessed 20 May 2018.</ref>
| education = [[London Oratory School]]<br>[[Henry Edward Manning|Cardinal Manning Roman Catholic Boys' School]]
| education = [[London Oratory School]]<br>[[Henry Edward Manning|Cardinal Manning Roman Catholic Boys' School]]
| death_cause = [[Inquests in England and Wales#Verdict|Misadventure]]<ref name="death certificate"/><br>([[morphine]] poisoning)
| death_cause = [[Inquests in England and Wales#Verdict or conclusions|Misadventure]]<ref name="death certificate">Simon Trevor Gipps-Kent death certificate/Registered January 15, 1988.</ref><br>([[morphine]] poisoning)
| parents =
| parents =
}}
}}


'''Simon Gipps-Kent''' (born '''Simon Trevor Kent'''; 25 October 1958 – 16 September 1987) was a prolific<ref>Alistair D. McGown & Mark J. Docherty,[https://books.google.com/books?id=k6ZkAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Simon+Gipps-Kent%22&dq=%22Simon+Gipps-Kent%22&cd=1 ''The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia''], British Film Institute, 2003, p. 97.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> 20th-century [[English people|English]] [[theatre]] and [[film]] [[actor]] in the 1970s–80s, noted for his teenage portrayals of British [[Royal family|royalty]] and [[nobility]].<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook"/><ref name="RememberingBrandon.net">[http://www.rememberingbrandon.net/BdW-for-the-Month-of---.html Profile], RememberingBrandon.net; accessed 27 October 2015.</ref> He was born into a show business family in [[Kensington]], London. His television debut was on the [[BBC]] in 1971 followed with a London [[West End theatre]] debut in 1972. He continued to act on stage, film and television until the year before his death in 1987.
'''Simon Gipps-Kent''' (born '''Simon Trevor Kent'''; 25 October 1958 – 16 September 1987)<ref>Alistair D. McGown & Mark J. Docherty,[https://books.google.com/books?id=k6ZkAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Simon+Gipps-Kent%22&dq=%22Simon+Gipps-Kent%22&cd=1 ''The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia''], British Film Institute, 2003, p. 97.<!-- ISSN/ISBN needed --></ref> was an English [[theatre]] and [[film]] [[actor]] in the 1970s and 1980s, known for his teenage portrayals of British [[Royal family|royalty]] and [[nobility]].<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook"/><ref name="RememberingBrandon.net">[http://www.rememberingbrandon.net/BdW-for-the-Month-of---.html Profile], RememberingBrandon.net; accessed 27 October 2015.</ref> He was born into a show business family in [[Kensington]], London. His television debut was on the [[BBC]] in 1971 followed with a London [[West End theatre]] debut in 1972. He continued to act on stage, film and television until the year before his death in 1987.


==Early life and education==
==Early life and education==
Line 31: Line 29:


==Theatre==
==Theatre==
Simon Gipps-Kent, as he would later call himself, had early experience on the British stage that, according to his talent agency listings, included alternately playing one of the royal children (either Prince Bertie or Prince Alfie) in ''[[I and Albert]]'' at the [[Piccadilly Theatre]] in 1972–73 and as Max-Ernst Von Kellig in ''[[A Lesson in Blood and Roses]]'' headlining with [[Ben Kingsley]] at the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] in 1973. He appeared in the production ''[[Fantastic Fairground]]'' at the [[Young Vic]] in 1974 and a Young Vic tour of ''[[Macbeth]]'', playing [[Fleance]], in Mexico and Spain in 1975. Gipps-Kent played "Emmanuel" to [[Herbert Lom]]'s [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in [[William Douglas-Home]]'s ''Betzi'' at the [[Haymarket Theatre]] and road tour in 1975. In 1976–77 he appeared in ''[[Where the Rainbow Ends]]'' at the Gardner Theatre, [[Brighton]].<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook"/>
Simon Gipps-Kent, as he would later call himself, had early experience on the British stage that, according to his talent agency listings, included alternately playing one of the royal children (either Prince Bertie or Prince Alfie) in ''[[I and Albert]]'' at the [[Piccadilly Theatre]] in 1972–73, and as Max-Ernst von Kellig in ''A Lesson in Blood and Roses'', starring with [[Ben Kingsley]] at the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]] in 1973. He appeared in the production ''Fantastic Fairground'' at the [[Young Vic]] in 1974, and a Young Vic tour of ''[[Macbeth]]'', playing [[Fleance]], in Mexico and Spain in 1975. Gipps-Kent played "Emmanuel" to [[Herbert Lom]]'s [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in [[William Douglas-Home]]'s ''Betzi'' at the [[Haymarket Theatre]] and on a provincial tour in 1975. In 1976–77 he appeared in ''[[Where the Rainbow Ends]]'' at the Gardner Theatre, [[Brighton]].<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook"/>


Gipps-Kent, in a 1979 newspaper interview headlined ''Simon's Problem Is Time'', expressed his desire to move on to adult roles, including more [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], but in spite of his accumulated credentials to date, had been denied those opportunities. Due to his "boyish good looks and modest figure", he found himself playing younger characters than his real age, mostly on British television, for the majority of his career.
In a 1979 newspaper interview titled ''Simon's Problem is Time'', Gipps-Kent expressed his wish to move on to adult roles, including more [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]], but in spite of his accumulated credentials to date, he had been denied those opportunities. Due to his "boyish good looks and modest figure", he found himself playing younger characters than his real age, mostly on British television, for the majority of his career.


Gipps-Kent later returned to West End theatre work in the 1981 run of [[Romulus Linney (playwright)|Romulus Linney]]'s ''[[Childe Byron]]'' at the Young Vic with [[David Essex]] as [[Lord Byron]].<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook"/><ref name="UOKent">[http://www.kent.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/theatre/r.php/36414/show.html Theatre Special Collections], University of Kent; accessed 27 October 2015.</ref> For five months in 1983 he appeared in the London Shakespeare Group's productions of ''Betrayal'' and ''[[Twelfth Night]]'', which also played a short season at the [[Donmar Warehouse]] and toured extensively for the [[British Council]] in China, Japan and throughout the Far East, Middle East and Africa.<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook"/>
Gipps-Kent later returned to London theatre work in the 1981 run of [[Romulus Linney (playwright)|Romulus Linney]]'s ''[[Childe Byron]]'' at the Young Vic with [[David Essex]] as [[Lord Byron]].<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook"/><ref name="UOKent">[http://www.kent.ac.uk/library/specialcollections/theatre/r.php/36414/show.html Theatre Special Collections], University of Kent; accessed 27 October 2015.</ref> For five months in 1983 he appeared in the London Shakespeare Group's productions of ''Betrayal'' and ''[[Twelfth Night]]'', which also played a short season at the [[Donmar Warehouse]] and toured extensively for the [[British Council]] in China, Japan and throughout the Far East, Middle East and Africa.<ref name="Simon-Gipps-Kent.info Scrapbook"/>


Gipps-Kent appeared in a [[Wyndham's Theatre]] stage and road tour production of [[Sue Townsend]]'s ''[[The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾]]'' from 1984 to 1986 as the character "''Barry'' ''Kent''".<ref name="Theatricalia Adrian Mole">[https://theatricalia.com/play/5d5/the-secret-diary-of-adrian-mole-aged-13-34/production/w72 Theatricalia: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4]; accessed 20 May 2018.</ref>
Gipps-Kent appeared at [[Wyndham's Theatre]] and on a provincial tour in [[Sue Townsend]]'s ''[[The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾]]'' from 1984 to 1986 as the character "''Barry'' ''Kent''".<ref name="Theatricalia Adrian Mole">[https://theatricalia.com/play/5d5/the-secret-diary-of-adrian-mole-aged-13-34/production/w72 Theatricalia: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4]; accessed 20 May 2018.</ref>


==Television and films==
==Television and films==
Gipps-Kent's first television appearance was at age 13 in [[Philip Saville]]'s 1971 ''[[O Fat White Woman]]'' for BBC's ''[[Play for Today]]'', in a story by [[William Trevor]] of a teacher who takes pleasure in abusing his students.<ref name="BFI O Fat White Woman">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140725230323/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b061102 "O Fat White Woman"], British Film Institute; accessed 27 October 2015.</ref> He returned to ''Play for Today'' in 1974 in ''After the Solo''. He appeared as the bookworm orphan Peter Beresford in the [[Thursday's Child (television series)|1972–73 BBC adaptation]] of [[Noel Streatfeild]]'s 1970 [[children's literature|children's book]] ''[[Thursday's Child (Noel Streatfeild novel)|Thursday's Child]]''.<ref name="McGown">{{cite book|title=The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia|author=Alistair D. McGown, Mark J. Docherty|year=2003|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|page=74-75}}</ref> He headlined as the preteen orphan Stephen in the BBC television adaptation of [[M. R. James]]' ''[[Lost Hearts]]'', first broadcast on Christmas Day 1973, as part of the ''[[A Ghost Story for Christmas]]'' series and now preserved in the [[British Film Institute]] (BFI) collection.<ref name="imdb"/>
His first television appearance was at age 13 in [[Philip Saville]]'s 1971 ''O Fat White Woman'' for BBC's ''[[Play for Today]]'', in a story by [[William Trevor]] of a teacher who takes pleasure in abusing his students.<ref name="BFI O Fat White Woman">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140725230323/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6b061102 "O Fat White Woman"], British Film Institute; accessed 27 October 2015.</ref> He returned to ''Play for Today'' in 1974 in ''After the Solo''. He appeared as the bookworm orphan Peter Beresford in the [[Thursday's Child (television series)|1972–73 BBC adaptation]] of [[Noel Streatfeild]]'s 1970 [[children's literature|children's book]] ''[[Thursday's Child (Noel Streatfeild novel)|Thursday's Child]]''.<ref name="McGown">{{cite book|title=The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia|author=Alistair D. McGown, Mark J. Docherty|year=2003|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|page=74-75}}</ref> At age 15 he headlined as the preteen orphan Stephen in the BBC television adaptation of [[M. R. James]]'s ''[[Lost Hearts]]'', first broadcast on Christmas Day 1973, as part of the ''[[A Ghost Story for Christmas]]'' series and now preserved in the [[British Film Institute]] (BFI) collection.<ref name="imdb"/>


In 1974 Gipps-Kent appeared in "[[List of The Tomorrow People serials#Series 2|The Doomsday Men]]" episodes of the children's [[science fiction on television|science fiction television series]] ''[[The Tomorrow People]]'' and played young [[Pip (Great Expectations)|Pip]] (to [[Michael York (actor)|Michael York]]'s adult Pip) in a [[television movie|made-for-TV]] retelling of the [[Charles Dickens]] [[Great Expectations|novel]] ''[[Great Expectations (1974 film)|Great Expectations]]'' for the ''Bell System Family Theatre'', airing in the United States on 22 November 1974.<ref name="NY Times-Great Expectations">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160119113533/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/125957/Great-Expectations/overview ''Great Expectations (1974)''], nytimes.com; accessed 30 October 2015.</ref>
In 1974 Gipps-Kent appeared in "[[List of The Tomorrow People serials#Series 2|The Doomsday Men]]" episodes of the children's [[science fiction on television|science fiction television series]] ''[[The Tomorrow People]]'', and played young [[Pip (Great Expectations)|Pip]] (to [[Michael York (actor)|Michael York]]'s adult Pip) in a [[television movie|made-for-TV]] retelling of the [[Charles Dickens]] [[Great Expectations|novel]] ''[[Great Expectations (1974 film)|Great Expectations]]'' for the ''Bell System Family Theatre'', airing in the United States on 22 November 1974.<ref name="NY Times-Great Expectations">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160119113533/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/125957/Great-Expectations/overview ''Great Expectations (1974)''], nytimes.com; accessed 30 October 2015.</ref>


In 1974, in a film for the then [[Children's Film Foundation]], he starred in ''[[The Firefighters]]'' as a "junior firefighter" accused of arson who must, with the aid of his younger brother and sister, prove his innocence and find the real arsonists before his court appearance.<ref name="BFI The Firefighters">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120805112711/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6aa2c032 ''The Firefighters''], bfi.org.uk; accessed 27 October 2015.</ref> That production and the entire CFF archive are now curated by the BFI. Also in 1975, he appeared in ''[[Edward the Seventh]]'', again portraying young [[Edward VII|Prince Edward]] ("Bertie"), this time for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]. For a time he also played Kenton Archer in the BBC radio serial ''[[The Archers]]''.<ref name="imdb">{{IMDb name|0320557}}</ref>
In 1974, in a film for the then [[Children's Film Foundation]], he starred in ''The Firefighters'' as a "junior firefighter" accused of arson who must, with the aid of his younger brother and sister, prove his innocence and find the real arsonists before his court appearance.<ref name="BFI The Firefighters">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120805112711/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6aa2c032 ''The Firefighters''], bfi.org.uk; accessed 27 October 2015.</ref> That production and the entire CFF archive are now curated by the BFI. Also in 1975, he appeared in ''[[Edward the Seventh]]'', again portraying young [[Edward VII|Prince Edward]] ("Bertie"), this time for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]. For a time he also played Kenton Archer in the BBC radio serial ''[[The Archers]]''.<ref name="imdb">{{IMDb name|0320557}}</ref>


Gipps-Kent starred in ''A Traveller in Time'' (1978), a BBC series based on the children's book by [[Alison Uttley]] about the [[Babington Plot]], and in "V for Victory", an episode of the TV series ''[[Enemy at the Door]]''. Also in 1978, he was featured in episodes of ''[[The Devil's Crown]]'' as [[Arthur I, Duke of Brittany]] and played the part of "Willie" in [[Peter McDougall]]'s supernatural drama ''[[Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man]]'', both for the BBC. Gipps-Kent had the uncredited speaking part of a posh party boy in ''[[Quadrophenia (film)|Quadrophenia]]'' (1979), based loosely on the 1973 [[rock opera]] [[Quadrophenia|of the same name]] by [[The Who]] and appeared in the ''[[Doctor Who (season 17)]]'' story "[[The Horns of Nimon]]".<ref name="imdb"/>
Gipps-Kent starred in ''A Traveller in Time'' (1978), a BBC series based on the children's book by [[Alison Uttley]] about the [[Babington Plot]], and in "V for Victory", an episode of the TV series ''[[Enemy at the Door]]''. Also in 1978, he was featured in episodes of ''[[The Devil's Crown]]'' as [[Arthur I, Duke of Brittany]], and played the part of "Willie" in [[Peter McDougall]]'s supernatural drama ''Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man'', both for the BBC. Gipps-Kent had the uncredited speaking part of a posh party boy in ''[[Quadrophenia (film)|Quadrophenia]]'' (1979), based loosely on the 1973 [[rock opera]] [[Quadrophenia|of the same name]] by [[The Who]], and appeared in the ''[[Doctor Who (season 17)]]'' story ''[[The Horns of Nimon]]''.<ref name="imdb"/>


Gipps-Kent headlined in two [[Southern Television]] serials based on books written by British children's authors; ''Midnight is a Place'' (1977), by [[Joan Aiken]], and ''Noah's Castle'' (1980), by [[John Rowe Townsend]]. As "Chad Boyer", he reunited with ''Devil's Crown'' actor [[John Duttine]] in his BBC series ''[[To Serve Them All My Days (TV series)|To Serve Them All My Days]]'' (1980), based on the [[R. F. Delderfield]] novel. Also in 1980, his appearance in [[Jill Gascoine]]'s [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] series ''[[The Gentle Touch]]'' paired him with soon-to-be pop star [[Limahl]].
Gipps-Kent headlined in two [[Southern Television]] serials based on books written by British children's authors; ''Midnight is a Place'' (1977), by [[Joan Aiken]], and ''Noah's Castle'' (1980), by [[John Rowe Townsend]]. As "Chad Boyer", he reunited with ''Devil's Crown'' actor [[John Duttine]] in his BBC series ''[[To Serve Them All My Days (TV series)|To Serve Them All My Days]]'' (1980), based on the [[R. F. Delderfield]] novel. Also in 1980, his appearance in [[Jill Gascoine]]'s [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] series ''[[The Gentle Touch]]'' paired him with soon-to-be pop star [[Limahl]].


Gipps-Kent was "Rudkin the Messenger" in the never-broadcast [[The Black Adder (Blackadder)|pilot episode]] for the [[Rowan Atkinson]] comedy series ''[[The Black Adder]]'' in 1982. That same year Gipps-Kent guest-starred in a series 4 episode of the popular British children's programme ''[[Metal Mickey]]''. He was a series regular on ''[[Eureka (UK TV series)|Eureka]]'' in the 80s, playing numerous historic and fictional characters, such as [[J.P. Knight]], with other series regulars like [[Sylvester McCoy]].<ref name="Eureka">[http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=simon+gipps-kent+eureka&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00%3A00&tt=00%3A00#search ''Eureka | Radio Times''], genome.ch.bbc.co.uk; accessed 09 January 2018.</ref>
Gipps-Kent was "Rudkin the Messenger" in the [[The Black Adder (Blackadder)|pilot episode]] for the [[Rowan Atkinson]] comedy series ''[[The Black Adder]]'' in 1982. That same year Gipps-Kent guest-starred in a series 4 episode of the popular British children's programme ''[[Metal Mickey]]''. He was a series regular on ''[[Eureka (UK TV series)|Eureka]]'' in the 80s, playing numerous historic and fictional characters, such as [[J.P. Knight]], with other series regulars like [[Sylvester McCoy]].<ref name="Eureka">[http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=simon+gipps-kent+eureka&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00%3A00&tt=00%3A00#search ''Eureka | Radio Times''], genome.ch.bbc.co.uk; accessed 09 January 2018.</ref>


==Death==
==Death==
Simon Gipps-Kent died in his flat on Cavendish Road in the [[London Borough of Brent]] on 16 September 1987.<ref name="death certificate"/> His funeral was held on 28 September at the [[Golders Green Crematorium]]. His body was cremated there and his ashes were later scattered on the Crocus Lawn, Section 3H.
Simon Gipps-Kent died in his flat on Cavendish Road in the [[London Borough of Brent]] on 16 September 1987, aged 28.<ref name="death certificate"/> His funeral was held on 28 September at the [[Golders Green Crematorium]]. His body was cremated there and his ashes were later scattered on the Crocus Lawn, Section 3H.


A [[coroner#inquest|coroner's inquest]] held on 14 January 1988 ruled his death as [[Death by misadventure|misadventure]] caused by [[morphine]] poisoning, the death certificate being registered the following day.<ref name="death certificate">Simon Trevor Gipps-Kent death certificate/Registered January 15, 1988.</ref>
A [[coroner#Inquest conclusions (previously called verdicts)|coroner's Inquest conclusions (previously called verdicts)]] held on 14 January 1988 ruled his death as [[Death by misadventure|misadventure]] caused by [[morphine]] poisoning, the death certificate being registered the following day.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}


==Filmography==
==Selected Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
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|-
|-
| 1973
| 1973
| ''[[Lost Hearts]]''
| ''[[Lost Hearts (1973 film)|Lost Hearts]]''
| Stephen
| Stephen
| <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001qqt|title=BBC Four - Lost Hearts|website=BBC}}</ref>
| <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001qqt|title=BBC Four - Lost Hearts|website=BBC}}</ref>
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| ''[[The Tomorrow People]]''
| ''[[The Tomorrow People]]''
| Paul
| Paul
| 4 episodes
| 4 episodes: The Doomsday Men
|-
|-
| ''[[Great Expectations (1974 film)|Great Expectations]]''
| ''[[Great Expectations (1974 film)|Great Expectations]]''
| [[Pip (Great Expectations)|Young Pip]]
| [[Pip (Great Expectations)|Young Pip]]
| TV Movie
| TV movie
|-
|-
| 1975
| 1975
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* {{YouTube|UbGM7_xR0oc|Simon Gipps-Kent in ''Lost Hearts'' (1973) video clip}}
* {{YouTube|UbGM7_xR0oc|Simon Gipps-Kent in ''Lost Hearts'' (1973) video clip}}
* {{YouTube|K3RFBKia1ko|Simon Gipps-Kent and Peter Cook in Barclays Bank television commercial (1980)}}
* {{YouTube|K3RFBKia1ko|Simon Gipps-Kent and Peter Cook in Barclays Bank television commercial (1980)}}
*{{Find a Grave|148752747|accessdate=June 10, 2016}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

Latest revision as of 11:06, 4 September 2024

Simon Gipps-Kent
Gipps-Kent in 1979
Born
Simon Trevor Kent

(1958-10-25)25 October 1958
London, England
Died16 September 1987(1987-09-16) (aged 28)
London, England
Cause of deathMisadventure[1]
(morphine poisoning)
Resting place Cremains scattered at Golders Green Crematorium
EducationLondon Oratory School
Cardinal Manning Roman Catholic Boys' School
Occupation(s)Stage, film, television actor
Years active1971–1986
Notable workLost Hearts
The Tomorrow People
Great Expectations
The Devil's Crown
Doctor Who
To Serve Them All My Days
Height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[2]

Simon Gipps-Kent (born Simon Trevor Kent; 25 October 1958 – 16 September 1987)[3] was an English theatre and film actor in the 1970s and 1980s, known for his teenage portrayals of British royalty and nobility.[2][4] He was born into a show business family in Kensington, London. His television debut was on the BBC in 1971 followed with a London West End theatre debut in 1972. He continued to act on stage, film and television until the year before his death in 1987.

Early life and education

[edit]

Simon Trevor Kent was born in London to Peter Gipps Kent, a variety artist, and Sonia (née Aebersold) Kent, a dancer. At age 12 he decided acting would be his career. As a youth he attended the Ladbroke Grove School in West London where he wrote, produced, directed and acted in his own play as a way of gaining recognition.[2] Brought up as a Catholic, he attended the London Oratory School in Brompton from September 1970 to June 1974, moving to Cardinal Manning Roman Catholic Boys' School, also in London.[2]

Theatre

[edit]

Simon Gipps-Kent, as he would later call himself, had early experience on the British stage that, according to his talent agency listings, included alternately playing one of the royal children (either Prince Bertie or Prince Alfie) in I and Albert at the Piccadilly Theatre in 1972–73, and as Max-Ernst von Kellig in A Lesson in Blood and Roses, starring with Ben Kingsley at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1973. He appeared in the production Fantastic Fairground at the Young Vic in 1974, and a Young Vic tour of Macbeth, playing Fleance, in Mexico and Spain in 1975. Gipps-Kent played "Emmanuel" to Herbert Lom's Napoleon Bonaparte in William Douglas-Home's Betzi at the Haymarket Theatre and on a provincial tour in 1975. In 1976–77 he appeared in Where the Rainbow Ends at the Gardner Theatre, Brighton.[2]

In a 1979 newspaper interview titled Simon's Problem is Time, Gipps-Kent expressed his wish to move on to adult roles, including more Shakespeare, but in spite of his accumulated credentials to date, he had been denied those opportunities. Due to his "boyish good looks and modest figure", he found himself playing younger characters than his real age, mostly on British television, for the majority of his career.

Gipps-Kent later returned to London theatre work in the 1981 run of Romulus Linney's Childe Byron at the Young Vic with David Essex as Lord Byron.[2][5] For five months in 1983 he appeared in the London Shakespeare Group's productions of Betrayal and Twelfth Night, which also played a short season at the Donmar Warehouse and toured extensively for the British Council in China, Japan and throughout the Far East, Middle East and Africa.[2]

Gipps-Kent appeared at Wyndham's Theatre and on a provincial tour in Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ from 1984 to 1986 as the character "Barry Kent".[6]

Television and films

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His first television appearance was at age 13 in Philip Saville's 1971 O Fat White Woman for BBC's Play for Today, in a story by William Trevor of a teacher who takes pleasure in abusing his students.[7] He returned to Play for Today in 1974 in After the Solo. He appeared as the bookworm orphan Peter Beresford in the 1972–73 BBC adaptation of Noel Streatfeild's 1970 children's book Thursday's Child.[8] At age 15 he headlined as the preteen orphan Stephen in the BBC television adaptation of M. R. James's Lost Hearts, first broadcast on Christmas Day 1973, as part of the A Ghost Story for Christmas series and now preserved in the British Film Institute (BFI) collection.[9]

In 1974 Gipps-Kent appeared in "The Doomsday Men" episodes of the children's science fiction television series The Tomorrow People, and played young Pip (to Michael York's adult Pip) in a made-for-TV retelling of the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations for the Bell System Family Theatre, airing in the United States on 22 November 1974.[10]

In 1974, in a film for the then Children's Film Foundation, he starred in The Firefighters as a "junior firefighter" accused of arson who must, with the aid of his younger brother and sister, prove his innocence and find the real arsonists before his court appearance.[11] That production and the entire CFF archive are now curated by the BFI. Also in 1975, he appeared in Edward the Seventh, again portraying young Prince Edward ("Bertie"), this time for ITV. For a time he also played Kenton Archer in the BBC radio serial The Archers.[9]

Gipps-Kent starred in A Traveller in Time (1978), a BBC series based on the children's book by Alison Uttley about the Babington Plot, and in "V for Victory", an episode of the TV series Enemy at the Door. Also in 1978, he was featured in episodes of The Devil's Crown as Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, and played the part of "Willie" in Peter McDougall's supernatural drama Tarry-Dan Tarry-Dan Scarey Old Spooky Man, both for the BBC. Gipps-Kent had the uncredited speaking part of a posh party boy in Quadrophenia (1979), based loosely on the 1973 rock opera of the same name by The Who, and appeared in the Doctor Who (season 17) story The Horns of Nimon.[9]

Gipps-Kent headlined in two Southern Television serials based on books written by British children's authors; Midnight is a Place (1977), by Joan Aiken, and Noah's Castle (1980), by John Rowe Townsend. As "Chad Boyer", he reunited with Devil's Crown actor John Duttine in his BBC series To Serve Them All My Days (1980), based on the R. F. Delderfield novel. Also in 1980, his appearance in Jill Gascoine's ITV series The Gentle Touch paired him with soon-to-be pop star Limahl.

Gipps-Kent was "Rudkin the Messenger" in the pilot episode for the Rowan Atkinson comedy series The Black Adder in 1982. That same year Gipps-Kent guest-starred in a series 4 episode of the popular British children's programme Metal Mickey. He was a series regular on Eureka in the 80s, playing numerous historic and fictional characters, such as J.P. Knight, with other series regulars like Sylvester McCoy.[12]

Death

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Simon Gipps-Kent died in his flat on Cavendish Road in the London Borough of Brent on 16 September 1987, aged 28.[1] His funeral was held on 28 September at the Golders Green Crematorium. His body was cremated there and his ashes were later scattered on the Crocus Lawn, Section 3H.

A coroner's Inquest conclusions (previously called verdicts) held on 14 January 1988 ruled his death as misadventure caused by morphine poisoning, the death certificate being registered the following day.[citation needed]

Selected Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1973 Lost Hearts Stephen [13]
1974 The Tomorrow People Paul 4 episodes: The Doomsday Men
Great Expectations Young Pip TV movie
1975 Edward the Seventh Younger Bertie Miniseries
1977 Enemy At The Door Billy le Prevost Episode: V' For Victory
1978 The Devil's Crown Arthur Miniseries
1979 Quadrophenia Boy at Party Uncredited
1979–1980 Doctor Who Seth Episode: The Horns of Nimon
1980 To Serve Them All My Days Chad Boyer Miniseries
1982 Blackadder Rudkin Original Pilot

References

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  1. ^ a b Simon Trevor Gipps-Kent death certificate/Registered January 15, 1988.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Simon-Gipps-Kent.info: Simon Gipps-Kent Scrapbook, scanned documents; accessed 20 May 2018.
  3. ^ Alistair D. McGown & Mark J. Docherty,The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia, British Film Institute, 2003, p. 97.
  4. ^ Profile, RememberingBrandon.net; accessed 27 October 2015.
  5. ^ Theatre Special Collections, University of Kent; accessed 27 October 2015.
  6. ^ Theatricalia: The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4; accessed 20 May 2018.
  7. ^ "O Fat White Woman", British Film Institute; accessed 27 October 2015.
  8. ^ Alistair D. McGown, Mark J. Docherty (2003). The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia. British Film Institute. p. 74-75.
  9. ^ a b c Simon Gipps-Kent at IMDb
  10. ^ Great Expectations (1974), nytimes.com; accessed 30 October 2015.
  11. ^ The Firefighters, bfi.org.uk; accessed 27 October 2015.
  12. ^ Eureka | Radio Times, genome.ch.bbc.co.uk; accessed 09 January 2018.
  13. ^ "BBC Four - Lost Hearts". BBC.
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