Simon Ward on AllMovie

London-born Simon Ward had pretty fair idea of what he wanted to do with his life from an early age. At 15, Ward became a member of what was later formalized as the National Youth Theatre. Trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he made his professional stage debut with the Northhampton Repertory in 1963 and his London theatrical bow one year later in The 4th of June. His first film appearance was an uncredited role as one of the sociopathic students in Ken Russell's If.... (1968). In 1972, he played the title role in Young Winston (Churchill, that is), and the following year played the Duke of Buckingham in Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers (1973). He was also seen as a fictional Nazi functionary (the "nice" one, with whom the audience is supposed to identify) in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973). Later film roles ran the gamut from author/veterinarian James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small (1977) to Zor-El in Supergirl (1984). Simon Ward is the father of actress Sophie Ward.