Josette Simon is an English actor of Antiguan descent. [1] [2] Her first theatrical role was as a chorus member in the Leicester Haymarket Theatre production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat , which was followed by several minor roles in other productions at the same venue. [1] [3] She went on to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama. [1]
Her first television role was as Dayna Mellanby in the third and fourth series of the television sci-fi series Blake's 7 from 1980 to 1981. [1] [4] She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 for a two-year cycle, and had four minor roles in Shakespeare plays in her first year: as a witch, a spirit and twice as a servant, which was typical for new members of the company. [5] In 1984 she was taken on for another two-year cycle, and starred as Dorcas Ableman in Golden Girls , directed by Barry Kyle, which became a breakthrough role for her. [6] [7] Later that year she landed her first leading role at the RSC, the first for a black actress, when she was cast by Kyle as Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost . [6] In 1985 she directed Heavenly Body by Didier Van Couvelaert for two performances at the Gulbenkian Studio and one night at the Almeida Theatre. [8] [9] In 1987, Simon appeared for the RSC again, in the lead role of Isabella in Measure for Measure . [10] [11] Later leading roles for the RSC saw her as Titania/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999–2000) and, after a seventeen year interval, Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra (2017–18). [12] [13] [14]
On radio, Simon played the title character in the 1985 BBC Radio 3 production of Mirandolina . [15] She was the lead in David Zane Mairowitz's play Dictator Gal, broadcast on the same station in 1992. [16] [17] Her film appearances include the part of Dr. Ramphele in Cry Freedom (1987), [18] [19] and the lead role of Joanna in Milk and Honey (1988). [20] She also starred in the 1992 television play Bitter Harvest and alongside Brenda Fricker in the two-part television series Seekers , written by Lynda La Plante in 1993. [21] [22] More recently, she had a recurring role as a defence lawyer in Anatomy of a Scandal (2022). [23]
She won the Evening Standard's Best Actress award, [24] a Critics' Circle Theatre Award, and Plays and Players Critic Awards for Arthur Miller's After the Fall , [25] [26] in which she played Maggie, thought to have been based on Marilyn Monroe. [11] Simon was nominated as Best Actress at the 1989 Genie Awards for her part in the film Milk and Honey (1988), [20] and won the Best Actress award at both the Atlantic Film Festival and Creteil International Women's Film Festival for the role. [27] [28] She gained a Prix Futura Award nomination for the radio play Dictator Gal (1993). [27] Simon was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2000, for services to drama. [29]
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1980–1981 | Blake's 7 | Dayna Mellanby | BBC1, series 3 and 4, 26 episodes | [4] [30] |
1980 | The Cuckoo Waltz | Bonnie | ITV | [31] |
1980 | The Squad | Noble Bartlett | ITV, episode: "Decoy" | [32] [33] |
1984 | Play for Today | Linda King | BBC1, episode: "King" | [34] [35] |
1986 | Pob's Programme | guest | Channel 4 | [36] |
1986 | Harem | Geisla | ABC TV movie, two parts | [37] [38] |
1986 | Save a Life: A is for Airway | cast member | BBC1 | [39] [40] |
1986 | Umbrella | guest | BBC1 | [41] |
1986 | The Pyrates | Sheba | BBC2 | [42] [43] |
1987 | The Trumpet of a Prophecy | participant | Channel 4 | [44] [45] |
1988 | Thompson | cast member | BBC1, two episodes | [46] [47] [48] |
1989 | Here is the News | Catherine Jones | BBC2, part of Screen Two | [44] [49] [50] |
1989 | Somewhere to Run | Christine | ITV | [51] |
1989 | Child Slaves | narrator | BBC2 | [52] |
1989 | Capital City | Beatrice | ITV | [44] [53] |
1990 | TECX | Charlotte | ITV, episode: "Writing on the Wall" | [54] [55] |
1990 | When Love Dies | Annabel | Channel 4, part of 4 Play | [56] |
1992 | A Child from the South | Nadia Sagov | Channel 4 TV movie | [57] |
1992 | Bitter Harvest | Vivienne Johnson | BBC2 | [44] [58] |
1992 | Nice Town | Frankie Thompson | BBC2, three episodes | [59] |
1993 | Seekers | Susie | ITV, both episodes | [22] |
1994 | Firebird | narrator | BBC2, part of The Natural World | [60] |
1994 | Shooting Stars | narrator | Channel 4, part of Black Christmas | [61] |
1995 | Henry IV | Kate | BBC2, part of Performance | [62] [63] [64] |
1996 | Bodyguards | Javrunda Hamad | ITV | [65] |
1997 | Bridge of Time | Fatima | ABC TV movie. | [66] [67] |
1997 | Kavanagh QC | Dr. Hilary Jameson | ITV, episode: "Blood Money" | [44] |
1998 | Dalziel and Pascoe | Eileen Anstiss | BBC One, episode: "Bones and Silence" | [44] |
1998, 2011, 2024 | Silent Witness | DCI Jo Hoskins | BBC One, episodes: "Divided Loyalties", parts 1 and 2 (1998) | [44] |
Mrs Ferris | BBC One, episode: "First Casualty", part 2 (2011) | [68] | ||
DCI Ford | BBC One, episode: "Effective Range", Part 2 (2024) | [69] | ||
1999 | Polterguests | Dilys Tring | ITV | [70] [71] |
1999 | Untold: Brown Babies | narrator | Channel 4 | [72] |
2000 | Reputations: Joe Louis: the Boxer Who Beat Hitler | narrator | BBC Two | [73] |
2002 | Celeb | Dawn | BBC One, episode: "The Guest" | [74] [48] |
2003 | The Last Detective | Jemma Duvall | ITV, episode: "Lofty" | [44] |
2005 | The Extraordinary Equiano | narrator | BBC Four | [48] [75] |
2006 | Poirot | Mirelle Milesi | Episode: "The Mystery of the Blue Train" | [44] |
2006, 2025 | Midsomer Murders | Samantha Flint | ITV, episode: "Last Year's Model" (2006) | [76] |
Madeline Saunders | Acorn TV, episode "Claws Out" (2025) | [77] [78] [79] | ||
2006, 2009–2010 | Casualty | Sarah Keith | BBC One, episodes: "The Sunny Side of the Street", parts 1 and 2 (2006) | [48] |
Frances Liveley | BBC One, series 23, three episodes (2009) | [80] | ||
BBC One, series 24, four episodes (2010) | [81] | |||
2007 | Lewis | Stephanie Fielding | ITV, episode: "Expiation" | [44] |
2007 | The Whistleblowers | Linda Hillcott | ITV | [82] [83] |
2008 | The Bill | Rachel Cartwright | ITV | [84] |
2008 | Skins | Elaine | E4, episode "Jal" | [44] [85] |
2009 | Minder | DI Murray | Channel 5, three episodes | [44] [86] |
2009 | Who Do You Want Your Child to Be? | narrator | BBC Two, part of Horizon | [87] [88] |
2010 | The Silence | Therapist | BBC One, two episodes | [89] [90] |
2011 | Spooks | Julia Dennison | BBC One, series 10, episode 1 | [91] |
2012 | Law & Order: UK | Paulette Clarkson | ITV, episode: "Survivor's Guilt" | [92] |
2012 | New Tricks | Vera | BBC One, episode: "Queen and Country" | [93] |
2012 | Merlin | Euchdag / The Diamair | BBC One, episodes: "Arthur's Bane", parts 1 and 2 | [94] |
2014 | Death in Paradise | Judge Anne Stone | BBC One, episode: "An Artistic Murder" | [95] |
2014 | Suspects | Dr. Melanie Standish | Channel 5 | [44] |
2016 | NW | Theodora Lewis Lane | BBC Two | [44] |
2016 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Titania | CBeebies | [96] |
2017 | Broadchurch | Chief Superintendent Clark | ITV, series 3, three episodes | [44] |
2018 | The Split | Maya | BBC One, episode 6 | [97] |
2018 | Jägarna | Ayanda Moganedi | TV4/C More | [98] [99] |
2018 | Zapped | Kerreth | Dave, series 3, episode 6 | [100] [101] |
2019 | Nightflyers | Cynthia | Syfy | [102] |
2019 | Queens of Mystery | Tallulah Savage-Hughes | Acorn TV, two episodes, "Death by Vinyl", parts 1 and 2 | [103] [104] |
2019 | Cleopatra and Me: In Search of a Lost Queen | participant/performer | BBC Four | [105] |
2019 | The Tool | Ms Michaels | Channel 4 Online, part of Comedy Blaps | [106] |
2020 | Riviera | Cynthia Akuffo | Sky Atlantic, series 3, episodes 7 and 8 | [107] [108] |
2020 | The Witcher | Eithne | Netflix | [109] |
2020 | Absentia | Rowena Kincade | Amazon Prime Video | [110] |
2020 | Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators | Henrietta Bolingbroke | BBC One, episode "How The Rogue Roar'd" | [111] |
2020 | Small Axe | Lydia Thomas | BBC One, episode "Education" | [112] |
2021 | The Mallorca Files | Anna Hammond | BBC One, episode: "The Maestro" | [113] |
2022 | Anatomy of a Scandal | Angela Regan | Netflix, six episodes | [23] [114] |
2022 | The Girlfriend Experience | Lindsey | Starz | [115] |
2022 | Halo | Desiderata | Paramount+, episode "Inheritance" | [116] |
2022 | Crossfire | Miriam | BBC One | [117] |
2023 | Sanditon | Elizabeth Greenhorn | ITVX, series 3, episode 2 | [118] [119] |
TBA | Anansi Boys | Chief Commissioner Camberwell | Amazon Prime Video | [120] [121] |
TBA | The Forsytes | Ellen Parker Barrington | PBS Masterpiece | [122] |
Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
1987 | Cry Freedom | Dr. Ramphele | [18] |
1988 | Milk and Honey | Joanna Bell | [18] |
2008 | The Beloved Ones (short) | Maureen | [123] [124] |
2010 | The Nine Muses | voices | [44] |
2012 | Red Lights | Corinne | [125] |
2017 | Wonder Woman | Mnemosyne | [44] |
2018 | Sasha and Joe are getting married (short) | Claire | [126] [78] |
2019 | Detective Pikachu | Grams | [44] |
2020 | The Witches | Zelda | [127] |
2023 | Rea's Men (short) | Rea | [128] [78] |
2024 | Tell That to the Winter Sea | Kat | [129] |
2024 | The Crow | Sophia | [130] |
2025 | Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy | Talitha | [131] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1980 | Cromwell Mansions | cast member | Piccadilly Radio | [194] |
1984 | Meridian | guest | BBC World Service | [195] |
1985, 1992, 1994 | Woman's Hour | guest | BBC Radio 4 | [196] [197] [198] |
1985 | Mirandolina | Mirandolina | BBC Radio 3 | [199] |
1992 | Dictator Gal | the Gal | BBC Radio 3 | [17] |
1992 | Work Talk | guest | BBC Radio 4 | [200] |
1994 | Listen to Me | voice | BBC Radio 3, part of Towards the Millennium | [201] |
1995 | Sealed with a Kiss | Ellen | BBC Radio 4 | [202] |
1996 | The Roads to Freedom | Ivich | BBC Radio 4 | [203] |
1996 | Picasso's Women | Marie-Thérèse | BBC Radio 3 | [204] |
1996, 2006 | Poetry Please! | reader | BBC Radio 4, including two episodes in 2006 | [205] [206] [207] |
1997 | Agonies Awakening | Athena | BBC Radio 3, part of The Sunday Play | [208] |
1998 | Twelfth Night | Olivia | BBC Radio 3, part of The Sunday Play. Also released as an audiobook. | [209] [210] |
2001 | The Josephine Baker Story (by Ean Wood) | reader | BBC Radio 4, part of Book of the Week , five episodes | [211] |
2002 | Voices in the Room | Misha | BBC Radio 4, part of Afternoon Play | [212] |
2002 | Letters to an Icon | Dark Lady/lnvisiblewoman | BBC Radio 4, part of Afternoon Play | [213] [214] |
2006 | And Still I Rise (by Doreen Lawrence) | reader | BBC Radio 4, part of Book of the Week , five episodes | [215] |
2006 | The Verb | actor | BBC Radio 3, in Nick Silver Can't Sleep by Janice Kerbel. | [216] |
2007, 2008, 2011, 2016, 2019, 2021 | Words and Music | reader | BBC Radio 3, episode "Slavery and Freedom" (2007) | [217] |
reader | BBC Radio 3, episode "Birth and Rebirth" (2008) | [218] | ||
reader | BBC Radio 3, episode "Law and Order" (2011) | [219] | ||
reader | BBC Radio 3, episode "Pilgrimage" (2016) | [220] | ||
presenter | BBC Radio 3, episode "Windrush: Some Kind of Homecoming" (2019) | [221] | ||
reader | BBC Radio 3, episode "The Tudors" (2021) | [222] | ||
2012 | The Stephen Lawrence Case | reader | BBC Radio 4, part of The Long View | [223] |
2012 | Alexandre Dumas – The Count of Monte Cristo | Mercedes de Morcerf | BBC Radio 4, three episodes | [224] |
2016 | Women Talking About Cars | narrator | BBC Radio 4, four episodes | [225] |
2017, 2018 | Saturday Live | guest | BBC Radio 4 | [226] |
Inheritance Tracks guest | BBC Radio 4 | [227] | ||
2018 | Choir and Organ | guest | BBC Radio 3 | [228] |
2020 | Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Austen? | Mrs Ragnarrok | BBC Radio 4 | [229] |
2022 | Gossip and Goddesses with Granny Kumar | guest | BBC Radio 4 | [230] |
2022 | Steve Wright in the Afternoon | guest | BBC Radio 2 | [231] |
2023 | Radio 4 Appeal: Pets as Therapy | self | BBC Radio 4 | [232] |
2024 | Limelight | Patricia | BBC Radio 4, five episodes | [233] |
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | The Manager and the Law: Liability: You and the Customer | cast | Training film by Video Arts | [234] |
1991 | Think or Sink | cast | Training film by Video Arts | [235] |
1995 | Strategy | cast | Commissioned by PriceWaterhouseCoopers | [236] |
1995 | The Old Testament | reader | audiobook | [237] |
2002 | Elizabeth II and the Commonwealth | narrator | Commissioned by Foreign and Commonwealth Office | [238] |
2016 | Doctor Who: Classic Doctors, New Monsters | Sarana Teel | Audio drama by Big Finish Productions, episode "The Sontaran Ordeal" | [239] [240] |
2017 | Antony and Cleopatra | Cleopatra | RSC Live from Stratford Upon Avon; relayed to cinemas, and later released on video | [241] |
2018 | Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor Adventures | Taraneh | Audio drama by Big Finish Productions, episode "The Mind Runners" | [242] |
2018 | Antony and Cleopatra: Music & Speeches | Cleopatra | CD featuring extracts from Antony and Cleopatra (2017) | [243] [244] |
Books