John Ronald Simm (born July 10, 1970 in Leeds, West Yorkshire) is an English actor and musician. He is best known for his role as DI Sam Tyler in the BBC detective drama Life on Mars. He has also recently appeared as the latest incarnation of the Master in the long-running BBC science fiction series Doctor Who.
Simm was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire and grew up in Nelson, Lancashire. His father, Ronald, was a local musician who taught him to play guitar. John would join his father on stage in the working men’s clubs playing the guitar, he made his debut singing Elvis's Wooden Heart, and they called themselves 'Us2'. He carries his father's name, Ronald, as his middle name.
In 1986 and at the age of 16, John went to Blackpool Drama College for three years, and starred in West Side Story. He then attended the Drama Centre in London at the age of 18, where he studied the Stanislavski School of method acting.[citation needed]
In the 90s, the band in which John played guitar, Magic Alex (named after The Beatles' electrician) toured with Echo and the Bunnymen on two tours, and also sang backing vocals on an album by Echo and the Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch. He also made his TV debut in 1992 with a role in the TV series Rumpole of the Bailey.
He starred in Boston Kickout and won the Best Actor award at the Valencia Film Festival.
In 1995 John played the troubled teenager Bill Nash in Jimmy McGovern's acclaimed ITV police drama, Cracker.
In 1997 John starred in the first series of the critically acclaimed and often controversial The Lakes, a BBC series written by Jimmy McGovern. In 1999 he starred in the second series of The Lakes as well as appearing in Human Traffic and Wonderland.
In 2000 he starred in the opening episode of the acclaimed drama Clocking Off written by Paul Abbott, with whom he would later work on the award-winning political thriller series State of Play.
In 2002 he featured in the film 24 Hour Party People as enigmatic New Order frontman Bernard Sumner. At a live concert in Finsbury Park the same year, Simm sang "Digital" onstage with New Order. It was also this year that he played Raskolnikov in the BBC adaptation of his favourite book, Crime and Punishment.
In 2004 he played a researcher and investigator for a charity in a Channel 4 drama Sex Traffic, the hard hitting drama that follows the plight of two young Moldovan sisters sold into sexual slavery.
He recently starred as Detective Inspector Sam Tyler in the popular 2006 BBC series Life on Mars in which he played a police officer apparently sent back in time to 1973. The second series began on BBC One on February 13, 2007. The show won the Pioneer Audience Award for Best Programme at the 2007 BAFTA TV Awards, although Simm lost out on the award for Best Actor.
In March 2007, he appeared on Channel 4 in The Yellow House, a biographical drama produced by talkbackTHAMES about the lives of artists Vincent van Gogh (Simm) and Paul Gauguin (John Lynch).
In February 2007, it was reported that Simm was to appear in the 2007 series of the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who as the Master, a recurring enemy of the Doctor. He made his first appearance on the June 16, 2007 episode, "Utopia", where he appeared as the Master following Derek Jacobi's brief portrayal of the character.
In April 2007, it was announced that Simm would resume the role of Cal McCaffrey in the second series of State of Play, with Bill Nighy also returning to the show although Simm has said himself that he would not be reprising the role.
He will reunite with his Life on Mars co-star Philip Glenister— with whom he also appeared in Clocking Off and State of Play—in the forthcoming 1980s-set crime film Tuesday, in which the pair play bank robbers. Upon the announcement of the film, Glenister joked that he and Simm were contractually obliged to work with each other once a year.
He is married to actress Kate Magowan, who appeared alongside him in 24 Hour Party People, and they have two children; Ryan, born 13 August 2001, and Molly, born in February 2007. Simm is a supporter of Manchester United.
