Introduction
Cliff Simon (7 September 1962 – 9 March 2021) was a South African born athlete and actor, best known for his portrayal of Ba'al in Stargate SG-1.
Early life
Simon was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the fourth child of Emmanuelle and Phylis Simon. Both of his parents are of Jewish ancestry from Poland and Lithuania. From a very young age, Simon dreamed of becoming the first South African swimmer to win an Olympic Gold medal. His training started early under the guidance of his mother, a swimming teacher.By age 6, he showed some talent as a gymnast. By age 15, Cliff had reached a national level in South Africa in both swimming and gymnastics, but he decided to discontinue training in gymnastics to better focus on swimming.
In 1975, his parents decided to emigrate to the United Kingdom, due to the then-current turmoil in Africa. It was there that Simon completed his schooling and was chosen to swim in the British International squad. He competed in Olympic trials and qualified for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The University of Houston and Southern Methodist University in Texas offered him scholarships, where he trained with the United States swimming team, the Mustangs. This would have culminated in him competing in the 1984 Olympic Games. However, he quit after three years of intense training, due to his concerns that his social life was suffering.
Back in South Africa, Simon entered the air force where he continued his swimming and achieved the highest athletic award given in the air force, the Victor Ludorum.
Acting career
In 1982, after serving his two-year term in the air force, he landed a job teaching windsurfing and waterskiing at a resort hotel. A stage show was in production at the resort, and Simon was informed by one of the performers that the choreographer was looking for a gymnast. Taking that job, he performed worldwide in various stage productions as a dancer/acrobat, culminating as a performer at the Moulin Rouge, Paris, (and principal dancer after six months in the chorus) in 1989.
A big break came when he won the first Mr. South Africa contest and thus a producer offered him a part in the bilingual South African soap opera Egoli: Place of Gold. Whilst studying drama, Simon secured himself a modelling agent and enjoyed success in ramp, print and television commercials. Simon received recognition as a model in South Africa and was asked to enter the Mr. South Africa talent and action man competition. On winning this competition in 1992, Simon was offered an audition on the television series, Egoli: Place of Gold. After three months as guest star on the show, he accepted a lead role which he continued for six years.
In 1997, he married his girlfriend in a game lodge in South Africa. He immigrated to the US in 2000, arriving in Los Angeles. Simon secured an agent, and landed a guest star role with Don Johnson on the hit TV series, Nash Bridges. A short time after that, he acquired the guest star role of Ba'al on Stargate SG-1. Ba'al became a recurring character for six seasons and was featured in the 2008 Stargate movie Stargate: Continuum. In 2015, Simon appeared in a video as Ba'al for the conservation group, Sea Shepherd.
In July 2015, Simon was confirmed for a supporting role in the sci-fi/thriller "Project Eden".
In 2019, Simon presented the travelogue documentary Into the Unknown (Uncharted Mysteries UK title) which premiered on The History Channel in the UK on 24 February 2020. The premise of that show was solo global travel, searching for hidden clues to "history's most nightmarish myths."
In 2005, he became a United States citizen.
Death
Simon died in a kiteboarding accident in Topanga, California, on 9 March 2021, aged 58.
Filmography
- Egoli: Place of Gold – Gregory (Mitch) Mitchel (unknown episodes, 1992–1999)
- Operation Delta Force 5: Random Fire– Austin (2000)
- Nash Bridges – Dirk van der Goes (1 episode, 2000)
- Stargate SG-1 – Ba'al (15 episodes, 2001–2007)
- Stargate: Continuum – Ba'al (2008)
- 24 – Russian Sniper (Season 8 Episode 1, 2009)
- Undercovers – (season 1, episode 4: "Jailbreak", 2010)
- NCIS: Los Angeles – Hans Christian Kemp (season 2, episode 13: "Archangel", 2011)
- The Americans– Mossad Agent
- NCIS: New Orleans– Dmitry Babakov (Season 1, Episode 03: "Breaking Brig", 2014) (Credit as Cliff Marc Simon)
- Castle – Polkovnik(Season 7, Episode 04: "Child's Play", 2014) (Credit as Cliff Marc Simon)
- Into the Unknown (Uncharted Mysteries UK title) – Himself (2020)