John Simmit
{{short description|British actor and stand-up comedian}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = John Simmit
| image =
| birth_place = Birmingham, England
| occupation = Actor, stand-up comedian
| known_for = Playing Dipsy in Teletubbies (1997–2001)
}}
John Simmit is a British actor and stand-up comedian,{{cite news | author=| title= London listings: Pick of the week: Comedy |url= https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2009/jan/31/london-comedy-picks| date= 31 January 2009 |newspaper= The Guardian |location=London| access-date= 12 November 2017 }} best known for playing Dipsy in BBC TV's children's television show Teletubbies from 1997 to 2001.{{cite news |last= Runcie |first= Charlotte |title= Teletubbies: 16 things you didn't know|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/10903566/Teletubbies-16-things-you-didnt-know.html| date= 24 December 2014|newspaper= The Daily Telegraph |location=London| access-date=12 November 2017 }}{{cite news |last= Thorpe |first= Vanessa |title= New York throws a party for the Teletubbies |url= https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/mar/25/usnews.broadcasting| date= 25 March 2007|newspaper= The Observer |location=London| access-date=12 November 2017 }}
Career
His many other TV credits include The Real McCoy,{{cite news |last= Hamilton |first= Davina |title= BBC: ‘We will not be releasing The Real McCoy on DVD' |url= http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/bbc-%E2%80%98we-will-not-be-releasing-real-mccoy-dvd |date= 2 February 2013 |newspaper= The Voice |location= London |access-date= 12 November 2017 |archive-date= 28 October 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181028190319/http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/bbc-%E2%80%98we-will-not-be-releasing-real-mccoy-dvd |url-status= dead }} The Gadget Show and The Big Fat Quiz of the '90s, whilst live he has performed internationally from Bahrain{{citation needed|date=October 2023}} to Budapest.{{cite news |last= Nelson |first= Alex |title= Offbeat: I played Dipsy in Teletubbies – it’s a manageable kind of fame |url= https://inews.co.uk/essentials/culture/television/dipsy-teletubbies-john-simmit/| date= 31 March 2017|newspaper= i |location=London| access-date=12 November 2017 }}
As a producer through Upfront Comedy he has put comedy shows into UK theatres nationwide{{cite news |last= Cook |first= William|title= Colour blind |url= https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2002/oct/08/comedy.williamcook| date= 8 October 2002|newspaper= The Guardian |location=London| access-date= 12 November 2017 }} for 25 years,{{cite news |last= Brady |first= Poppy |title= Save the date: John Simmit is still on comedy's front line |url= http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/save-date-john-simmit-still-comedys-front-line |date= 1 May 2017 |newspaper= The Voice |location= London |access-date= 12 November 2017 |archive-date= 3 June 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190603053918/https://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/save-date-john-simmit-still-comedys-front-line |url-status= dead }} including two major shows in London's west End, in New York & North Carolina.{{citation needed|date= November 2017}} Previewing Upfront's 10th anniversary show, The Guardian noted,
"[T]his anniversary show is yet another excellent standup bill from the most enterprising black comedy promoters in the country. Upfront's first Croydon gig featured Felix Dexter (the first black comic to become a regular performer at Jongleurs and the Comedy Store), plus lapsed Pentecostal choir boy Junior Simpson and Nigerian cockney Gina Yashere. Also on that first bill was the brains behind Upfront, John Simmit […] Thanks to pioneering outfits like Upfront, Britain's black comics are getting some of the mainstream exposure that their talents deserve - and now a growing number of African-American standups are coming here to gig alongside them".{{cite news |last= Cook |first= William |title= Preview: Peter Kay, London - Fathers 4 Justice Benefit, London - Upfront's 10th Birthday, Croydon |url= https://www.theguardian.com/theguide/comedy/story/0,14696,1450240,00.html| date= 2 April 2005|newspaper= The Guardian |location=London| access-date= 12 November 2017 }}
Filmography
- The Real McCoy (1994) - Guest
- Teletubbies (1997–2001) - Dipsy
- Teletubbies Everywhere (2002) - Dipsy
- Today (2007) - guest (as Dipsy and himself)
- The Paul O'Grady Show (2009) - guest (as Dipsy)
- The Big Fat Quiz of the '90s (2012) - Himself
- Respect: A Felix Dexter Special (2013) - Himself
- The Gadget Show (2014) - Himself
- Pikachu & Friends - Charmander
- Stitch's Hawaiian Paradise - Stitch
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0799619}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmit, John}}
Category:20th-century British male actors
Category:21st-century British male actors
Category:Black British male actors
Category:British male comedians
Category:British male television actors
Category:Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Comedians from Birmingham, West Midlands
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