Simon Lack

{{Short description|Scottish actor (1913–1980)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}

{{more citations needed|date=March 2013}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Simon Lack

| image = Actor_Simon_Lack.jpg

| caption = in The Avengers: False Witness (1968)

| birthname = Alexander MacAlpine

| birth_date = {{birth date|1913|12|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = Cleland, Lanarkshire, Scotland, UK

| death_date = {{death date and age|1980|08|8|1913|12|19|df=y}}

| death_place = London, England, UK

| occupation = Actor

}}

Simon Lack (19 December 1913{{spaced ndash}}8 August 1980) was a Scottish actor.{{cite web|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/29417|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071209122013/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/29417|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 December 2007|title=Simon Lack|work=BFI}}

He was born Alexander MacAlpine, in Cleland, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.{{cite web|url=http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw50217/Simon-Lack-Alexander-MacAlpine|title=National Portrait Gallery – Portrait – NPG x76211; Simon Lack (Alexander MacAlpine)|work=npg.org.uk}} Known locally as Alec, he was the youngest child and only son of his father, Alexander McAlpine (known as Sandy) and his mother, Euphemia Ritchie. His sisters were Charlotte (Lottie), Mary, Euphemia (Euphie), Agnes (Nan), and Jenny. Another sister, Jessie, died in childhood. Sandy McAlpine was a stonemason but worked down the mines when there was no masonry work available, making Simon Lack's later role in Proud Valley particularly poignant to those who knew him from his youth. Euphemia Ritchie's family were somewhat wealthier, but she was disowned on account of her choice of husband, and the family lived for many years in a one-room flat (known in Scottish working class language as a 'single end'), although it seems eventually one of her uncles relented and came to their aid.McMurtrie, M (Great niece, from personal knowledge of 'Uncle Alec' and immediate family information) Alec's earliest ventures into acting were in local theatres.{{cite web|url=http://volcanoseven.com/TheSimonLackAffair/Biography.html|title=The Simon Lack Affair – Biography|work=volcanoseven.com}}

He seems to have chosen the pseudonym Simon Lack when he embarked upon the London stage.

He lost five years during the Second World War (as did so many British actors). He served in the European theatre and was present at Monte Cassino.

After the war he returned to acting, getting back into stage work.{{cite web|url=http://thefaceadthevoice.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/simon-lack-obit.html|title=The Face and the Voice: Simon Lack – an Obit|author=Caroline Miniscule|work=thefaceadthevoice.blogspot.co.uk|date=4 April 2011 }}

He was also a member of the BBC Radio company during the late 1950s/early 1960s, and notably guest-starred in all but two of the Paul Temple serials (mysteries) that starred Peter Coke and Marjorie Westbury.{{cite web|url=http://www.radiolistings.co.uk/programmes/p/pa/paul_temple_and_the_spencer_affair.html|title=Paul Temple And The Spencer Affair|work=radiolistings.co.uk}}

His television roles included two Doctor Who serials; The Mind of Evil (1971) and The Androids of Tara (1978).{{cite web | url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9fe3e0bf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180906101810/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9fe3e0bf | url-status=dead | archive-date=6 September 2018 | title=Simon Lack }} He also guest-starred in episodes of The Saint, Jason King, and Doomwatch. He had co-starring roles in Telford's Change, Enemy at the Door and The Borgias.{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/people/simon-lack/|title=Simon Lack|publisher=CBS Interactive|work=TV.com}}