

We were invited to the house
that Simon Oates shared with his wife Jaki in November 2008, to
conduct an interview for The Avengers Declassified. We spent a happy
Saturday afternoon in their company, chatting over a splendid lunch
and eventually recording the interview a few hours later. It seemed
almost the wrong thing to do, to have to record a formal interview,
since we were being made to feel to welcome and everything was so
convivial. Simon proved to be an ideal interview subject, interesting
and amusing even where his memory was perhaps failing. He was kind,
patient and encouraging, despite our probably rather obvious
weaknesses as interviewers. He was good-humoured and delighted to talk
of his career and life. In a nutshell, Simon was a charming gentleman
– and the perfect host.
Sadly, Simon was also quite
obviously not a well man. He told us that his illness was being
"managed" and that he was generally able to live a pretty normal life.
Considering this, we were surprised and impressed that Simon did not
tire in the six or seven hours that we were in his company. Indeed, he
seemed to enjoy being given the chance to chat about his career, his
life, family and interests. Naturally, we were extremely grateful for
his entertaining us, and felt privileged to have had the opportunity – one
which came about by sheer chance. Alan's mother rang us one evening in
September to say that as part of a genealogy group outing, she had
visited a farmhouse that had been home – back in 1525 – to one of the
families being researched by the group. The property was now owned by
an actor who had once played John Steed and who had been in a BBC show
called Doomwatch. Obviously, it didn't take long for us to work
out who that actor was – about a nanosecond, actually! Since we were
at that point researching The Avengers stage show, this seemed
a remarkable coincidence and so we thought we'd cheekily write to him
and ask for an interview. Simon was away when we sent our letter and
telephoned us as soon as he returned. "Come down and see us," he said.
"Much better than writing or the phone!"
Consequently, we rolled up at Simon
and Jaki's on Saturday 1st November, at once excited and anxious.
Would it go well? Would we hit it off? Would Simon and Jaki think we
were nutters? We shouldn't have worried. They were both so warm,
welcoming and seemingly delighted to see us. We shared a fine salad
lunch and chatted over the table on subjects as varied as Simon and
Jaki's respective careers (Jaki was a photographic model, a
contemporary of the likes of Jean Shrimpton), sport, music, television
and theatre today, the history of their home, their involvement in the
community and we even discussed Alan's mother! Simon also revealed a
few gems in the conversation – about his dalliance with stand-up
comedy in the Sixties and the near-miss he had with James Bond in the
following decade – which we were able to hurriedly incorporate into
the interview questions later, too. As mentioned earlier, the
interview went very well and the finished piece can be read by
following the hyperlinks to the right of this page.
After we concluded the interview
session, Simon showed us a letter that he had received, which was
obviously the source of great pride and emotion for him. It was a
handwritten two-page letter from fellow actor, Sir David Jason.
Apparently, when filming wrapped on the most recent Frost
drama, the cast had got together and exchanged stories of how they got
their start in the business. David's beginnings in theatre and
television were helped in no small way by Simon, who went along to see
David in an amateur production and promptly got him his first paying
job as an actor. David wanted Simon to know that this act of faith and
kindness hadn't been forgotten and that he would always be grateful to
him. This clearly meant a great deal to Simon, and it was so touching
that he wanted to share this with us.
Subsequently, our contact with
Simon was by post and telephone. We rang him the next day to thank him
profusely for his and Jaki's many kindnesses and we were bowled over
at his reply: "You don't need to thank us. You're friends now." What a
lovely, charming and down to earth man. Over the coming months, we
sent Simon a few examples of his work on DVD and each time, the
telephone would ring and there would be Simon, saying how kind we were
and how great it was to see his old shows again, "not that I'm in the
habit of getting in each evening and saying, 'Let's watch some
Simon Oates on the TV,' you know!". Eminently quotable, witty and
modest.
When we saw Simon and Jaki in
November, they were gearing up for a big family Christmas at the
farmhouse. Fortunately, Simon's health kept up for that, but
tragically took a turn for the worse in the New Year. After a spirited
fight with disease, Simon Oates passed away on the morning of
Wednesday 20th May 2009. We only knew him for a very short time, but
it's no understatement to say that we feel so very privileged to have
met this absolutely exemplary and wonderful man and had the
opportunity to get to know him a little.
Simon was a fine actor – one of
those who you never saw turning in a weak performance, and who would
make you anticipate something good if you saw his name crop up in a
cast list. He was the sort of actor who could steal scenes with an
efficiency of effort while others were chewing the scenery and
screaming, "look at me!". A rare talent.
We will remember the day that we
spent in Simon and Jaki's company for many, many years and will always
think of them both with a great fondness and admiration. As a mark of
our respect and affection, we have dedicated The Avengers Declassified
website
to Simon and his memory. Rest in peace, Simon. You were a gentleman in
every sense of the word. And thank you.
Written by Alan and Alys Hayes
Simon Oates image from 'The Cult of Doomwatch'
supplied by Scott Burditt
Click here to read The Times Obituary by Brian Pendreigh
Published Monday 15th June 2009
Click here to read The Independent Obituary by Anthony Hayward
Published Monday 22nd June 2009
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