Simon King (television)
Encyclopedia
Simon Henry King OBE
(born 27 December 1962) is a British
television presenter and cameraman, specialising in nature documentaries
.
King has been working in the field of natural history
film making for over 30 years. He has credited his media career to his parents, his father being in the television industry and his mother being involved in the music industry.
He began his career as a child actor at the age of ten in such films as The Fox and Secret Place. In 1976 he accompanied naturalist Mike Kendall in the BBC
series Man and Boy, in which they searched the country for Britain's wildlife
.
, Kenya
to parents John King and Eve King (née Shulman). His father worked with the British Forces Broadcasting Service in Nairobi and later created and produced the antiques programme Going for a Song
. They moved to Bristol
in the United Kingdom in 1964. when John got a job as a reporter for the BBC's Points West news programme. When his parents separated when he was just nine years old, he lived with his mother and elder sister, Debbie
's Costa del Sol
. He has since gone on to produce in excess of 80 natural history films as principal cameraman, director, producer and many more as presenter.
's Christmas dramatised wildlife documentaries including "Rannoch the Red Deer", "Dusk the Badger", "Shadow the Peregrine" and the programmes "Aliya the Asian Elephant" and "Tyto the Barn Owl", which were produced and narrated by his father and won industry awards.
He presented the highly successful six-part series King and Company and A Walk on the Wildside which was two-and-a-half years in the making. Since 1992, King has worked on programmes for the BBC Natural History Unit
. His early credits included presenting stints on series such as Nature Detectives and Wild Nights with Simon King, as well as fronting the Unit's occasional live "Watch" broadcasts. He was a regular presenter on BBC Two's Tracks, fronted Watch Out on the same channel and filmed all over the world for Hot Shots, a series which looked at the making of natural history films.
More recently, King has filmed and co-presented the long-running BBC One
series Big Cat Diary
alongside Jonathan Scott
and Saba Douglas-Hamilton
, which follows the progress of lion
s, leopard
s and cheetah
s in the Masai Mara
Game Reserve. He also co-presents BBC Two's annual Springwatch and Autumnwatch series with Bill Oddie
and later with Chris Packham
) and Kate Humble
. For these, King films and presents live outside broadcasts from wildlife hotspots around the British Isles, including Shetland, Mull
, the London Wetlands Centre and the Somerset Levels
.
Recent filming projects include principal camera credits for Wild Africa
and The Blue Planet
. He has won BAFTA awards for his camerawork on Life in the Freezer
and Planet Earth
, for which he filmed a celebrated slow-motion sequence of a great white shark
leaping out of the water to catch a Cape fur seal
.
In 2007, it was announced that King and an assistant had been attacked by a rabid
cheetah
in Kenya while filming for Natural World. They were given rabies jabs and did not develop the disease, although the cheetah itself later died. This attack was documented in the Natural World episode "Toki's Tale."
In 2011, King was part of the camera team for the Disney film, African Cats
.
's films, and is a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers. He is also a qualified scuba diver and enjoys wildlife photography
, art
, and composing and arranging music
. He is on the advisory board of BBC Wildlife
magazine.
Apart from watching wildlife, King lists his hobbies as drawing and painting, playing the Irish flute, swimming, walking, archery, yoga, astronomy, gardening, cooking, and reading. Less well known is Simon's valuable contribution to The Wildlife Trusts. Simon has recently been appointed president of The Wildlife Trusts, as well as already being president of the Avon Wildlife Trust, and patron of Somerset Wildlife Trust.[3] Simon is also involved with other charities such as Tusk Trust
, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, The Woodland Trust, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Lee Valley Bats, Marwell International Wildlife Art Society, Birdlife International, Keneth Allsop Memorial Trust, Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre, The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, and the British Naturalists' Association.
King was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to wildlife photography and conservation.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 27 December 1962) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television presenter and cameraman, specialising in nature documentaries
Nature documentary
A natural history film or wildlife film is a documentary film about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on film taken in their natural habitat...
.
King has been working in the field of natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
film making for over 30 years. He has credited his media career to his parents, his father being in the television industry and his mother being involved in the music industry.
He began his career as a child actor at the age of ten in such films as The Fox and Secret Place. In 1976 he accompanied naturalist Mike Kendall in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series Man and Boy, in which they searched the country for Britain's wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
.
Early life
King was born in NairobiNairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
to parents John King and Eve King (née Shulman). His father worked with the British Forces Broadcasting Service in Nairobi and later created and produced the antiques programme Going for a Song
Going for a Song
Going for a Song was an antiques quiz show broadcast by the BBC from 1965-1977. It was a forerunner of the Antiques Roadshow. The original television series was hosted by presenter Max Robertson, with Arthur Negus appearing as the resident expert and antique valuer. The programmes were recorded...
. They moved to Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
in the United Kingdom in 1964. when John got a job as a reporter for the BBC's Points West news programme. When his parents separated when he was just nine years old, he lived with his mother and elder sister, Debbie
First television films
King first appeared on the television as an actor in 'The Fox' in 1973 and in 1984, he made his first film for television - "The Willow", a study of the wildlife which surrounds a willow tree. This was broadcast as an episode of the BBC series The World About Us, as was his following film "The Hidden Land", a study of the wildlife which exists around the hotels in SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
's Costa del Sol
Costa del Sol
The Costa del Sol is a region in the south of Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the Mediterranean coastline of the Málaga province. The Costa del Sol is situated between two lesser known costas: Costa de la Luz and Costa Tropical...
. He has since gone on to produce in excess of 80 natural history films as principal cameraman, director, producer and many more as presenter.
Presenting and filming
King made two series of King's Country and a series of King's Country Diary for the BBC. He was also responsible for BBC TwoBBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's Christmas dramatised wildlife documentaries including "Rannoch the Red Deer", "Dusk the Badger", "Shadow the Peregrine" and the programmes "Aliya the Asian Elephant" and "Tyto the Barn Owl", which were produced and narrated by his father and won industry awards.
He presented the highly successful six-part series King and Company and A Walk on the Wildside which was two-and-a-half years in the making. Since 1992, King has worked on programmes for the BBC Natural History Unit
BBC Natural History Unit
The BBC Natural History Unit is a department of the BBC dedicated to making television and radio programmes with a natural history or wildlife theme, especially nature documentaries...
. His early credits included presenting stints on series such as Nature Detectives and Wild Nights with Simon King, as well as fronting the Unit's occasional live "Watch" broadcasts. He was a regular presenter on BBC Two's Tracks, fronted Watch Out on the same channel and filmed all over the world for Hot Shots, a series which looked at the making of natural history films.
More recently, King has filmed and co-presented the long-running BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
series Big Cat Diary
Big Cat Diary
Big Cat Diary, also known as Big Cat Week or Big Cat Live, is a long-running nature documentary series on BBC television which follows the lives of African big cats in Kenya's Maasai Mara. The first series, broadcast on BBC One in 1996, was developed and jointly produced by Keith Scholey, who would...
alongside Jonathan Scott
Jonathan Scott (zoologist)
Jonathan Scott is an English zoologist and wildlife photographer specializing in African wildlife. He spends much of his time in the Masai Mara National Game Reserve in southwest Kenya and the Serengeti National Park in northern Tanzania.He and his wife Angie, who is also a wildlife photographer,...
and Saba Douglas-Hamilton
Saba Douglas-Hamilton
Saba Iassa Douglas-Hamilton is a Kenyan wildlife conservationist and television presenter.-Early life:Born on a farm near Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, she is the daughter of zoologist, Iain Douglas-Hamilton and Oria Douglas-Hamilton née Rocco. Saba means "seven" in Swahili...
, which follows the progress of lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s, leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
s and cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
s in the Masai Mara
Masai Mara
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is a large game reserve in south-western Kenya, which is effectively the northern continuation of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania...
Game Reserve. He also co-presents BBC Two's annual Springwatch and Autumnwatch series with Bill Oddie
Bill Oddie
William "Bill" Edgar Oddie OBE is an English author, actor, comedian, artist, naturalist and musician, who became famous as one of The Goodies....
and later with Chris Packham
Chris Packham
Christopher George "Chris" Packham is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author. He is the brother of fashion designer, Jenny Packham...
) and Kate Humble
Kate Humble
Katherine 'Kate' Humble is an English television presenter, mainly for the BBC, specialising in wildlife and science programmes...
. For these, King films and presents live outside broadcasts from wildlife hotspots around the British Isles, including Shetland, Mull
Isle of Mull
The Isle of Mull or simply Mull is the second largest island of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute....
, the London Wetlands Centre and the Somerset Levels
Somerset Levels
The Somerset Levels, or the Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly but more correctly known, is a sparsely populated coastal plain and wetland area of central Somerset, South West England, between the Quantock and Mendip Hills...
.
Recent filming projects include principal camera credits for Wild Africa
Wild Africa
Wild Africa is a BBC nature documentary series exploring the natural history of the African continent, first transmitted in the UK on BBC2 in November 2001.The series comprises six episodes. Each concentrates on a particular environment...
and The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet
The Blue Planet is a BBC nature documentary series narrated by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 12 September 2001.Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on the natural history of the world's oceans", each of the eight 50-minute episodes examines a different aspect of...
. He has won BAFTA awards for his camerawork on Life in the Freezer
Life in the Freezer
Life in the Freezer is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the UK from 18 November 1993....
and Planet Earth
Planet Earth (TV series)
Planet Earth is a 2006 television series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Five years in the making, it was the most expensive nature documentary series ever commissioned by the BBC, and also the first to be filmed in high definition...
, for which he filmed a celebrated slow-motion sequence of a great white shark
Great white shark
The great white shark, scientific name Carcharodon carcharias, also known as the great white, white pointer, white shark, or white death, is a large lamniform shark found in coastal surface waters in all major oceans. It is known for its size, with the largest individuals known to have approached...
leaping out of the water to catch a Cape fur seal
Cape Fur Seal
The brown fur seal , also known as the Cape fur seal, South African fur seal and the Australian fur seal is a species of fur seal.-Description:...
.
In 2007, it was announced that King and an assistant had been attacked by a rabid
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
in Kenya while filming for Natural World. They were given rabies jabs and did not develop the disease, although the cheetah itself later died. This attack was documented in the Natural World episode "Toki's Tale."
In 2011, King was part of the camera team for the Disney film, African Cats
African Cats
African Cats is a nature documentary film directed by Keith Scholey and Alastair Fothergill about several lions and cheetahs trying to survive on the African savannah. The film is the fourth release by Disneynature, and was released in theaters on Earth Day, April 22, 2011. The film is narrated by...
.
Other skills
In addition to his broadcasting and film-making career, King has written three books: Wild Guide, Wild Life, and Shetland Diaries. King has also written a number of forewords, scripts for some of David AttenboroughDavid Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
's films, and is a regular contributor to magazines and newspapers. He is also a qualified scuba diver and enjoys wildlife photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, and composing and arranging music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
. He is on the advisory board of BBC Wildlife
BBC Wildlife
BBC Wildlife is a British glossy, all-colour, monthly magazine about wildlife, founded by BBC Worldwide and published through the BBC Magazines Bristol division, also trading as Bristol Magazines Ltd....
magazine.
Private life
King is married to his second wife, Marguerite Smits van Oyen, a fellow wildlife film-maker, with whom he often works. They have a daughter called Savannah, born in August 2006. He also has three children from his first marriage: Alexander (born 1986), Romy (born 1989), and Greer (born 1995).Apart from watching wildlife, King lists his hobbies as drawing and painting, playing the Irish flute, swimming, walking, archery, yoga, astronomy, gardening, cooking, and reading. Less well known is Simon's valuable contribution to The Wildlife Trusts. Simon has recently been appointed president of The Wildlife Trusts, as well as already being president of the Avon Wildlife Trust, and patron of Somerset Wildlife Trust.[3] Simon is also involved with other charities such as Tusk Trust
Tusk Trust
The Tusk Trust is an organization set up in 1990 to help to protect African wildlife including African elephants.Tusk Trust was set up by Charles Mayhew, MBE, who is the Chief Executive...
, Ol Pejeta Conservancy, The Woodland Trust, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Lee Valley Bats, Marwell International Wildlife Art Society, Birdlife International, Keneth Allsop Memorial Trust, Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre, The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation, and the British Naturalists' Association.
King was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to wildlife photography and conservation.
Programmes
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