Simon Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe OBE (born 26 December 1956, in Devizes, England) is a writer and broadcaster. He contributes frequently to British newspapers, television and radio. He is also now a consultant and non-executive director of public and private organisations. Fanshawe was one of the founders of the LGBT charity Stonewall. He won the Perrier Comedy Award in 1989. In 2019, he became one of the supporters of the initialive that led to the formation of the LGB Alliance.

Career

Fanshawe first came to public attention as a comedian in the early 1980s. In 1984, he appeared on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

comedy sketch/stand-up show ''The Entertainers'', which showcased up-and-coming comedy talent, and later that year appeared in his comedy act ''Three of a Different Kind'' at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh F ...

. Following a nomination in 1987, he later won the prestigious Perrier Comedy Award in 1989. He had a stint as a presenter on the BBC television programme ''

That's Life! ''That's Life!'' was a satirical TV consumer affairs programme on the BBC, at its height regularly reaching audiences of fifteen to twenty million, and receiving 10–15,000 letters a week. The series broadcast on BBC1 for twenty-one years, ...

'' in 1990. Alongside working in comedy, Fanshawe has been a frequent contributor on a variety of subjects from arts to politics in newspapers and on many BBC radio and TV programmes. His BBC Radio 4 profile light-heartedly describes him as a "media tart". Fanshawe has been involved in many community and campaigning groups and public bodies – often as a board member. He led the successful campaign to make Brighton and Hove a city in 2000. He was the chairman of the board for the Brighton Festival Fringe and is on the board of the Edinburgh Fringe. He founded and chaired the economic strategy body of his home town, The Brighton & Hove Economic Partnership. He was chairman of Brighton & Hove Local Radio Ltd from 1996 to 2000, when the company was acquired by Forever Broadcasting. In 2006, Fanshawe made the documentary ''The Trouble with Gay Men'', shown on BBC Three. Fanswhawe was a co-founder of the LGBT charity Stonewall. In 2007, Fanshawe presented the first programme in the BBC's ''Building Britain'' series, concentrating his attentions on the key role of developers in making cities over the last two centuries. In 2017, Fanshawe presented the BBC documentary ''Brighton: 50 Years of Gay'' in which he examined the landmark

Sexual Offences Act 1967 The Sexual Offences Act 1967 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom (citation 1967 c. 60). It legalised homosexual acts in England and Wales, on the condition that they were consensual, in private and between two men who had attained t ...

, which legalised male homosexual acts in the UK, and its effect on the population of the City of Brighton. In 2019, he publicly broke with Stonewall due to their "intolerance of disagreement and discussion" and helped found the LGB Alliance later that year.

Personal life

Fanshawe was educated at two independent boarding schools:

Chafyn Grove School Chafyn Grove School is a private co-educational day and boarding preparatory school situated on the edge of the city of Salisbury in Wiltshire, in England's West Country. Founded in 1879 by Mr. W. C. Bird as an all-boys' school, it became Chaf ...

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

in Wiltshire, and Marlborough College in Wiltshire, followed by the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

near Brighton, where he studied law. He is now chair of the university's governing council. He was appointed OBE in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to higher education. Fanshawe lives in the Kemp Town area of Brighton.

Newspapers and magazines

Fanshawe has contributed articles to the following publications: * ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' * ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'' * ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' * ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' * ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' * ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an engine ...

'' * ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

Radio

Fanshawe has been a presenter or contributor on the following radio programmes: * '' Kaleidoscope'' * Sunday Brunch * ''

Fanshawe on Five Fanshawe (less commonly Fanshaw) can refer to: Places * Fanshawe, Oklahoma, a town in the United States * Fanshawe College, a school in London, Ontario, Canada * Fanshawe Dam Fanshawe Dam is a dam located on North Thames River near the easter ...

'' * '' The Reference Library'' * '' Live From London'' * '' Fanshawe Gets to the Bottom Of...'' * '' Loose Ends'' * '' The Motion Show''

Television

* ''

'', a BBC television light entertainment series. A humour contributor, for one series only, in 1990. * '' Thames Roadshow'' * '' Cabaret at the Jongleurs'' * ''Brighton: 50 Years of Gay'' (2017)

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

Fanshawe's website

Official site for ''The Done Thing''

Blog
for ''The Done Thing''
Biography on BBC Radio 4 site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanshawe, Simon People from Brighton and Hove 1956 births Living people British gay writers English LGBT writers People educated at Chafyn Grove School People educated at Marlborough College Alumni of the University of Sussex British republicans Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Devizes