Simon King (television)
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Simon Henry King OBE HonFRPS (born 27 December 1962) is a British naturalist, author, conservationist, television presenter and
cameraman A camera operator, or depending on the context cameraman or camerawoman, is a professional operator of a film camera or video camera as part of a film crew. The term "cameraman" does not imply that a male is performing the task. In filmmakin ...
, specialising in nature documentaries. King received an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 2011. 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.


Early life

King was born in
Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper h ...
, Kenya, to parents John King and Eve King (née Shulman), where King's father worked with the British Forces Broadcasting Service in Nairobi. The family moved to
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
in the United Kingdom in 1964, when John got a job as a reporter for the BBC's ''Points West'' news programme. King's parents separated when he was nine years old, and thereafter he lived with his mother and elder sister, Debbie.


Education

King attended Henbury School in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
from 1974 to 1979.


Earliest television work

He began his career as a child actor at the age of ten in such television films as ''The Fox'' (1973) and ''Secret Place'' (1974). In 1976 he accompanied naturalist Mike Kendall in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
series ''Man and Boy'', in which they searched the country for Britain's
wildlife Wildlife refers to undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. Wildlife was also synonymous to game: those birds and mammals that were hunted ...
. All of these were his father's projects. In 1984, he made his first film for television – "The Willow", a study of the wildlife which surrounds a
willow tree Willows are a genus of trees. Willow Tree may refer to: Places * Willow Tree, New South Wales, a village in Australia * Willow Tree railway station, in Australia * Willow Tree (LIRR station), a railway station in New York Entertainment * "Wil ...
. This was broadcast as an edition 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 Spain's Costa del Sol. He has since gone on to produce more than 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 Two'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 The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...
. 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 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
series '' Big Cat Diary'' alongside Jonathan Scott and
Saba Douglas-Hamilton Saba Iassa Douglas-Hamilton (born 7 June 1970) is a Kenyan wildlife conservationist and television presenter. She has worked for a variety of conservation charities, and has appeared in wildlife documentaries produced by the BBC and other br ...
, which follows the progress of lions, leopards and
cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...
s in the
Masai Mara Maasai Mara, also sometimes spelled Masai Mara and locally known simply as The Mara, is a large national game reserve in Narok, Kenya, contiguous with the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. It is named in honor of the Maasai people, the ancest ...
Game Reserve. He also co-presented BBC Two's annual ''
Springwatch ''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kingdom. The p ...
'' and ''
Autumnwatch ''Springwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' and ''Winterwatch'', sometimes known collectively as ''The Watches'', are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kingdom. The p ...
'' series with
Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English writer, comedian, songwriter, musician, artist, birder, conservationist, television presenter and actor. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinto ...
and
Kate Humble Katherine Mary Humble (born 12 December 1968) is an English television presenter and narrator, mainly working for the BBC, specialising in wildlife and science programmes. Humble served as President of the Royal Society for the Protection of Bi ...
later with
Chris Packham Christopher Gary Packham CBE (born 4 May 1961) is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author, best known for his television work including the CBBC children's nature series '' The Really Wild Show'' from 1986 ...
and
Martin Hughes-Games Martin Hughes-Games (born 16 April 1956) is a natural history programme producer, presenter and author. He is best known for co-presenting the BBC magazine-style nature series ''Springwatch'' and its spin-offs, ''Winterwatch'', ''Autumnwatch'' ...
. For these, King films and presents live outside broadcasts from wildlife hotspots around the
British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
, including Shetland,
Mull Mull may refer to: Places *Isle of Mull, a Scottish island in the Inner Hebrides ** Sound of Mull, between the Isle of Mull and the rest of Scotland * Mount Mull, Antarctica *Mull Hill, Isle of Man * Mull, Arkansas, a place along Arkansas Highway ...
, the London Wetlands Centre and the
Somerset Levels The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendips to the Blackdown Hills. The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to the south a ...
. Recent filming projects include principal camera credits for ''
Wild Africa Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildness, the quality of being wild or untamed Art, media and entertainment Film and television * ''Wild'' (2014 film), a 2014 A ...
'' and ''
The Blue Planet ''The Blue Planet'' is a British nature documentary series created and produced by the BBC. It premiered on 12 September 2001 in the United Kingdom. It is narrated by David Attenborough. Described as "the first ever comprehensive series on t ...
''. He has won BAFTA awards for his camera work on ''
Life in the Freezer ''Life in the Freezer'' is a BBC nature documentary series written and presented by David Attenborough, first transmitted in the United Kingdom from 18 November 1993. A study of the seasonal cycle of Antarctica, it was the first of Attenborou ...
'' and ''
Planet Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface ...
'', for which he filmed a celebrated slow-motion sequence of a
great white shark The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocean ...
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 Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, ...
cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...
in Kenya while filming for ''
Natural World ''Natural World'' is a strand of British wildlife documentary programmes broadcast on BBC Two and BBC Two HD and regarded by the BBC as its flagship natural history series. It is the longest-running documentary in its genre on British televis ...
''. 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 The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
film, ''
African Cats ''African Cats'' (known as ''Felines'' in France) is a 2011 nature documentary film about a pride of lions and a family of cheetahs trying to survive in the African savannah directed by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey. The film was released ...
''. King has filmed a number of instructional videos for
Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...
, with help on using a compass, reading a map and using grid references. King was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 2011. These are awarded to distinguished persons having, from their position or attainments, an intimate connection with the science or fine art of photography or the application thereof.


Personal life

King has three children from his first marriage: Alexander (born 1986), Romy (born 1989) and Greer (born 1995) and one daughter from his second marriage, Savannah (born in August 2006), to his second wife Marguerite Smits van Oyen. 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, and was awarded the Royal Geographical Society's
Cherry Kearton Medal and Award The Cherry Kearton Medal and Award is an honour bestowed by the Royal Geographical Society on "a traveller concerned with the study or practice of natural history, with a preference for those with an interest in nature photography, art or cinemato ...
in 2009.


Programmes


References


External links


Simon King official websiteSimon King Wildlife Shop
* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Simon 1962 births BBC television presenters Living people English naturalists English television presenters People from Nairobi Officers of the Order of the British Empire People associated with Shetland