Simon O'Brien (born 19 June 1965) is a British television actor and radio presenter, as well as a property developer, from

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. He is known for his role in the soap opera '' Brookside'' from 1982 to 1987 and for presenting on a number of different television shows.

Early life

Simon O'Brien was born in Liverpool on 19 June 1965. He attended Highfield Comprehensive School in Liverpool.

Career

He came to prominence as the character Damon Grant in '' Brookside'', a role he played from the soap's launch in 1982 until 1987, when his character was killed off in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

at the end of the '' Damon and Debbie'' "soap bubble". In 1989, O'Brien starred in the British version of

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

's ''

Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's Musical film, musical Fantasy film, fantasy television comedy, comedy puppet television series about interconnected so ...

'' until 1990. He portrayed the Lighthouse Keeper called BJ in the much acclaimed musical puppet TV series. In the 1990s, after a spell presenting

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

show '' Standing Room Only'' and a regular role on the American sitcom '' Out All Night'', he left

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

and, with Alan Bate, set up Liverpool Cycle Centre, a combination of vegetarian café, cycle shop, cycle parking and other resources relevant to his enthusiasm for cycling. O'Brien then moved into property development. He has since returned to acting and presenting, with a short-lived football quiz show, ''Do I Not Know That?'', on ITV Digital, co-presenting the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

show '' To Buy or Not to Buy'', as well as playing caretaker Wally Scott in ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

'' from 2003. O'Brien presented BBC Radio Merseyside's breakfast show with Lucinda Moore from September 2006 until 25 June 2007, when he resigned after the accidental broadcast of a promotional preview clip of a forthcoming radio show of him saying "fuck the government, fuck the planners". In 2014, O'Brien began presenting the TV reality series ''My Dream Derelict Home'', before moving on to ''Find It, Fix It, Flog It'' in 2016 with fellow presenter Henry Cole, for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. In 2022, O'Brien appeared on the ITV soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' as guest character Frank Bardsley.

Personal life

In 2014, O'Brien was appointed chair of the Liverpool Green Strategy Group. He and his wife Liz, a teacher, have one daughter.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Simon 1965 births Living people English male television actors British male soap opera actors British people of Irish descent English radio presenters Male actors from Liverpool People from Garston