Actor Who Played Stargate SG-1’s Iconic Villain Is Dead At 58
The longest-running villain on Stargate SG-1 passed away tragically on Tuesday in an accident. It is devastating news for all involved
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Cliff Simon will probably be best known on-screen for his role as Ba’al on Stargate SG-1. It was a sinister role, but he played it perfectly for a number of years on the show. It’s with sadness that Simon lost his life earlier in the week passing away on Tuesday, March 9th. He was 58 years old.
Cliff Simon tragically passed away in a kiteboarding accident in Malibu on Tuesday. The specifics and details of the accident aren’t known but the Stargate SG-1 star apparently was avid in the sport and an excellent athlete. His wife Collette posted a long and heartfelt message on the actor’s Facebook page to bring the terrible news. Along with words about his life, his work, and how he lived was a picture of Simon in his kiteboarding gear.
For four seasons and fifteen episodes, Cliff Simon appeared on Stargate SG-1 as the character Ba’al. He was one of the primary villains on the show and the longest-running one on the program. He was a formidable opponent, and powerful as well. Multiple arcs have him resetting time and working with his own clones to alter history, putting Earth at considerable risk. It was a long-running and devious character who was the primary antagonist right until the end of the show during Season 8 and even beyond.
Stargate SG-1 was the breakout role for Cliff Simon and they even centered the follow-up movie around the actions of his character. After the show went off the air he did go on to reprise Ba’al in Stargate: Continuum, a direct-to-DVD movie that involved a storyline for the villain. This played into a time-traveling story arc but did wrap up the events of the show and Ba’al as well.
After leaving Stargate SG-1, Cliff Simon would go on to play a number of roles on television shows mostly throughout the next decade or so. He appeared on NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS, The Americans, Castle, and Criminal Minds among many others. None had the longevity or the impact of playing Ba’al but for as nice as Simon seemed in real life, he did often play the villain type on screen.
In addition to acting, Cliff Simon was an excellent athlete as well. He was born in South Africa but eventually, his family moved to England. He was such a fantastic swimmer that, at one point, it was thought that he had a chance to compete for the country in the Olympics. That didn’t come to fruition though he was also offered college scholarships to several U.S. schools.
Eventually, after heading back to South Africa for a time, Cliff Simon did make his way to the states. It was Los Angeles in fact where he started picking up acting roles. A few small ones here and there in the late-90s eventually led to him landing the role of Ba’al on Stargate SG-1. Again, for such a long career, that villain will go down as his true mark on the screen. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family after such tragic news.
