Cliff Simon

Cliff Simon (7 September 1962 – 9 March 2021) was a South African actor, best known for his portrayal of Ba'al in Stargate SG-1. Early life Simon was born in Johannesburg, the fourth child of Emmanuelle and Phylis Simon. Both of his parents are of Jewish ancestry from Poland and Lithuania. From a very young age, Simon dreamed of becoming the first South African swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal. His training started early under the guidance of his mother, a swimming teacher. By age 6, he showed some talent as a gymnast. By age 15, Simon had reached a national level in South Africa in both swimming and gymnastics, but discontinued gymnastics to better focus on swimming. He attended Sandringham Primary School and Sandringham High School in Johannesburg. In 1975, Simon's parents decided to emigrate to the United Kingdom, due to the then-current turmoil in Africa. It was there that Simon completed his schooling and was chosen to swim on the British international squad. He competed in Olympic trials and qualified for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The University of Houston and Southern Methodist University in Texas offered him scholarships, where he trained with the United States swimming team, the Mustangs. This could have culminated in his competing in the 1984 Olympic Games. However, he never made it into the games. Back in South Africa, Simon entered the air force where he continued his swimming and achieved the highest athletic award given in the air force, the Victor Ludorum.