A classically trained actor, Simon Cadell gained prominence playing the well-meaning, faintly hapless holiday camp entertainment manager Jeffrey Fairbrother in the BBC sitcom Hi-de-Hi! from 1980 to 1984. His theatrical background led to early television work, including roles in Simon Gray productions and voice work for the animated film Watership Down, and he later showed his range in Blott on the Landscape and Life Without George, alongside guest appearances in Minder and Bergerac. Despite a serious heart attack in 1993 and a subsequent lymphoma diagnosis, he continued working until his death at 45.