Clifford William Cumberbatch Simons was born on 17 November 1940 in Swansea, in the Mumbles area of South Wales, where his father was stationed during the Second World War. He was raised in South Wales before the family later moved to North London. He began acting as a child, appearing in the films No Place for Jennifer (1950), Where No Vultures Fly (1951) and West of Zanzibar (1954), before severe teenage acne led him to work backstage as a stage manager for several years while he decided whether to continue as an actor.
Simons went on to build a long and varied career on British television, with regular roles including political dissident Quarmby in The Guardians (1971), barrister Martin O'Connor QC in Crown Court (1973-1983), Constable Thackeray in Cribb (1979-1981) and Inspector "Brer" Fox in The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries (1990-1994). He also made guest appearances in Doctor Who, The Sweeney, Minder, Bergerac, Casualty and Rumpole of the Bailey, among many others.
He is best remembered for playing PC Alf Ventress in the long-running ITV drama Heartbeat, a role he held for the programme's entire eighteen-year run from 1992 to 2010, appearing in 355 episodes, more than any other cast member. Later in life he became a patron of the charity Changing Faces, which supports people with facial disfigurements. Simons died on 21 June 2019, aged 78.