In light of Cliff’s tragic passing in a kiteboarding accident this past Tuesday, Darren Sumner of GateWorld will be joining me to reminisce of our memories of Cliff, replay select moments of our interviews over the years, and read fan messages.

DTG Video Announcing Cliff’s Passing ► https://youtu.be/Edx3um0YXdQ
Share This Video ► https://youtu.be/vA2z9dcUfD8

Hathor Hosts Cliff Simon Episode ► https://youtu.be/SkhkCSwSdMo

Timecodes
0:00 – Splash Screen
0:38 – Submission: Tina from Finland
3:26 – Opening Credits
3:40 – Introduction
6:53 – Message from Colette Simon
9:00 – Linda Remembers Cliff
11:23 – Sommer Remembers Cliff
13:44 – Submission: Jenny from USA
17:26 – David Remembers Cliff
19:38 – Cliff on Input for Baal (GateWorld)
20:33 – Cliff on Continuum (GateWorld)
22:22 – Suanne Braun Remembers Cliff
26:25 – Submission: Marcia from USA
31:13 – Paul McGillion Remembers Cliff
32:36 – Darren’s Favorite Ba’al Memories
34:14 – Cliff Elevated the Goa’uld
36:17 – Live Chat Fans Remember Cliff
37:30 – Social Media Tributes 1
40:03 – Gatecon and Family
41:47 – Cliff on the Journey of Ba’al (GateWorld)
42:52 – Cliff on Why Ba’al Returned after Last Stand (GateWorld)
44:08 – Cliff on Life Before Stargate (Hathor Hosts)
46:02 – Cliff’s Philanthropic Work
49:28 – Submission: Tara from Canada
50:19 – Art Submission by Delphine and Lauren
51:17 – Social Media Tributes 2
53:45 – Submission: Jane from USA
57:22 – Social Media Tributes 3
59:08 – Sommer’s Favorite Ba’al Memories
1:02:21 – Cliff on Working with Rescue Dogs (Hathor Hosts)
1:03:54 – Cliff on Convention Experiences (Hathor Hosts & GateWorld)
1:05:57 – Cliff on Overall Health (GateWorld)
1:08:19 – Cliff on a North American Career (GateWorld)
1:09:01 – Meeting Cliff In the Flesh
1:11:44 – Paris Nights Memoir by Cliff Simon
1:12:42 – Social Media Tributes 4
1:15:57 – Submission: Jenn from USA
1:18:17 – Cliff on Olympic Dreams (Hathor Hosts)
1:19:33 – Cliff on Professional Dancing (Hathor Hosts)
1:21:54 – Cliff on Becoming a US Citizen
1:24:56 – Linda’s Final Thoughts
1:25:43 – Sommer’s Final Thoughts
1:29:18 – Thanks to Contributors
1:31:30 – Cliff Eating a Goa’uld
1:32:04 – David’s Closing Thoughts
1:33:06 – Ba’al’s Women & End Credits

***

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TRANSCRIPT
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Tina from Finland [clip]:
Hello. I’m Tina from Finland. This is my video message for honor and remember Cliff Simon. I’m still heartbroken of his passing. He had such a big impact in my life, and I can’t believe he’s gone. I first met him 2016 in Vancouver in Gatecon, and he was so welcoming, so nice and loving person. When he hugged me, he held me so tight that I couldn’t breathe. He was so nice. And he loved his fans. There’s a big hole in the world right now where he used to be. I don’t actually know what to say. I’m here in Northern Finland at the moment. I have my dogs with me, my sled dogs, Siberian Huskies. We are on a little trip here, taking a break at the moment, doing what we love, just like what Cliff would have wanted us to do. It’s OK to be sad and grieve. My heart goes to Cliff’s family, his wife, and all the fans and friends around the world, that together we can go through this. Love you guys all. Bye.

David Read:
Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining me. My name is David Read. Welcome to Dial the Gate. We’re here to celebrate the life of Cliff Simon and the performance of his character, Baal, in Stargate SG-1. Usually in a typical episode, I’m spinning five or six plates simultaneously. And in this one, it’s more like 20. So, if something doesn’t work, I apologize. This was very last minute, and I have a whole team of people who are responsible for bringing this one together. Two are going to be in your ear, and then the other two, one of which being me, are on the screen. Darren Sumner of GateWorld.net, my friend of many years and partner. We have had to do this a few times, man, and it’s never fun, is it?

Darren Sumner:
It’s not fun, but this is totally unlike any loss that the Stargate family has grieved in recent years because we have a live stream. We’ve got all this infrastructure already built so that we can turn on a dime and do something like this, which is incredible. There’s over 450 people in the live chat right now. And it’s a chance– You don’t get this feeling most of the time unless you go to a convention. And you spend time with other fans. And you spend time with the cast and the crew from Stargate, and you go– Some of us go back to conventions every year, every other year, and you get to know those people, not just the actors, not just great people like Cliff, but you get to know your fellow fans. So it’s remarkable to me that we get to enter this space of mourning together.

David Read:
Correct. I am so thankful that you’re here, and I’m so thankful for Linda. Are you there?

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
Yes, I’m here.

David Read:
GateGabber, my invisible producer. She makes everything work. Very thankful for her. And my lead moderator, Sommer, are you there? I know she’s there. She’s there somewhere. She’s probably–

Darren Sumner:
She’s currently muted.

David Read:
I guess so. Sorry.

Darren Sumner:
But we feel her presence.

David Read:
Sommer, when you get this message, come back on for me. But I wanna start off with the message that– I’m getting some reverb. I wanted to start off with the message that Colette, Cliff’s wife, posted on Facebook and notified everybody. “To friends, family, and fans, it is with unimaginable heartbreak that I am sharing with you that my beloved husband, Cliff Simon, passed away at 12:30 PM on Tuesday, March the 9th, 2021. He was at Topanga Beach, California, and sadly passed away after a tragic kite boarding accident. He was known to most of you on this page as the villain you love to hate, Baal, from Stargate SG-1, but as he said, ‘Acting is what I do. It’s only a part of who I am.’ And he was so much more, a true original, an adventurer, a sailor, swimmer, dancer, actor, author. There is a gaping hole where he once stood on this Earth. He was loved by too many to mention, and had a great impact on so many lives. He was an amazing and much-loved brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend. He was and always will be the love of my life, and there is unimaginable heartbreak. A small saving grace to this tragedy is that he was doing one of the things he loved most, and passed away on the beach near the water, which was his temple. I know this is a shock and will hit hard, but we hope you can respect our need for privacy at this time. I’ll end with this verse, which Cliff loved and lived his life by. ‘I would rather be ashes than dust. I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a super meteor, every atom of me a magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.'” And Cliff’s wife, Colette, submitted that on Facebook on Thursday, when most of us found out. Sommer, can you hear me?

Sommer Roy:
I can. I’m so sorry. I had a bit of a technical difficulty there. I apologize.

David Read:
You’re OK. I didn’t wanna do the show without you. It’s like, “Oh, I lost my Sommer.”

Sommer Roy:
No, I’m here.

David Read:
Oh my God. I need my handheld, guys.

Sommer Roy:
Aw. Bless you. I’m here.

David Read:
I know you said you didn’t get to meet Cliff.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
No. I sadly didn’t.

David Read:
What has it been like going through and… ‘Cause you said you’ve rediscovered him the past couple of days.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
Oh my God, yes. So many people have said so many wonderful things, and shared so many stories. The past couple of days, I’ve been mining the internet for good stories, beautiful photographs, and memories to share on this episode, and oh my God, I really, really missed meeting a stellar human being. I’ve been laughing and crying and …

David Read:
I know.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
… watching Stargate and discovering projects I didn’t know he worked on previously.

Sommer Roy:
David — I’m sorry, Linda — I just wanna let you know the live stream has been frozen for a good 10 seconds now. So, oops.

David Read:
Not receiving enough video to maintain a smooth streaming.

Darren Sumner:
I see it coming back now.

Sommer Roy:
There it is. There it is. OK, Linda. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt you on that.

David Read:
No. You’re good. Let me continue, Linda. I’m gonna go ahead and make some fixes on this end here.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
Reading everybody’s comments and hearing all the stories have really had a huge impact on me, and made me love the Stargate community even more than I did previously. This is a huge family, and seeing everybody support each other over the past few days has been an amazing experience. I really love all of you, and I’m so glad for all the people in this Stargate family.

David Read:
It’s been extraordinary to watch everyone come together and celebrate the life of this person. He knew how to live. And Sommer, you had a chance to meet him. Was it in 2018?

Sommer Roy:
I believe it was 2019, actually.

David Read:
Excuse me.

Sommer Roy:
I think so. That’s when we were in Chicago, correct?

David Read:
I think so.

Sommer Roy:
Yeah, ’cause it wasn’t last summer. It was the summer before. But I actually met him at WonderCon before that, and he was the very first cast member that I met, so he was very open arms, very sweet, just the kind of person that you meet and you’re automatically friends with. He just seemed… It was the perfect cast member for me to meet personally as a first-time experience on that side of it. I couldn’t imagine anybody being more welcoming and sweet and kind and gentleman-like. And he was hanging out with us and having a great time. And it didn’t feel like you were in the room… It did feel like you were in the room with somebody wonderful, but it didn’t feel the pressure of that. It was a great experience for me. He was a very comfortable person to be around, and he laughed, and he joked around, and he was open to everybody. And I’m so, so thankful for the experience that I got to say thank you. That was my biggest thing is I got to tell him thank you for everything that he’s done for me, as far as being a part of the show and me keeping my sanity, all of that stuff. So it really gives me great comfort that I was able to do that. And I know he has many other fans out there that would have loved to do that. And I promise you on his social media, he was very active, and I know he saw a lot of those fans.

David Read:
He was. He did. I’ve got my longtime production partner, Jenny Stiven, she submitted a clip, as did a few other fans. I’m gonna try to see if this is going to work. So please pardon me everyone if it doesn’t.

Jenny Stiven [clip]:
Hi, guys. [muted] Please forgive the echo. I’m in a home that’s being remodeled. I met Cliff for the very first time on set, but that isn’t really where I had the most amazing deep experience with him. That was in dealing with him with the fans through conventions, through digital marketing, and then most of all, through some of his wellness and book campaigns that I was lucky enough to work with. So I had met him via Fox and MGM when I was asked to go up and work on the sets and do some behind-the-scenes interviews. And he was one of the very first ones that offered to do some really fun in-costume behind-the-scenes interviews for us for the fans, and that was really cool. And then he did a little extra behind the scenes for a flash game that we created that was a Goa’uld, Ha’tak vessel. And you could play as a Goa’uld or you could play as Teal’c or you could play as an SG-1 member. And he did a couple of extra little videos for us just for that game, which was really cool. And I thought that was amazing and really giving of him to do that, and he really got digital. Then after 2009, I think, I’d have to ask Patricia Bertrand, I can’t remember exactly, she was working with him one-on-one with his books and his spiritual well-being in a CD/DVD that he was putting out. And I got to work with him on that. And one of my favorite, favorite memories is meeting him in Culver City at this little coffee shop, and we talked for two to three hours about our backgrounds, where he had come from, why he was doing this, why he really felt that the meditation and spiritual wellness was so important for the whole world to be able to do together. And we talked so in depth about his true belief that we have a universal consciousness, that we’re all connected. And I think that that is so important to why we as Stargate fans and family connected with him, because he truly believed that there was that universal Stargate consciousness as well. So I wanted to share that with you guys because I think that that’s why you all felt close to him, because he made such an effort and he believed so much in the fandom, so much in the fans. He was ready to do anything anytime, and when David and I were doing Dialing Home and restarting everything up at MGM, he and Tony and Carmen were some of the first people that we called, and he didn’t even hesitate. He couldn’t wait to do it, wanted to do more, we wanted to do more with him, and I think all of that tracks back to who he was at his core, that person who believed in that universal consciousness that we’re all connected. So I’m gonna hold that close in my heart because if there’s anything that I think we can believe in, it’s that he’s, wherever he is now, that he is contributing to that universal consciousness and contributing to the Stargate family. Love you guys.

David Read:
We’re on a few seconds delay. I heard most of what Jenny had to say.

David Read:
Jenny and I, along with Kieran Dickson and a few other very fortunate people were part of Stargate Command on the short-lived MGM website. Wasn’t so short lived, we lasted a couple years. But Jenny and I and Kieran got to work with Cliff, and honestly, we were wanting to do more. There could have been more planned. This guy was, in my opinion, getting started, but it is what it is, I guess. Like Colette said, he died doing what he loved. And if you have to go out, if your number is up, we should all be so lucky, passing doing what we love, for sure. Linda, Sommer, the chat is hopping. Anything that we wanna point out or any comments we’ve set aside already?

Sommer Roy:
Gosh, no. So much love for Cliff going on in the comments. A lot of people pointing out his performance on Stargate. It is a barrage of love coming in, really. It’s amazing to see.

David Read:
Let’s hear from Cliff himself. Darren, you put some of these together, so I have yet to really get a chance to go through them. So, it’s gonna be special for me to see them. This was a collective effort. This was not done by just me. I work 13 hours every day, Friday to Monday, and so there was no way that I could have pulled this off. You guys are really gonna benefit from this team coming together. So, let’s walk down memory lane and hear from Cliff.

David Read [clip]:
How much input have you had on the direction of this character in recent years? You and I have talked in the past about how people seem to be watching the interviews that you do and are generating the storylines based on what you would like to see.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
It’s very funny, because what everyone else has been saying out there about what they want to see the character do is actually starting to happen. And things that I wanted to see the character do started to happen. Yet, I haven’t conveyed anything to the writers, the producers, or anything like that. But things are happening now that we’ve been talking about for the past year. That I’ve seen fans asking me questions about, “Oh, we’d like to see Baal doing this and Baal doing that.” And it’s actually happening now, which is pretty amazing. You’re gonna see Baal in a physical fight. We haven’t seen Baal be physical. I’ve been waiting a year to get into a fight, because Baal’s always standing around. Now, we’re actually gonna see him physically having a fight, which is great.

David Read [clip]:
Stargate: Continuum obviously came out late July. I didn’t want to really talk with you about it until we could really sit down and discuss it. We were really careful about not revealing too much about the spoilers and everything. It had me thinking that there was gonna be an intimate love scene between Baal and Qetesh, and — intimate in one sense — stab right through the heart.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
Very intimate.

David Read [clip]:
Tell us about what you thought of the script when you first read it. What potential you saw, how it was executed. What were your feelings about this?

Cliff Simon [clip]:
First of all, I thought it was a very well-written script. When I first sat down and read the script, I liked it except for the fact that I felt there was a huge gap in the script where nothing was happening.

David Read [clip]:
We were following the team.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
We were following them, and I felt that’s where it lost momentum for me. And then when I saw the movie, I felt that’s where it lost momentum once again. But I loved the script and obviously, in the end, I read, “I die and I die and I die.” But right in the end, I love the fact that the human is now alive. The host’s body is alive. And that, for me, was very interesting because this is a 2,000-year-old host. Maybe he was a really evil guy. We don’t know. But he has a lot of knowledge and I think he has a lot of knowledge that the SG team would want to know. So, that leaves the story open. Anything can happen. But I was very happy that maybe Baal is dead, we don’t even know. Maybe that was the real Baal. I think it was the real Baal. I think the host is actually more of an interesting character now that he’s human, than Baal and with the way that people could relate to the host because he’s human

David Read [clip]:
Even if you never do go back to it, this has to have been–

David Read:
He wants to keep on going and going. I was like, “I gotta stop this. My pause button is not working.” He wanted to come back after Continuum. He had mentioned the fact that, “You know, I would love to see the human side of this character now.”

Darren Sumner:
I really went down the rabbit hole yesterday. You asked me to pull some clips.

David Read:
You did.

Darren Sumner:
Of our past interviews. I looked back in our interviews archive on GateWorld, and I don’t remember if Chad did any of them, but we had six interviews with Cliff over the years. Three of them were in video, which we’re playing clips from here, but then I also watched all the stuff that Suanne did on HathorHosts, which is hours of content. And I spent the entire afternoon with Cliff and with his memories and his stories, and it was so much fun. I’m glad that we get to revisit some of this stuff and share these clips.

David Read:
Absolutely. Let’s look at another tribute. This one from Suanne Braun herself. She is the host of HathorHosts. Darren, do you wanna read this one? Or would you like me to?

Darren Sumner:
You go ahead. I’m gonna close AnyDesk because it’s out of sync.

David Read:
Let’s do that then.

Darren Sumner:
I’m not seeing your desktop.

David Read:
It’s a bandwidth eater, so if you can do that–

Darren Sumner:
It might be slowing down the stream too. So, I’m gonna close AnyDesk and hopefully the stream will improve.

David Read:
Suanne was a fellow South African, knew Cliff well. She’s host of HathorHosts, our sister channel here on YouTube. I totally recommend that you subscribe to it because Season Two is coming back. And she sent this to me this morning. Where did it go? Here it is. “I’m so sorry not to join you all today, but it’s just too painful, too raw, and too hard for me to do at the moment. I’m trying to process this awful news, just as many of us are, and I am bereft at the thought of never seeing my dear friend again. I think he would be blown away at the love you’ve shown him and continue to do so. The Stargate fandom is truly showing that it’s a family and not just a fandom. I am with you in spirit today and love you all. Thank you for giving Cliff this magnificent sendoff and tribute. Suanne Braun.”

Darren Sumner:
Thank you, Suanne.

David Read:
She played Hathor.

Darren Sumner:
I don’t think a lot of people realize, of course, because when we get to know these folks through Stargate, Suanne’s appearances are in Season One and Two and Three, and Cliff doesn’t show up until Season Five. A lot of folks don’t realize that of course they know each other. They go back years, in fact. And Suanne and other System Lords have been posting marvelous photos on social media this week, showing them when they were just wee tots…

David Read:
Wee tots.

Darren Sumner:
… when they were just kids. They go back many, many years. So, we had Cliff scheduled for Dial the Gate today, for this time slot. If you feel like you wanna see Cliff talk for an hour about his career, about Stargate, about Baal, what this hour was intended to be, I encourage you to go watch Suanne’s interview on HathorHosts. Go to HathorHosts on YouTube, and it’s Episode 4, her long-form conversation with Cliff. And they’re old friends, they’re buddies. They’re so natural together, and it’s a marvelous– Again, yesterday I fell down the rabbit hole watching the entire thing. It’s wonderful.

David Read:
I am looking forward to revisiting it as well. I have a message from our friend Marcia Middleton, one of the Stargate superfans. And I’m gonna go ahead and play that for you guys now.

Marcia Middleton [clip]:
So many wonderful tributes for the incredibly wonderful Cliff Simon. I wanted to add a couple of little times that we had, starting with years ago when I first met him. In 2006. I’d just become the director for the newly created Stargate Off-World Track at Dragon Con, and we were so excited to have a wonderful slate of guests that included Cliff Simon. The first time I met him– There is something about certain people when you look in their eyes and you know that they are there with you. And he made it a point to go out of his way to connect. He invited me out to dinner to chat about what my perspective was on his contribution to the Stargate goings-on, and who does that? Of course I went. So, he shared of himself with the fans and had such delight in doing it. His energy, his passion for life, was palpable and infectious. When, a couple of years after that, I decided to do a Stargate My Little Pony thing, and we had the idea of inviting guests or celebrities to do their own version of My Little Pony. And Cliff was one of those asked, and he accepted immediately. He’s like, “Wow, that sounds cool.” So, I sent him a blank My Little Pony and said, “Create whatever you want in My Little Pony, and we’re going to auction them off for charity.” And he had such fun with it. He made a My Little Pony beach with sand and just incredible artistry. And his My Little Pony helped us that year. That year was 2008, tragically the year that Don Davis passed away, a couple of months before we were going to have him as a return guest at our panels. And Cliff’s beach My Little Pony helped us raise over $10,000 for charity that year. And it was an incredibly lovely addition to the My Little Ponies we had. Also, Cliff was not afraid to talk about possibly more sensitive issues, like his growing up in South Africa and the apartheid that, of course, part of his upbringing was a part of. We had him in our room for a single panel done all by himself. And he spoke honestly and sincerely and engagingly about that time and how that helped him develop into the wonderful person that he was before us. I appreciate his love for fandom, his love for connecting with people, and his singular joy of being human, and sharing that, and adventuring. And I want his family to know that the love that he gave us, we gave him back, hopefully, in equal if not more. And that I thank Cliff for being a part of my life, and a part of fandom.

David Read:
My phone is lighting up. I’m so thankful to everyone who has turned up to watch our program. And I’m trying to keep my head on straight here. Paul McGillion is watching, and he said, “Hey, buddy, watching you guys and sending out much love to our Stargate family. Cliff loved life, and I know for certain he loved going to cons all around the world, and meeting fans, and sharing stories, and I’ll always love the time we shared together, and I know he’s sending love to all of you. XO.” Marcia, thank you for submitting that. She got that to me this morning, and I was like, “Oh, this is going in if it delays the show a little bit.” Darren, favorite Baal memory?

Darren Sumner:
Favorite Baal memory, not Cliff memory?

David Read:
Baal memory.

Darren Sumner:
Baal from the show.

David Read:
As in Bocce?

Darren Sumner:
I’ve been thinking about this all week. Yeah, Bocce. My favorite Baal episode is “Abyss” because it’s fabulous from start to finish, and this is the first time that Baal and Jack are going head-to-head and bantering. Everything’s great about that episode. But I think my favorite Baal moment probably comes in Continuum. Because he’s so delicious when he’s in charge, when he’s in power, when he’s holding all the cards, and that’s the plot of Stargate Continuum, is he has all the cards, he’s redone the timeline so that he is in power. All these other little System Lords have to come and bend the knee and pay homage to Baal.

David Read:
It was sweet.

Darren Sumner:
And then he’s got Qetesh. He’s got Claudia playing a Goa’ulded Vala, Qetesh, as his “forced you to be my queen” situation. But my favorite moment is when she turns on him, and Qetesh impales him with the Shikra blade, and you get that. I was watching the interviews again yesterday. Cliff describes it as this intimate moment between Baal and Qetesh …

David Read:
It was intimate, all right.

Darren Sumner:
… when he’s trying to beg for his life. ‘Cause the whole plan, 70, 80 years in the making, is about to fall apart …

David Read:
In half.

Darren Sumner:
… because she stabbed him in the back and has a knife in him right now. And then Teal’c walks in and figures out what’s going on and says, “My lord, shall I enact your final instructions?” And Baal says, “No, you idiot, save me.” He’s panicking. It’s brilliant. I love it.

David Read:
He was great in “Summit” and “Last Stand,” which were for a long time my favorites. That two-parter. The Goa’uld were very much comic book villains. The series took what they had from the feature film, and they made it all its own. Not to say that they were two-dimensional, as comic book villains literally are, but they could be mustache-twirling.

Darren Sumner:
They were larger than life, mustache twirling.

David Read:
Absolutely, the show made fun of it all the time. “Nothing can stop the carnage I wreak upon you. Oops, sorry, never mind.” And that’s just how it was. In “Abyss,” and I told Cliff this once, with Jack captured and Joel’s music playing in the background, when Cliff walks into that room as Baal, and we’ve only seen him once really before, I was genuinely scared for Jack. And I don’t think I had ever had that visceral a reaction to a Goa’uld before. But it was like, “Oh my God, this is not going to end well. I’m sure we’re gonna get Jack out of the situation, but he will be maimed significantly before we do.”

Darren Sumner:
Jack had already had light-hearted moments with the likes of Apophis and Yu, making fun, taunting them to their face, but Baal was an unknown. When he walked through that door in “Abyss,” he was …

David Read:
That was scary.

Darren Sumner:
… largely an unknown quantity. And Cliff says this again and again in his interviews. He loves playing a character where you don’t know what they’re going to do. They walk through that door and anything could happen, and that’s the moment you’re describing.

David Read:
That’s exactly right. Linda and Sommer, wanna come back to you guys in a moment with your favorite Baal moments, OK?

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
Sure.

Sommer Roy:
That sounds good.

Sommer Roy:
And we got some good comments from the chat too, whenever you’re ready for those.

David Read:
Please, go right ahead now.

Sommer Roy:
We have some Cliff memories. Let’s see, Erica Stroem says, “A lasting memory for her will be Cliff surfing on her wheelchair in the hotel corridor at Cal Mah and then falling off of it.”

David Read:
Sounds about right. And then falling off of it?

Sommer Roy:
Yes. She said, “What a guy.” Let’s see. GatesCon1 and Sally Whitesides both share the memory of playing with Cliff in Cards Against Humanity, with Kim, Susan Brom and Andee Frizzell, as well as several other friends, at the Chicago Stargate Con. So, those are two really wonderful memories that we have shared in the chat today.

David Read:
Thank you, everyone, for submitting those. That’s great. That sounds about right. Darren, have you ever played Cards Against Humanity?

Darren Sumner:
No.

David Read:
Don’t play it with your children.

Darren Sumner:
I’ve heard it’s not suitable for work.

David Read:
No, unless you work in a strip club. OK. I’ve got some Instagram tributes that GateGabber put together. Thank you Linda “GateGabber” Furey.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
You are very welcome.

David Read:
Tony Amendola, “Very sad news today about the death of a friend and Stargate SG-1 castmate, Cliff Simon. He was a wonderful actor with an adventurous spirit and a sensitive soul. Miss you, mate.” Simone Bailly, “Thank you Cliff Simon for sharing your smile and talent with all of us. I feel so fortunate to have known you. I think I speak for the entire Stargate family when I say we love you.” David Blue said, “I don’t have any photos with Cliff Simon but I remember him fondly. He had the most insane stories and he would weave them masterfully. I sat enthralled listening, laughing. I remember every car ride, brother. Hope you’re holding court somewhere interesting.” And some fan submissions as well. Keith Omel. Hey Keith. “I was deeply saddened to learn that Cliff Simon passed away on Tuesday. Cliff was an extremely talented man and I was lucky enough to meet and talk with him several times over the years. He played Baal, one of the best villains ever on Stargate SG-1. We in the Stargate community are shocked, but we know he would want us to celebrate his life rather than mourn him. Cliff was always warm and welcoming, and he was always willing to lend a hand. When my friend Sally and I needed help getting the word out about our Stargate-themed charity auction, Cliff took it upon himself to make a video and post it on his social media. That’s just how he was, always there for his fans and his friends.” Richard Pasco over at Gatecon, “As we all try to come to terms with the devastating news that broke a few hours ago about Cliff, the Gatecon team, of course, wish to send their sympathies, condolences, and love to his family and friends, and also to the fans who are going to be hit so very hard by the news. It is at times like this when the Gatecon family, the Stargate community, and fandom in general comes into its own as a means of supporting one another. Cliff was a longtime friend and supporter of our event, having been to five Gatecons, including one in the UK, where his fans were on hand to support him when he learned of his father’s passing, and he was the consummate gentleman who always made time to speak to everyone. If anyone is feeling overwhelmed by the news, we are here for you either in this page or in private. Please, please, please feel free to post your memories and photos with Cliff if you were fortunate enough to meet him, either at Gatecon or anywhere else. It would be great to flood this thread with your photo ops,” from Fryn, Richard, Allan, Stef, and Ian.” I’m so glad, Darren, that you got to go to Gatecon before the world stopped spinning, couple years back. There’s nothing else like it on Earth.

Darren Sumner:
I’ve been in this for a lot of years. I’ve been doing GateWorld for over 20 years. I’ve been doing conventions. I did Star Trek conventions when I was a kid, but my first Stargate convention probably would have been with you in Chicago. What year was that, 2004?

David Read:
Yeah, thereabouts. It’s the first time we met. Take me way back.

Darren Sumner:
I interviewed Chris Judge in their green room about Season Eight. I remember him talking to me about what was coming up in Season Eight. He said, “It’s about the reckoning.” That was my first Stargate convention. But yeah, there’s nothing like Gatecon. My first Gatecon wasn’t until 2018. And I felt like Stargate is a big global family. It’s not just the cast, and it’s not just the crew, and the producers, and the fans. It’s also the fans and the convention-goers, all of us who participate in all these online conversations, and websites, and forums, and live streams. But when you get in the room with those folks, and when you see people who are used to seeing each other on a regular basis at these conventions — I guess what I’m trying to say is I knew that Stargate was a family, but when I went to Gatecon, I felt that family. It’s like when the family actually gets together for Thanksgiving. Marvelous.

David Read:
Absolutely. That’s really what it is, exactly. Nothing else like it. Best Stargate fan convention out there. Sorry, but I’m biased. Let’s play some more from Cliff.

David Read [clip]:
Even if you never do go back to it, this has to have been a rewarding experience when you look at it as a whole.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
Yeah. And it’s been amazing. The whole trip, the six or seven years that I worked with them — Season Five– five seasons and the movie. I was very, very lucky. And I had such a great character. I loved my character. I love him. I’ve been asked before, maybe you’ve asked me, who else would I wanna play in that movie. There’s actually no one else. I just found my character so interesting. And every time he had dialogue, it was interesting stuff what was going on. I found even watching the movie — ’cause I removed myself and I really just watched the movie as a movie — and every time Baal was on screen, it was interesting. I was like, “Well, what’s he gonna do now?” When I watch any movie, I like the character that I don’t know what he’s gonna be doing next. ‘Cause that’s what makes it interesting. That’s what keeps me watching. And I found that with Baal. Very lucky to work with him for so long. And I’m very sad it’s over. Hopefully it’ll lead onto some other things, we’ll see what happens.

David Read [clip]:
What do you think sold you as the Goa’uld to work with?

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I think they saw I had a sense of humor, and why shouldn’t an alien have a sense of humor? I think that was the main thing. I think I put across some sexuality and I put across a sense of humor. And that made the character interesting. All of a sudden he was like, “We can go far. We can do a lot of stories with this guy. We can play on that.” And because of Richard Dean Anderson having that sense of humor then they put us together in Abyss, and it was like, “I’ve got the knife and I’m smiling,” and I’m going like, “You know, one last time.” And he’s like, “Oh,” making all these bocce ball jokes. And it just worked so well. And from there it carried on.

David Read [clip]:
They took you but they didn’t take your staff.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
That’s it. It was weird.

David Read [clip]:
What happened to the staff?

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I don’t know.

David Read [clip]:
Have you ever asked, “Can I see my staff again …”

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I know.

David Read [clip]:
… give it a whiff?”

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I never, ever used it again. Never used it again.

David Read [clip]:
If you’re walking down the corridor on the Goa’uld ship of Nerus, it’d be really nice if he had it in his hands …

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I know.

David Read [clip]:
… focusing on the other clones and everything.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I know. I never used it again.

David Read [clip]:
Every time we talk of Peter DeLuise, he said, “Baal is back and his collar is pointier than ever.”

Cliff Simon [clip]:
So, we applied for universities, I got my scholarships but during a training session in England one day, 5:30 in the morning, snowing outside or ice cold, I got out of the pool, I sat on the side crying. My coach came. He put his arm around me, he said, “You’re going home.” I said, “I’m going home, I wanna go into the army.” I said, “I need to grow up and I need to get a life and I need some adventure.” And that was it. That was the last time I put my foot in a pool. And then obviously when I went back and I got into the Air Force, I swam for the Air Force and was for them two years in a row. I’d been wanting to do some kind of reality show like that. I’d written a lot of things, which I still have on my computer, never really got past that. But Robin Keats approached me. His wife does a show called Pit Bulls & Parolees, which a lot of people might know of. Very successful, 10-season reality show helping prisoners, using pit bulls and all that kind of stuff. Now her husband, Robin Keats, is the creator of my show. She had a show for me with pit bulls which never worked out. He then approached me to do a show like this, which at that stage I think it was called Altered States. And he approached me because of my background, what I’ve done, being ex-military, and the kind of person I am. I’m glad you wanted to talk about this because I wanted people also to know that there’s a Cliff Simon who had a life before Stargate, and that’s the real Cliff Simon. Not the actor Cliff Simon, the guy who struggled through a lot of things, who used to spend six and a half hours a day swimming in a swimming pool, who went into the military, who saw a lot of things that are really horrible, who had to do things, he had a tough time anyway. You learn a lot of things, you grow up as a man, but you learn amazing skills, and I wanted to show that. I just wanted to be me in the show.

David Read:
Did you know how much Cliff loved pit bulls and animals?

Darren Sumner:
The pit bulls were new to me.

David Read:
He was a big advocate for bully breeds and using them to help people get through dark and difficult periods. And I think it has something to do with one of his charities. Am I correct about that, Linda? Is that right?

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
I’m not sure if he had a pit bull charity. I did find several that he supported, all incredible causes, and I will post those in the chat for everybody to see.

David Read:
Can you give a brief summary of some of those for me at this point? If it’s not too much to put you on the spot.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
No, not at all. I put them on the sheet here because I knew you might ask.

Darren Sumner:
I do know …

David Read:
That’s my Linda.

Darren Sumner:
… he was very involved in Los Angeles pit bull charities. Very much so.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
He posted a lot about Sea Shepherd, and a number of the fans mentioned his activity with that in preserving marine habitats and that’s a cause I’ve always loved myself. I belong to a different whale rescue society in Massachusetts and I still support them online. Another cause that he mentioned a lot in recent days was Stop Asian Hate. He didn’t list a specific charity, but I have a link to an Oprah Magazine article that discusses the issue very nicely and offers suggestions on how you can help. And, of course, the number one is tell your Asian friends that you’re with them at this time. Let them know that you support them and that they can come to you if they’re having difficulty and being bullied. Also, of course, the Stargate charity auction. That got mentioned again and again. He was very involved in not only people, but animals, and this was a man who was doing his very best to save the world.

David Read:
Yep. One step at a time. We can’t all do it all at once, but definitely have to do what we can where we can, where we love life.

Darren Sumner:
I think there’s another pit bull clip, one or two clips later. I’m trying to watch through the livestream, but I’m about 35, 40 seconds behind. Another one where he talks about the work that he did… One of the things that you could do for these charities is you go and you pick up one of these dogs for the day, and you go take him out. And Cliff would go pick up a pit bull from the rescue and take him to the beach and give him a day out.

David Read:
Wouldn’t you like a day out? Absolutely. I have–

Darren Sumner:
I don’t know if you wanna find that clip, but it’s really touching.

David Read:
I will do what I can… If we don’t come across it before the end, remind me before the end of the show, and I’ll try to manually pull it. Tara submitted this. “I want to express my condolences. I’m still trying to process the loss of such a remarkable man that is Cliff Simon. I had the pleasure of meeting him twice at Cal Mah. He was truly gifted, a legend, and will forever leave a powerful imprint on our lives. He will forever be missed, loved, and cherished in our hearts. I watched your video,” referring to the one I shot on Thursday, “and that we could send a video message. I don’t think I can. My head hasn’t stopped spinning from the news, so I was wondering if it’s OK to post this picture. I have a few of him, but this picture speaks loud about how much love there was for him and how absolutely legendary he was.” So, a great human being all around. Let’s have a look at some more social media clips here. This is artwork submitted by Delphine Landais. Am I pronouncing that right, Linda?

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
Landais I think it is.

David Read:
OK. I apologize. This was one that Linda found on the internet. I’m not sure what paper it’s printed on. It looks like some kind of text, but absolutely stunning ink artwork. And I have one more from Loren Hollander. Absolutely stunning. This is… I’d love to know what kind of medium this is. This has gotta be Photoshop. The fan community, in terms of its creative output, knows absolutely no bounds, and there’s some cool stuff out there all around. More cast memories I’d like to share with you here. Christopher Judge submitted heartbroken hearts, and I can certainly relate to that. Torri Higginson, “Super shocked and deeply saddened to hear of Cliff Simon’s untimely passing. His embracing of life, adventure, and spiritual archeology was always inspiring, and such a delight to be around. Many thoughts of strength and love to his family.” Paul McGillion, “Such sad, sad news about my dear friend, Cliff Simon, a true gentleman. You will be missed, my brother.” And Amanda Tapping, “So incredibly sad to hear of Cliff Simon passing away. What a wonderfully lovely man he was, such an important part of the Stargate family. I am speechless. Rest in peace.” And one more from fans, “Rest in peace, Cliff Simon. I had finished this sketch earlier this week, and I thought I should share it today. I’m so truly heartbroken and still cannot believe he has gone.” Great piece there. “My husband just had Cliff Simon send me a message for my 40th birthday montage last month. He talked about how much he loved the show and the fans. I thought I would share his words with all of you.” So, the Stargate fan club posted that video file to their page. And they posted, “In memory of Cliff Simon, here’s a repost of my favorite meme featuring Lord Baal.” This is a GQ magazine cover created by Seshet, who was also responsible for our logo design here at Dial the Gate. So, Seshet is Debbie Bell, and she’s a graphics designer, and truly exquisite work that she has done. She did cast magazine covers for Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis for everything from Time to GQ and Science, and she’s incredible, the amount of–

Darren Sumner:
I love her work.

David Read:
She’s crazy. Absolutely crazy stuff.

Darren Sumner:
GQ here is Goa’uld Quarterly, if you look closely. And I see this on the Stargate subreddit, every few months this’ll pop up, and I’ll have to chime in and say, “That’s Seshet. That’s my friend, Debbie.”

David Read:
Absolutely it is. Jane Graf worked security at Gatecon for a number of years, I’ve lost count. She was kind enough to submit a video tribute as well.

Jane Graf [clip]:
Hey, David, it’s Jane Graf, part of the staff for Gatecon, and wanted to share a memory of Cliff with you all. The day before Gatecon in Reading, UK, as Cliff was coming to the UK, as many of you know, his dad had passed away. So, when he landed, he got that news, and he had to cope with what had happened far away from his family and his friends and his wife, and the rest of his family. And afterwards, after he’d made a few phone calls and spent some time alone, he sort of wandered the halls of the hotel in Reading. And I was in the ballroom with Allen, who was working on the volume for the morning video and for the opening ceremonies and stuff, and Cliff came in and sat down next to me. And for about 45 minutes, we ended up talking about our dads, the giants they are in our lives, the heroes that they were to us. We laughed, we cried, we held hands. And it was a time that the two of us talked about what a dad was to us, what we wanted dads to be to everyone, and how fortunate we truly were. Anyway, the next few times I saw him at cons and particularly at Gatecon, he gave me a hug every time and told me that helped him get through the loss of his dad. And of course, as those of you that were there know, he stayed with us most of that whole weekend. And even when we interrupted the charity auction to show the rugby game coming with South Africa playing in it, when we lost sound on the video downstairs on the big screen, he took people up to his hotel room in his suite so they could watch it there, and he talked people through it who didn’t know what rugby was. Anyway, he was a delight. We all loved him. I hope he knows that, and I hope he knows that he’s precious to so many of us at Gatecon. Cliff, enjoy your reunion with your dad, your hero, the giant in your life, and know that we all loved you, and we will miss you. And we will be there in any way we can to support Colette and the rest of your family and all of your dear friends. Take care. Bye.

David Read:
Jane is a wonderful human being and one of the bright specks in fandom, particularly at Gatecon. I always love to see her when we have another convention. So, I did not know that story about him and his dad, losing his father while he was away. Did you know about that?

Darren Sumner:
No, just recently came across. And in all the interviews I listened to yesterday, he talked a little bit about how he was away when he found out that his dad had passed.

David Read:
Consummate professional. Show must go on. He stayed there for fandom. He made it work. Apparently, I missed a message from Kate Hewlett on the previous screen. She said, “Oh, no, I had not heard. I just met him in 2019 and was totally blown away by his positivity, humor, and kindness. This is so tragic, and I’m so sorry to all those who knew and loved him.” Let me see here. Pull up another set of cast memories. Alex Zahara, “Unbelievably sad and tragic, the loss of Cliff Simon. He was a consummate gentleman, one of the kindest and most genuine souls I have ever known. The Stargate world and universe burns less brightly tonight. Good luck on your next journey, my friend.” Jacqueline Samuda, “I plan to share some photos today of the beautiful vibrant spirit that is Cliff Simon, but another time. Love you, Cliff. How is it possible to feel so close and connected to someone you only get to see now and then? When someone is the embodiment of life itself, it’s easy.” And Mika McKennon, “I was not braced for grief in my Stargate friendships today,” science consultant on Stargate. And Joseph Mallozzi, “Incredibly saddened to hear of the passing of the wonderful Cliff Simon.” James Bam Bam Bamford, “Yes, that’s terrible. He was such a lovely person.” More from fandom. Stargate Fan Club, “Rest in peace, Cliff Simon, AKA Baal. This guy had an on-screen presence that was pure charisma. I was fortunate enough to meet him at a nearby small con. Great guy, lots of laughs, great storyteller. He will absolutely be missed.” Claire Cowan, “So sorry to hear of the unfortunate kite-surfing accident. Cliff will be missed by all Stargate fans. Remembering he stayed at a Gatecon after hearing that his father had passed away, he decided to stay at the con to be with his con family and friends for two extra days.” And Shadow Mann wrote, “He was my favorite Goa’uld from Stargate SG-1. I always admired the depth he added to the SG-1 lore. He will be missed.” And the MacGyver Podcast just had him on the show, “We had such a great time. The whole family is stunned and gutted. We watched ‘Abyss’ in his memory.”

Darren Sumner:
That’s beautiful, thank you.

David Read:
Absolutely. Sommer, your favorite memory of Baal?

Sommer Roy:
I love Baal. I’ve gone on record saying that he’s one of my favorite baddies, if not my favorite baddie. I think his clones for me are my favorite memory. Because you never knew if he was still out there or not. I mean, they say they got them all, but I always loved that there was this little, tiny, teeny bit of hope that he would come back, because to me, he was the ultimate Goa’uld. Because he didn’t just rule as a god, he actually came down to our level and learned how we worked and learned our society, and really got involved. He knew how to work the system.

David Read:
He did.

Sommer Roy:
It always intrigued me, out of all of the Goa’ulds, he actually got his hands dirty and he actually came down and took the time to learn instead of just lording over and trying to rule by force. He was so devious. He got down in there and tried to figure out how to destroy us from within. So, that’s really my favorite part of Baal.

David Read:
Linda, do you have one?

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
I definitely do, and it’s also one of my very favorite Sam Carter moments.

David Read:
I know which one this is.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
You know which one I mean. It’s Sam and the DHD is acting up and they can’t figure out what’s going on, and she decides it’s the Obelisk that’s our problem. And she’s trying to solve the problem and he just won’t help her. Finally, she hauls off and socks him in the nose and knocks him on his backside. And it’s such a hilarious and wonderful moment that never fails to make me laugh.

David Read:
It’s a great scene. “The Quests Part 2” really brought out a lot of great performances, most definitely Cliff Simon, for sure. Let’s play–

Darren Sumner:
I think …

David Read:
Go ahead.

Darren Sumner:
… before you play the next thing, I think Cliff’s character is so significant to the story of Stargate because what they did with “Reckoning” and “Threads” at the end of Season Eight was they tied up the System Lords. They were no longer in power. The Goa’uld threat was fading. And then we find out that Baal was living on Earth. Actually, if you look at the list of episodes that Cliff is in, most of them are in Seasons 9 and 10. Because he was the one System Lord who decided that he wasn’t done. He made another play for power in a different way. And then the Ori came, and it’s another play for power in a different way. And then he got his hands on Adria. And he’s always scheming and always doing something. All the other System Lords went away. But that’s when Baal really shone.

David Read:
When he shined. For sure. That makes a lot of sense. Let’s play a couple more of the clips from Cliff here.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
So, I started off by just once or twice a week walking the dogs. And then attending, on a Sunday morning, one of the rescue days at Petco, one of the big pet department stores where they would do adoption days. And I just thought, “I have the time.” So, I would get a crazy dog for the day. I’d pick him up, put him in my truck, and I’d drive him down to the beach, and I’d walk along the beach with him because he’s cooped up in this little cage all day and it makes him insane. And I loved it. I did it for quite a while until eventually it started to get me down. I started to get too upset taking him back. I can’t talk about it. Sorry. One sec. Eventually I got my own rescue dog, and she lived a long life and she died last year unfortunately. But that’s how I got involved with him. I thought it was very important, and it was out of control at one stage, but the rescues now have really got a good handle on it. And believe it or not, with all that’s going on with COVID, a lot of the rescue companies are empty. People have fostered so many dogs because number one, the staff have had to be less at the adoption agencies and people have really stood up and gone to foster a dog for a month or two months until things calm down and they can go back. Or hopefully, the people will just keep them as a rescue. So, in a way it’s been a good thing for the dogs anyway, but some of the rescues are empty. Every convention I have done, there’s been some strange, weird things happen, but 99% of the time, it’s all very good experiences from people and being with people and the feedback I’ve gotten. I don’t know. I could never really say which was the best experience or who was the best fan I’ve ever met. I think all of you are fricking crazy and amazing and really enjoyable to be around. And yes, at conventions, when we take a break, we need a break ’cause you guys are mad. But in a very good way, in a good way. You know what I mean? Your energy and everything is so amazing, and that’s why we have to take breaks, because it’s draining.

Suanne Braun [clip]:
But so supportive, and the Stargate love is amazing.

David Read [clip]:
What do you think about attending conventions? You’ve been doing a lot more of them in recent years. What is your feeling about attending all these conventions?

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I’m still getting used to them. I did start doing a lot last year. I know this year I’ve got a lot coming up. We’ve already booked six. November for me is gonna be a crazy month. I have one every single weekend through the month of November.

David Read [clip]:
Holy cow.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I’m getting used to them. I do enjoy them as far as what I said to the fans and the viewers now is that, without them, we wouldn’t have a show. So I’m always appreciative of the audience. I will never not sign an autograph. I will never be rude to somebody because I’ll never forget that. I’ve been in the business a long time and I’ve seen a lot of actors become like that, and it’s just terrible because you don’t put yourself where you are.

David Read [clip]:
They’re there because of you.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
Your viewers put you there. Your fans put you there. And you can never forget that. So, that’s why I enjoy coming to the conventions, because it gives me a chance. It’s not like doing theater work where you’re right there with the audience, you do a performance, and you get an applause, and you know “OK, that was a good performance.” Here you’re working with something, you think you do a great performance, it’s over and leave. So, the only time we get feedback is when we come to conventions.

David Read [clip]:
Excellent. It’s important that you talk about things that you are passionate about. Centering your mind, centering your body, getting everything in sync. Where did that stem from for you? Did you find yourself at a point in life where you were really stressed and saying, “I have to change something that’s going on in my life and I need to…” How did that come about?

Cliff Simon [clip]:
Coming from my swimming days, I was always taught to be positive and focus on my sport and focus on what I’m doing. So, I was very stressed out, especially with competition. I was taught to a certain degree with martial arts, deep breathing exercises, chi exercises. But for competition, I realized I had to focus that energy, what I thought at that time was negative energy, and turn it into positive energy to give me strength in the water. And I did that. I would sit and I would visualize my competitions. I would visualize the actual race 1,000 times before I actually swam it so when I came to swim the race, my mind already believed I was the winner.

David Read [clip]:
‘Cause you’d already done it in your head.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
People need to do that every day of their life with whatever. As an actor, you visualize yourself working. You go to an audition, you visualize yourself already having that job. Or you wanna be on a certain show, visualize yourself on that show. Every day, every day. Eventually it’ll come. It’s believing in yourself. My one regret in the whole show is that I never got to work with Richard more often. We just never worked enough together and I really think that Baal and Richard were the most interesting– When we were together, the relationship and the joking we had between us was one of the most interesting things in the show. We just never really got it together and then he ended the series. But it was great for him to be back in the movie. That first scene which we shot, the killing of Baal, and I saw him. It was really cool because I missed that interaction with him. And when he looks at Baal, he looks at him like, “You’re such an idiot.” And I love that. I love it because it brings out… ‘Cause that’s eventually what became Baal’s sense of humor as well ’cause that’s how he looks at people. So, we had such a good interaction between the two of us. And in the movie there also wasn’t enough. There should’ve been more. I’ll miss the work. It’s been fun. It’s been amazing. And for me, starting off my career in the United States and only have been here for six years, and to have the kind of fan base, thanks to you guys, that I’ve got now all over the world just from appearing on Stargate is absolutely amazing. So, if the show had to end and my character never came back, it’s the best thing that could’ve happened to me. So, I don’t regret a single minute of it. And hopefully, even if the show had to end, we’d still be doing conventions and I’ll still be getting invited to conventions.

David Read:
Man, absolutely sucked up every drop of life. I started traveling abroad in 2013, and part of it was because of Cliff. ‘Cause he talked about his experiences in South Africa and having to grow beyond his country’s borders to make himself a better human being and see the world out there. And I’ve took that and ran with that as well, for sure.

Darren Sumner:
He’s got an amazing story. I was trying to remember, I know the first time that I met Cliff. Was it the same day that you met Cliff?

David Read:
Quite probably.

Darren Sumner:
Which was when we did that interview, the oldest footage that we’re showing here, where he’s sitting in front of the Kull Warrior in the Baal costumes and talking about how he’s getting used to conventions. That was, I think, 2006.

David Read:
We’ve been doing this a long time.

Darren Sumner:
I’m pretty sure it was the 2006 Vancouver convention, the Creation Convention in Vancouver. And they say, “Never meet your heroes.” How about meeting your villains? The only memory that I have of that experience, that whole convention with Cliff, was when he walked into that room. We’re looking around, “OK, we got a time with Cliff Simon. We gotta pull aside, we’re gonna do a Baal interview, and where can we go?” And we asked Adam Malin, I think, from Creation [Convention] …

David Read:
Bless him.

Darren Sumner:
… “Hey, do you have a room where we can do a quick little pull-aside with Cliff?” And he said, “How about the props room right here?” If people remember going to that event, they had a designated props and costumes from the set …

David Read:
It was so cool.

Darren Sumner:
… little kinda mini museum that people could walk through. And they let us take Cliff in there and close the door for 20 minutes and use it as a backdrop. And that’s when I met Cliff. That’s weird. When you’ve been watching a guy this evil on screen for so many years–

David Read:
With those collars that pointy.

Darren Sumner:
Collars that pointy. And of course, he used his South African accent as Baal.

David Read:
Yes, exactly.

Darren Sumner:
Or a version of it. And it was Baal right here in the room with us …

David Read:
In the flesh.

Darren Sumner:
… shaking our hand and talking about Stargate. It was extremely memorable. It was a ton of fun but he was both of those things. He was both larger than life and also an ordinary guy that wanted to sit and hang out with you and goof around.

David Read:
Have you read Paris Nights?

Darren Sumner:
I haven’t.

David Read:
My Year at the Moulin Rouge?

Darren Sumner:
This is his book?

David Read:
This is his book.

Darren Sumner:
A Year at the Moulin Rouge.

David Read:
You must pick it up. It is fantastic. I am an Audible guy, so I had the audio version. He recorded the audio version himself. If you have not heard it or read it, I highly recommend it. He brings it to life. It’s kind of like resurrecting– I listened to a piece of it again last night, it’s kinda like bringing him back. It’s a great memoir. It’s not very long, and he gets himself into a couple of scraps, and it’s an interesting summation of his life, and I completely recommend it. I’d like to go through a couple more tributes here. I believe I read this one. Yes, OK. Jenny Stiven, we had her on a moment ago, so she also posted online, “One of my favorite people in the world, let alone from the Stargate family, Cliff Simon, has passed away suddenly this week. There is so much to be said, shared, and sung about Cliff, many others will do a much better job than I. I simply want to say Cliff was one of the most genuine, open, deep, caring, fun, adventurous people I know and was blessed to be able to get to know him beyond Stargate and share some amazing moments, spiritual conversations, and most of all, great laughs. I know he’s riding perfect waves onto a bigger and better adventure beyond.” And Kelly Varner, she quoted what Colette had posted as well. Dean Aylesworth, his scenes were opposite Cliff Simon. He played Baal in, I believe, “Reckoning 1,” if I’m not mistaken. “I’m still feeling, reeling from the shock of losing my dear friend, Cliff Simon. My tears have flowed many times throughout the night as I’ve tried to accept this loss and reflect on how much he meant to me. Below,” from this image here, “is the scene I filmed with Cliff, with himself playing the iconic Baal, and myself as Anubis. My very first day on set, he welcomed me to the Stargate family. We were friends from that first second. He continued to make me feel welcome every day after. While I’m devastated that he’s gone, I find solace in the fact that he left this Earth doing what he loved, seeking adventure. It was that sense of adventure and his live-in-the-moment attitude that inspired not only myself, but also all of us who were lucky to have his friendship.” These are… Linda, thank you very much for submitting foreign-language submissions here in Spanish and in French. I’m not gonna embarrass myself by butchering those languages.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
No. I wanted to show that the outpouring of love …

David Read:
Absolutely.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
… is truly worldwide. I also have some in Hungarian and German and Russian.

David Read:
Wow. And those are coming up here as well?

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
No, they won’t come up.

David Read:
I see. OK.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
I saved one slide of those to show the love.

David Read:
Understood. I appreciate you doing that. Mr. Brad Wright, “Such sad news. Cliff was always a gentleman and leaves behind a legacy of many great performances on Stargate. Corin Nemec, “Love Cliff. Spent many hours with him, every one of them great.” Dan Payne, “Rest in peace, beautiful man. Heartbroken to hear of Cliff Simon passing. Proud to know him and honored to call him a friend. He was the absolute epitome of cool and beyond genuine in every way. Rest easy, brother.” And Claudia Black, “Did anyone figure out how to stop the world? I wanna get off. Oh dear, I’m a mess. Cliff, you were a gentleman and a delight to play and work with. I wish you endless adventures through all the realms and I’m sending deepest love to your family.” There’s only so much that you can say about a great human being. Jen Kirby submitted a clip as well, she’s my production assistant. And I’d like to share that with everyone now.

Jen Kirby [clip]:
Cliff Simon had an extraordinary and amazing power. It didn’t take him many words, time, or actions to befriend anybody he met. There aren’t enough words to describe the kind of person that Cliff was. Kind, caring, and adventurous are the few words that come to mind. Cliff had a deep love for life. He was dedicated to living life to the fullest and sharing that life with anybody he crossed paths with. Despite having a busy schedule, in a lot of situations he would still stop and help others in need, whether it be at a convention, in day-to-day life, or just on the streets. A very small example, and a personal example, is from when I met him for the first and last time in 2019 at the Chicago Gateway Convention. I was trying to catch the elevator, and it was about to close, and I hollered, and lo and behold, it was Cliff that was in there, and he held it just at the very last second. And little did he know that I was waiting on another friend, and the next thing he knew, he was stuck in an elevator with three fan girls and had seven floors to still go up. I took the opportunity to ask for a selfie, and while I was waiting for the inevitable, “No, I’m sorry, I’m too busy,” he graciously and happily accepted, and it was in those moments that I knew that I crossed paths with a genuinely good-hearted person, and those kinds of people are very rare to find these days. He truly was a jewel. He was infectious with his smile and his personality, and the world seems a little darker now without it.

Suanne Braun [clip]:
You’ve come to London and you are an outstanding swimmer at this stage of your life. How old are you at this point?

Cliff Simon [clip]:
15.

Suanne Braun [clip]:
15. So, outstanding swimmer. I was gonna say audition, that’s not the right word for a swimmer, is it?

Cliff Simon [clip]:
No.

Suanne Braun [clip]:
You do the time trials for the Olympic Games.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
To cut it short, I arrived there when I was 15 years old. I had to find a school. I had to find a swimming coach who was gonna get me to the Olympics. That was my dream. Of course, being with my parents, we found the right guy in Barnet Copthall out near Edgware where I lived, and I joined his squad purely to train with him. He was the 1976 women’s Olympic coach, so he was a very renowned coach in the UK, and I thought, “OK, cool. If I’m gonna get there, this is gonna be a good guy to be with.” Three years later, I qualified at the time trials. They have lots of short-course competitions and long-course competitions and Olympic trials, and I swam the Olympic trials, and my times qualified me for the ’84 Olympics. Then we started looking into universities in the United States for me to get four years of swim training in the United States because that was the best thing I could do. I became a professional dancer in South Africa. I did cabaret shows, I did big shows like Sun City. Anyone watching, these are big shows, like the Las Vegas shows. I did that for 12 years. I made a living out of it. I got pretty good at it. I was never a trained ballet dancer. I went to ballet class to get a bit of a foundation and a bit of technique. But I made a living out of it for 12 years. And eventually, a good friend of mine was principal at the Moulin Rouge and he said, “Cliff, one of the guys has broken his leg. They’re looking for somebody. I’ve shown them your photograph. They’re really interested in seeing you. Come out.” That’s all he said. So I said, “OK, cool.” I was involved with a girl for seven years in South Africa. I told her, “I’m leaving.” I sold my car. All I had was a little backpack and I had maybe, I don’t know, 1000 rand in my pocket, which is like $100.

Suanne Braun [clip]:
Wow, it’s nothing.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
And I got on a plane. I had enough money for a plane ticket and I went to Paris and then I realized I had to audition. And I said to my buddy, “I thought I had the job. I didn’t know I had to audition.” So now I thought, “Well, if I don’t get the job, I’m stuck. I’ve got no more money to even get back to South Africa.” But anyway, I auditioned. Luckily they liked me. They put me into the chorus line. I stayed in the chorus line for three months. And then the principal had to leave for whatever reason, and they asked me to take his place. And I ended up being principal there for eight or nine months. I still had this feeling of coming from South Africa that I was very tied down there. There was a ceiling to everything I was doing. And all of a sudden hitting Europe at that age, 27 or 28, you’re in your prime. You’re like, “Oh my God, I’ve got my own place.” Not sharing it with a partner, girlfriend, or anything. “My own place. I can come and go as I want. I can sleep all day if I want.” It was a totally free time for me, and women came into that because I was not interested in getting involved in anyone, but I was in the kind of business where there are so many women. Whether it’s the [inaudible] or whether it’s the dancers. We’re in a place where there’s 40, 50 girls and there’s 10 guys. And eight out of the 10 guys are gay. So, come on, our chances are pretty good. For a couple of years, I’d been thinking about moving to the United States. Whether it was for acting or for whatever reason, I wanted to become a US citizen. That was my big thing. For whatever reason, I don’t know. We had a few very violent incidents in South Africa. I was getting crazy there. I’m not gonna talk about negative things, but I always had two guns on me at all times. I had break-ins in my house. I won’t even talk about it. But things prompted me to, “OK, now’s the time to leave this place because I want to get on with my life. I hope this country comes right, but unfortunately I only have one life. I don’t have kids, it’s gonna be easier for me. I can leave now with my wife.” And that was it. I’ve got a cousin in San Diego, who’s an immigration attorney. Contacted him, I said, “I wanna apply for a green card. I wanna do this properly.” Paid him $5,000, and a year later I got my green card and my wife and I immigrated to the United States. Gave everything up in South Africa, like you’re talking about. I had $18,000 in my pocket. $18,000 and I came to Los Angeles, one of the most expensive cities in the world. Now I had to buy a car for me, I had to buy my wife a car. I had no agents, I had no contacts. I had nothing. I truly started from scratch. And yes, that first year that I was here, it was a shock coming from what I had. I went through a depression. I never once thought about going home, because I didn’t want to. I left South Africa, but I thought, “OK, is there anywhere else? Maybe.” But I thought, “No, this is where I wanna be. This is the top. If I’m gonna do what I wanna do in life, this is where I’m gonna be able to do it. At least have the opportunity to try and do it.” We stuck it out. I think it was a year I was here, and I went for an audition. I found myself an agent, I went for an audition for Nash Bridges and I got a guest-star role on Nash Bridges because of my accent. I played a South African. That was a lucky role. And that was my first gig, up in San Francisco actually. And of course I thought, “OK, I’ve cracked the big time here.” We’re drinking wine at home. “Wow, I got the audition. I’ve got guest star on Nash Bridges.”

David Read:
I remember, when he told me, when he had gotten his American citizenship, and he was very proud of that. He was very excited to become a full-fledged citizen. I really wanna thank everyone for coming in and participating. We’re gonna have to wrap it up here. Peter Kelamis is gonna be coming in pretty quickly and he’s gonna lighten the mood. So, Linda and Sommer, Linda first. Any final thoughts?

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
I am really sorry that I never got a chance to meet Cliff. He was an incredible person and I wanna thank everybody who has taken the time to talk to me this week about their comments and about the artwork. I’ve struck up a lot of conversations and in Cliff’s memory, I have made a whole bunch of new friends. So he continues to have a huge impact on people’s lives. I’ve got more members of my Stargate family this week because of Cliff.

David Read:
That’s really cool. Sommer?

Sommer Roy:
I totally echo that as well. I’m so thankful I was able to say thank you and that the time I got to meet him. We went bowling so I have a lot of nice puns.

David Read:
That’s right.

Sommer Roy:
Bowling with Baal or bowling Baal. It’s such good memories. I wanted to read some of the things in the chat that I think are some of the most iconic things. A few of the people in chat, including my husband, their favorite moment of Baal is when he says … When Jacob and them, they’re doing the gate thing to activate all the gates to destroy the replicators. He’s pointing to this one, “This one?” And he says, “Yes, that one.” And he says, “How do you know?” And he says, “I’m a god. Gods are all-knowing.” Then, of course, he messes up later on.

David Read:
Someone can’t take much more of this. Neither can I. That was great.

Sommer Roy:
The other memory that stuck out in the chat was the favorite moment when he says to Apophis, “Did you plan to say that when you walked in or was that just off the top of your head?” as he slices the–

David Read:
Dad joke.

Sommer Roy:
Yes, that was great.

David Read:
“Be careful not to choke on your aspirations, director.” That was good stuff.

Sommer Roy:
Some of the personal tributes. Steven Drysdale says, “Hi, David and Darren. He was an excellent actor, played his character immediately evil but legendary System Lord.” Yugioh Giveaway says, “I just found out about this, that it happened. Legendary actor. Will never forget him.” And two more. Thomas says, “Sitting here with my youngest daughter, saddened at the loss of Cliff Simon, who I’ve watched with all three of my daughters across 20 years. That’s the magic of the Stargate franchise.”

David Read:
It is multi-generational.

Sommer Roy:
And Zaboo says, “Thank you for my childhood and the memories. I was lucky to meet you in person. You were kind and friendly and funny. RIP. I send my condolences to the family and friends from Hungary.” That just embodies everything. All of the fans here today are so supportive. Thank you all so much for coming out today.

David Read:
You said it exactly. The reach for this show never stops amazing me. I always go into Google Analytics for Dial the Gate, and I’m just blown away at the global reach of the show and how it continues to persist across time. It’s like whack-a-mole. You can’t take this thing down. It’s not burning as bright as Star Wars or even Star Trek. Brad Wright said it’s a steady candle. It’s not a bright candle, but it’s a candle that you just cannot put out. And that’s what the show continues to be. And I think the same can be said for Cliff Simon as well. I’ve submitted to the screen here a number of posts that I wasn’t able to get around to reading. Linda, thank you for putting those together. Darren, thank you for putting the video clips together. Those were fantastic. Getting to see those with you and– Thank you.

Darren Sumner:
Thanks again to Suanne for letting us use some of that footage.

David Read:
HathorHosts.

Darren Sumner:
Go watch the full thing. We’ll put a link below.

David Read:
It’s a treat. For sure. Linda and Sommer, thank you both for coming on. Means the world to me to have you here.

Sommer Roy:
Of course.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
You’re welcome. I was very glad to be here today.

Sommer Roy:
Me too.

David Read:
Darren, thank you for pinch hitting for Cliff. I have to apologize for my waterworks a few days ago. I just found out with Jenny, got the message over to you, and came home and was basically racing you to get the word out and someone had posted online, “Why don’t you try drying your tears before recording a video?” And I was like, “There’s probably a point there.”

Darren Sumner:
It’s in the moment. I think there’s value in being vulnerable with people we keep calling family.

Sommer Roy:
Exactly.

David Read:
If we’re family, then we’re gonna be vulnerable with each other. And sometimes outsiders are looking in on that. But I also wanna say, having watched your video a few days ago, I wanna say to everybody who’s here and everybody who’s watching this on playback later, it’s OK to feel your feelings. This is hard. Even if you never met Cliff personally, this is hard and it’s OK to be sad and it’s OK to be angry and to go through all the stages of grief, and to feel that and to allow yourself to sit with it.

Linda “GateGabber” Furey:
Well said.

David Read:
Thanks guys so much for coming on. I’m gonna go ahead and wrap this one up. Thank you, Linda. Thank you, Sommer. Thank you, Darren. Bye, guys. All right. Means a great deal to me to have you on, and we’ll be wrapping up the show with my own clip of Cliff here in just a moment. We’ll be bringing Peter Kelamis, Adam Brody on Stargate Universe. One of the last things I wanted to share, I don’t know who took this, but I had to laugh. Cliff eating a Goa’uld. At some point he had poked over in the Atlantis set, and it made me laugh. I was like, “I gotta share this one to everybody.” If you enjoyed this episode of Dial the Gate, please like, share, subscribe. I can’t thank everyone enough for tuning in. He will be missed, and he will not be forgotten. Villains are something special. It’s the heroes that get all the glory, but it’s the villains, I think, who also tell us about what it is to be human. Cliff Simon knew that, and it’s one of the things that we talked about a lot. Man, he ate it up. That man ate the stage. He was my friend, and it was a pleasure to get to spend so many hours with him at conventions, and to watch him with his fans. No one like him. My name is David Read. Thank you for watching Dial the Gate, and we’ll see you on the other side.

David Read [clip]:
Fans have been trying to figure out over the years, you had Osiris. You had the Lotar in “Abyss.” You had the Goa’uld from Kelowna/Langara, which you weren’t in that episode but she was working for you. And then you had the female assistant on Earth, who actually turned out to be… And I’m blanking on the Goa’uld’s name right now.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I can’t remember the name either.

David Read [clip]:
What’s with the blondes and Baal?

Cliff Simon [clip]:
Baal likes blondes. Cliff likes blondes. I don’t know, maybe I mentioned that to them once, somewhere along the line. They know my wife is blonde. Maybe they just picked up on that.

David Read [clip]:
Athena. Athena was the–

Cliff Simon [clip]:
They just assumed, “I’m dark. He obviously likes blondes.”

David Read [clip]:
That’s fair.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
But she was beautiful. Athena was beautiful.

David Read [clip]:
All right. ‘Cause I was like, “There’s a trend here. There’s a growing trend.” Either it’s conscious or it’s subconscious, or it’s just …

Cliff Simon [clip]:
You know what it comes from?

David Read [clip]:
… the luck of the draw between actors.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
I think it comes from the first episode I shot when Osiris walked in. She was blonde, and I looked at her and I’m like, “Hmm, I like this.” And they picked up on that one.

David Read [clip]:
And it won you the part for the next five years.

Cliff Simon [clip]:
And told them I like blondes.

David Read [clip]:
They pulled it off. Cool.