Cliff Simon, who played the villain Ba’al on the long-running “Stargate SG-1” series, died after a kiteboarding accident at Topanga Beach in California, his wife announced Thursday. He was 58.
“There is a gaping hole where he once stood on this earth,” Colette Simon wrote on Facebook. “He was and always will be the love of my life and there is unimaginable heartbreak.”
She said her husband died “doing one of the things he loved most and passed away on the beach near the water, which was his temple.”
“Stargate SG-1,” the space exploration drama that premiered on Showtime in 1997 and finished its 10-year run on the Sci-Fi Channel (later known as Syfy), featured Cliff Simon in more than a dozen episodes, according to IMDB.
Colette Simon said the character was “the villain you loved to hate.”
Cliff Simon, a native of South Africa who also lived in the U.K. for many years, made his American TV debut in a guest role on “Nash Bridges” in 2000. He later appeared on “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “Days of Our Lives,” “The Americans” and “Castle.”
Colette Simon quoted her husband as saying, “Acting is what I do, it’s only a part of who I am.”
Cliff Simon was also an accomplished swimmer, South African Air Force veteran, windsurfing instructor and model, according to People.