- Born
- Birth nameSimon Phillip Cowell
- Nicknames
- Mr. Nasty
- Judge Dread
- Nasty Simon
- Sarcastic Simon
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Simon Cowell was born in Lambeth, London and brought up in Elstree, Hertfordshire. He is the son of Julie Cowell (née Josie Dalglish), a ballet dancer, and Eric Selig Phillip Cowell, a music industry executive. Simon started his career in the music industry working in the mailroom at EMI Music Publishing. He worked as a record producer, talent scout and consultant within the music industry before becoming a judge on the hit British TV show Pop Idol (2001) and its U.S. counterpart, American Idol (2002). Cowell's scathing comments were famous during his 10 seasons as a judge on American Idol.- IMDb Mini Biography By: slyitalian@hotmail.com
- ChildrenEric
- Parents
- RelativesNicholas Cowell(Sibling)
- Brutally honest
- Solid-coloured shirts and sweaters (usually white, grey or black) with jeans.
- English accent
- Deep authoritative voice
- During an audition, a female participant told Simon and the other judges that she quit her job at a hair salon so she can pursue her dreams on American Idol (2002); when getting rejected, Simon had asked for the phone and called the owner of the workplace where the rejected contestant got her job back.
- Was once a waiter in Elton John's restaurant in London.
- His father, Eric Cowell, was a record company executive with EMI. He died at home in 1999 of a massive heart attack on the very day that Simon got his first Number One with a then-unknown band called Westlife who his dad had predicted would become big.
- Became a father for the first time at age 54 when his girlfriend Lauren Silverman gave birth to their son Eric Cowell on February 14, 2014.
- Says that the first time he gave a criticism was at age four when he looked at his mother's white fuzzy pillbox hat and remarked "Mum, you look like a poodle" [Source: His book "I Don't Mean to Be Rude, But..."]
- I'd accept an honour but I don't think I'm likely to get one. The Queen once described me as a dreadful man.
- [to a Pop Idol (2001) contestant] Let me throw a mathematical dilemma at you - there's 500 left, well how come the odds of you winning are a million to one?
- [Asked if he feels guilty about what he says to American Idol (2002) contestants] No, what I am doing is kind by telling people who are useless, "Do something that you're good at". So I would only feel guilt if I misled somebody who was terrible.
- We've done three seasons of [American Idol (2002)] and by now it is safe to assume that most people know that you have to be able to sing. But people turn up who can't sing a note and yet they believe they are the Second Coming.
- Sit in these auditions for three weeks and hear "I Believe I Can Fly" out of tune for the millionth time, YOU try and be nice.
- The X Factor (2011) - $75,000,000 including producer fee (2011)
- American Idol (2002) - $100,000 (Season 1)
- American Idol (2002) - $50,000 /episode (Season 2)
- American Idol (2002) - $100,000,000 /year (2009-10)
- American Idol (2002) - $8,000,000 /yr. (Season 3)
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