Simon graduated from the California State University in Northridge with a BA in Radio, TV, and Film. He started in the late 1970s as an actor and had supporting parts in the television drama Raid on Entebbe (1976, with Tige Andrews, David Opatoshu, Stephen Macht, and Robin Gammell), the drama Broethers (1977, with Bernie Casey), and the television drama Nowhere to Hide (1977, with Biff Yeager).