Biography

Born in Leeds, the eldest son of Colin and Pat Cawood, he grew up in Bradford, West Yorkshire. He attended Bingley Grammar School from 1970 to 1977. Over 46 years Steve has had two fantastic careers. 28 yrs as a firefighter in West Yorkshire, retiring as a Crew Commander in 2005, followed by 28 yrs in the film/TV industry (with a 9 year overlap). In film/TV he began as a Supporting Artist, quickly became an Armourer then added Special Effects to his skill set. He's been a crew of one sitting on a hazer and he's run the floor on High End TV shows. Steve will always be grateful to the late Neil Mountain, who first offered him freelance work with Armoury In Action. Then Darren Wallis at Quicksilver SFX gave him a chance, taught him a lot and encouraged him all the way. Future Effects, followed by AnyFX, RealSFX, Illuminarium, FX Wales and especially SFX NI with Steve Templeton and his crew of wonderful human beings. His film career combined with his Fire Brigade career has given him something of a unique blend of skills and experiences that he could bring to his work. In 2021 RealSFX found themselves, through unforeseen circumstances, having to trust him to run the floor on a high-end TV series, without having worked for them before, on what was turning into a very challenging job. Steve has always been grateful to them for that trust. In 2024 two things happened. Firstly, Steve turned 65. Secondly, a very good friend died suddenly causing him to rethink his priorities. The decision was made to retire to a beach with immediate effect. Steve is married to Julie and has two daughters, Nicola and Helen, from his first marriage, a step-daughter, Laura-May and six grand-children. But you never know........... there will always be something that might tempt him back!
- IMDb mini biography by: Steve