Wife Alexandra and three daughters Sophie, Claudia and Kitty were at his side when he died "peacefully" in hospital on Friday.
Ward, the son of a car salesman from Beckenham, Kent, had a long and successful career in films, television and the stage.
He was recently seen on TV as a senior judge in the BBC legal drama Judge John Deed and as Bishop Gardiner in The Tudors.
Actress Susan Penhaligon paid tribute to Ward, describing him as a "loyal and sympathetic" friend.
She starred alongside him in as his wife on the stage in the The Madness of George III in 2010.
She said: "He was a witty, frighteningly clever and handsome, complex man who I worked with a lot.
"He was extremely loyal and sympathetic, and could be a very good friend. I feel sorry that he is gone. I think The Madness of George III was his last stage performance.
"He had such joy with Alan Bennett's language and I'm very happy I was in that play with him in which he triumphed. It was only 18 months ago.
"He showed such courage because I think he was ill then; he was a very courageous man."
The play ran for around three months. The pair had also performed alongside each other in two previous plays, including Dangerous Obsession in the 1980s. A statement from Shepherd Management said: "Simon wanted to be an actor from an early age and joined the National Youth Theatre at age 13 and was there for eight years.
"He went on to train at RADA and became one of the most respected and admired actors of his generation.
"His big break in the theatre came in 1967 when he played the lead in Joe Orton's play Loot which led to television and film work.
"In 1972, he played the title role of Churchill in Young Winston. This brought him international prominence and he starred in many films in the 1970s and 1980s."
Some of those high-profile film roles were in The Three Musketeers as the Duke of Buckingham, Lt Vereker in Zulu Dawn, vet James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small, Supergirl's father Zor-El and Captain Hoffman in Hitler: The Last Ten Days.
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