Simon MacCorkindale
SIMON MacCORKINDALE, the British actor/ director, rose to international prominence for his portrayal of Simon Doyle, the smoothly avaricious young murderer in the star-studded DEATH ON THE NILE and is currently seen regularly as lawyer Greg Reardon on the CBS series FALCON CREST. Long an established leading actor on the British stage and television, MacCorkindale made his professional stage debut at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, England as Captain Blackwood in A BEQUEST TO THE NATION. In 1974 he made his London West End debut in the highly acclaimed production of PYGMALION.
His first international television assignment was as Lucius in Franco Zeffirelli’s JESUS OF NAZARETH. Curiously enough, he also played Lucius, the grandson of Emperor Augustus, in I, CLAUDIUS for the BBC.
His other roles on British television include Sir Thomas Walsingham in WILL SHAKESPEARE, Romeo in ROMEO AND JULIET, the callous vet in BABY, poet Siegfried Sassoon in OUT OF BATTLE, the naive Oxford undergraduate in Elinor Glyn’s THREE WEEKS, along with appearances in JUST WILLIAM and as Dr. Dady in the women’s prison series WITHIN THESE WALLS.
While appearing in America as a guest star on CBS’ DUKES OF HAZZARD and working on SCALPELS, a comedy pilot for Paramount and NBC, MacCorkindale was called back to England to accept “The Most Promising Actor” award from the London Evening News for his work in DEATH ON THE NILE and as the sailor hero in Erskine Childer’s classic spy story THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS.
On his return to Los Angeles, he starred on stage in THE GAYDEN CHRONICLES and soon after returned to London to play the title role in MACBETH with Gayle Hunnicutt at the annual Ludlow Festival. His first plum American television assignment came when he was cast as Lt. David Clement of the Royal Hussars in ABC’s THE MANIONS OF AMERICA.
In February 1981, he made his highly successful American debut as director of the Globe Playhouse’s production of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. Other 1981 assignments were on ABC’s FANTASY ISLAND and AN OUTPOST OF PROGRESS for the American Film Institute which won major awards at the Houston and Washington DC Film Festivals. This was followed by his starring role in the surprise hit of 1981, THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER, and the video production of MACBETH.
MacCorkindale formed his own company, Allied International Productions, whose first venture was a presentation of A DOLL HOUSE at the Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles. Simon directed and produced the award-winning production. Other directorial assignments include SLEUTH at La Mirada with Howard Keel, at the Windmill Theater in Houston with James Whitmore and in Dallas with Douglas Fairbanks.
After starring in FALCON’S GOLD, the first made-for-cable movie, Simon guest-starred on HART TO HART and DYNASTY and, even as a continuing role on DYNASTY was being discussed, he was cast in JAWS 3D with Dennis Quaid, Bess Armstrong and Louis Gossett Jr.
Other television appearances include the starring role in NBC’s MANIMAL series, a guest-starring role in MATT HOUSTON and opposite Yvette Mimieux in the CBS movie OBSESSIVE LOVE.
Even while filming the current FALCON CREST, he is preparing a film, DRAGON UNDER THE HILL, which he will produce and direct in England this spring. He recently completed a stint as co-host of KCBS’s 2 ON THE TOWN and has several other projects in various stages of development under his newly-formed Amy International Productions banner. These projects include a novel, two screenplays, a pantomime and, now, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR.