It seems that Simon faces mayhem no matter where he goes. Recently, while filming Jaws-3D in Orlando, FL, he had a slight mishap. Simon’s character, Philip Fitzroyce, is very much the daredevil photographer. He seems to thrive on thinking up dangerous ways to get the required shots and camera angles, often using very dangerous and acrobatic methods. Simon, in character as Philip, had planned an unique way to photograph Shamu the killer whale. Shamu would be leaping high out of the water, while at the same time allowing his trainer to jump off a platform onto his nose, whale and trainer completing the dive together. With a rope tied around him for safety, Simon/Philip planned to get the shot by coming up behind the trainer on the platform and then leaning way over the edge, while his partner, Jack, (P.H. Morairty) pulled the rope taut to keep him from falling over. (The best laid plans of mice and men!)
RIDDLE OF THE SANDS, a movie Simon filmed a few years ago with Micheal York and Jenny Agutter, was slated for a January ’83 release in the United States. Due to perplexing delays in editing and other procedures, RIDDLE is still on the shelf, in spite of the fact that there are fans anxiously waiting to see it. Once these problems are ironed out, Simon will be asked to do some promotional work for the film. We can only hope, for his sake, that promotions for RIDDLE, MANIMAL and JAWS don’t all hit at the same time. (Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo!)
It’s a bird; It’s a plane! No – it’s a Manimal? Actually folks, MANIMAL is the title of a band new NBC movie of the week, staring – of course, SIMON!
Simon plays Jonathan Chase, a professor of animal behaviorisms, who, with the help of his partner (Glynn Turman) and a lady police officer, (Melody “Flash Gordon” Anderson) fights crime in New York City. Equipped with mystic powers inherited from his father, which include exceptional hearing and eyesight, Jonathan is also able to change into animals at will, and uses this to his advantage.
We all know Simon as a fine actor, however he is now beginning to make a name for himself as a producer/director. His production, A DOLL HOUSE, presented last year at the Matrix Theater in Hollywood, received several awards from Drama-Logue magazine.
The Stage Company in West Palm Beach, Florida recently featured Simon in his one-man show, THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING OSCAR. The show is about the life of Oscar Wilde and was presented on Sunday evenings November 14, 21 and December 5, 12.
A group of teenagers who had been given assignments to do reports on Oscar Wilde for school were in the audience one night. After the performance Simon consented to meet with the high schoolers to answer questions about Oscar Wilde and about his own career in acting and directing.
So impressive was Simon’s dissertation that many of them returned another week to attend a second performance of “Oscar”. After that performance, each of the young people presented Simon with a green carnation, which is the flower used during the show to symbolize different periods in the life of Oscar Wilde
Do we really have to wait six whole months to find out what perils await Simon in JAWS 3D? Yes, because the movie is not set for release until July 1983. However, Simon has reveled a few things about the story and the character he plays in JAWS, and we hope these comments will serve to whet you appetite for the film.
Simon revealed, “My character in JAWS 3D is called Philip Fitzroyce, 16th Earl of Haddenfield. He is an adventure from England’s aristocracy and makes a living out of shooting spectacular underwater films. He is a young Jacques Cousteau with a devil-may-care attitude. He wears safari suits, rugby shirts, a sharks tooth necklace and an outrageous hat. He’s a celebrity and knows it, and doesn’t care what he looks like as long as he’s having fun.”
