The years I ran Simon’s international club were 1982 – 1995. In the summer of 1982 my friend Violet and I had just seen “The Sword and the Sorcerer”. We noticed the young actor who played Micah and decided he deserved to have a fan club. I contacted his manager and presented our plan for a quality fan club for Simon. We outlined the club format using the accepted format by the National Association of Fan Clubs (NAFC). It was a nice coincidence that Simon was going to direct a play in Dallas at a dinner theater that Sept. I received a letter from his manager with official permission to begin the club, and soon after that received my first letter from Simon personally.
Simon MacCorkindale, the talented British actor/producer/director, who made his international film debut as the murderer in DEATH ON THE NILE and who was seen as a regular on CBS’s FALCON CREST, says that probably more mayhem has happened to him on movie and TV screens than any other actor of the younger set.
“In DEATH ON THE NILE, I was shot twice; in THE RIDDLE OF THE SANDS, my hand was smashed; in QUATERMASS, I was beaten up and then shot; in CABO BLANCO, I caught a bullet in the shoulder and almost bled to death. In THE GAYDEN CHRONICLES, I was hanged; in MACBETH, I was beheaded; in I CLAUDIUS, I was drowned; while in AN OUTPOST OF PROGRESS, I hanged myself after comitting murder. For THE SWORD & THE SORCERER, I was hung in chains and tortured; while in THE MANIONS OF AMERICA, I was wounded in the leg (off stage) and then shot in the shoulder in a duel. In OBSESSIVE LOVE, I put my fist through a glass cabinet; in FALCON’S GOLD (ROBBERS OF THE SACRED MOUNTAIN), I get beaten up, chased, beaten up again, and finished up hanging from the skid of a helicopter; and in JAWS 3D, I was unceremoniously devoured by a 35-foot shark.”
SM: Yes, it’s a film I made in 1977 with Michael York and Jenny Agutter.
LP: Tell us about that character
SM: He’s one of my favourite characters, a guycalled Arthur Davies. He’s from a book, a classic novel written in 1901 by an Irishman called Erskine Childers. The story basically is about Arthur, who goes sailing around the Friesian Islands just off the north coast of Germany, and while he is there he comes upon some strange goings on and discovers that there is a plot to invade England by the Kaiser, which flat bottom boats coming over to the east coast. He calls his friend from the foreign office who is a guy called Carouthers, played by Michael York, and between us we go about finding out what is going on and we actually manage to stop it.
There have been several times during Simon’s career when, while making a movie or TV show, there have been out-takes (bloopers) or occasions in which Simon and the other actors burst into uncontrollable laughter. Simon has consented to share a few with us. If you enjoy reading about these, please encourage him to tell us more.
The first is a blooper, the second an uncontrollable giggle. Both are from Riddle of The Sands.
Congratulations to Simon. His pilot movie, Manimal, was picked up by NBC to become a regular fall series. He is signed to do thirteen episodes (12 plus the pilot), which will air in the former Knight Rider time slot on Friday nights. Michael Knight and Kit are moving to Sunday nights. We wish Simon much success with his very own TV series.
Ed note: One of our members, Tisha Shelden, who lives near Orlando, Florida where Jaws 3D was filming, was able to spend some time on the movie set. She has consented to share her adventures with the club. Thanks, Tisha
Arriving on the set at 6:00 am, I was impressed at how incredibly cheerful and friendly everyone was. Everyone said hello to Simon and cast and crew alike seemed to like him.
July 22, 1983 marks the addition of a new dimension to Simon’s career – the third dimension, and watching Simon in 3D promises to be a whole new, exciting experience for all of us. With this issue we welcome the advent of Jaws 3D to movie screens everywhere and also add our sincere hope for its success at the box office.
In the following pages we will take a visit to the Jaws set, exploring behind-the-scenes movies-making techniques, receive advice on how to best enjoy viewing a 3D movie, and sit with Simon once more as he answers questions about his career. So without further delay we introduce our special feature: (See issue 3 part 2 for the feature)
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!)
LP: DEATH ON THE NILE was your first feature film internationally, and you starred with other big names in the movie business, David Niven, Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, the list goes on and on. Do you have any particularity interesting thing about this that you’d like to share with us?
SM: Strictly speaking, I had, in fact appeared in a film called JUGGERNAUT, for United Artists much earlier than that. I mean, I really only flashed across the screen. I was cast in a rather nice little role for that, that when they changed directors, quite rightly so, the role got cut down to absolutely nothing. As it was I very disappointed, because obviously I wanted more lines on the screen.
I have been in the U.S. since February 1981, thought I visited off and on for two years prior to that. I am glad to be in America and delighted so many Americans seem to like my work.
What do you miss most about England?
My Family. (Parents, Jill and Peter MacCorkindale, and brother, Duncan. Duncan, an accountant, is two years eight months younger than Simon.)
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!)
Also a very special welcome to two new members who are very special people to Simon, Mrs. Jill MacCorkindale and Melody Ann Desjarlaris. Melody Ann is ten years old as Simon’s sponsored child through Save the Children. Mrs MacCorkindale is one of Simon’s biggest fans; at least she’s been able to watch Simon’s talent developing for many years – none other than, Simon’s mom!
In our last issue we printed a review on THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER by violet. In view of some comments to the effect that perhaps Violet didn’t like the movie because she only wrote a straight review from a very objective point of view, I will now print additional comments by Vi. These we will title:
Sword and the Sorcerer – The opinion
Hmm… You’d think, with my penchant for words, and periodic contacts with various types of fans, I’d have known better than write a straight review of THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER for a Fan Club Newsletter, instead of an opinion on what the Honorary brought to his role.
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.
Simon has officially announced his engagement to British actress, Susan George. Whom he has been seriously dating since last year. He is very pleased and excited about his future and we all wish them both much happiness. At present, no date has been set for the wedding which will take place sometime this summer in England, but Simon will keep us posted.
Well, Members, we hope you have enjoyed our first newsletter. There are many ideas and plans in the works now, to be implemented in the not-too-distance future, one of which will be the beginnings of a branch club in Great Britain. We hope to have our new British coordinator in operation very soon, and subsequently we will add British news to our newsletter each time
*snip*
Please continue to send cards and letters to Showtime on behalf of FALCON’S GOLD. Our job as fans is to encourage and support Simon in every possible way and this is an excellent opportunity to show him we care.
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.”
Can there really be more, ask Simon’s fans after reading the long list of painful injuries and horrible demises in his biography? Yes, unfortunately, and many of us have yet to recover from the heart-stopping danger and physical strain to which Simon’s charater, Hank Richards, was forced to undergo in FALCON’S GOLD.
Hank was gassed, beaten up, nearly roasted and cut in two when forced to fight a barbarian over a pit of fire, shot in the side, and almost destroyed by a volcano. If that wasn’t enough, he ended up hanging from the skid of a helicopter!
Welcome to “Simply Simon” and thank you not only for joining, but for being such loyal and devoted fans. I cannot stress to you how important and valuable you all are to me. Working the kind of hours that I do, often under great adversity, it’s a delight to know that all the efforts are not only appreciated but awaited.
Your letters, cards, stories etc are all a great source of inspiration and a joy to receive. I hope I can always satisfy you as much as you all satisfy me.
This column, FACTS AND ANSWERS, is designed to answer all your questions about Simon.
Basics: Simon is 30 years old and his birthday is February 12th. He is single, 6ft tall, 175lbs and has blue eyes.
He doesn’t smoke, drink or take drugs (never has done the latter)
He drives a Mazda RX7 – silver-blue, with blue, black and white racing stripes. No personalized plates though, he finds them too conspicuous. His CB handle is “Corky” which is a childhood nickname.
His special unreadable signature was created “a long time ago during a Maths class”
None of the above applies to THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER. And, unless you keep a score-car, you might lose track of the players.
Xusia is the Sorcerer. Cromwell is the greedy, tin-plated tyrant who coverts the whole of the civilized world. Machelli is Cromwell’s chief counselor and insincere ego-booster. King Richard is the ruler of Ehdan, the original owner of the sword, and Talon is his son.
On September 19 1982, a strange assortment of individuals invaded a north Dallas jack in the Box. Carrying cassette recorders, cameras, notebooks and assorted personal paraphernalia, they all gathered attentively around a good-looking man in the corner by the window.
Nursing a very large cup of Jack in the Box coffee, this man seemed perfectly ordinary to the casual observer. He was wearing a blue and white stripped T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and he sported a several days growth of beard. So what was all the commotion about?
To those of us who were seated there, this was no ordinary gathering of friends. For amidst us few fortunates that day was one of renown, none other that Simon MacCorkindale, star of stage, screen and TV; and we were conducting the very first official meeting of the Simon MacCorkindale Fan Club.
You will see before you, the very first newsletter for “SIMPLY SIMON”. After a very slow beginning, the club, with the very welcome help of Simon himself, is finally starting to come together. This newsletter contains an account of our beginning plus movie reviews, news and updates on Simon’s career. It is further spiced throughout with questions answered by Simon, many with direct quotes. So without further delay here it is – – the first official newsletter, “SIMON SAYS”
