001 – From Clare: How have you family (Susan included) influenced your career? Well I think mostly through their absolute continued unquestioning support for whatever I embark upon. Susan particularly is a very good springboard for various choices that I have made so I do share all the choices that I make. I think that my mum and dad particularly, it was about the honesty of what one was trying to do, and the respect for the audience. Very early on my father taught me about respect for the audience. I’m not sure I was ever really gonna go down in a daft way with it but certainly that I think has been a very important part in how I deal with the public. I’m always giving the time for other people even within a busy schedule.
SUSAN GEORGE and husband Simon MacCorkindale have had their baptism of fire as film producers. Under their production banner, Amy International, named after the character Susan played in Straw Dogs, they gave themselves the immensely difficult challenge of putting on screen the love story of Abelard and Heloise, those 12th century lovers doomed to tragedy, in Stealing Heaven, The mixed reviews were the sort that makes one wonder why you had put in so much time and effort. But Susan and Simon didn’t sit back and wait for the critical outcome. They have already made their second film That Summer Of White Roses into which Susan has put herself alongside Tom Conti and Rod Steiger, a less ambitious project than Stealing Heaven.
After his stint as PC’s Greg Reardon, SIMON MacCORKINDALE hoped to make films through the production company that he owns with his wife, SUSAN GEORGE. They produced and starred in Stealing Heaven, then found out that the distributor went out of business. They were told that the film would be released on home video only, but that didn’t suit them. So, the duo got the theatrical rights back, held press screenings, and then managed to get it booked into theaters. Their determination paid off — the flick will be in theaters soon. Simon and Susan spent May at the Cannes Film Festival screening their second production, That Summer of Winter Roses, which stars Academy Award winner ROD STEIGER and TOM CONTI.
From glamorous actress to high-powered producer, Susan George has proved she’s a movie star to be reckoned with
When Susan George announced that she was becoming a film producer her greatest fear – not being taken seriously – was evident from the start. Some could not contain their bemused amazement. I mean, everyone knew Susan: blonde, glamorous, seductive. But a film producer? Do me a favour.
So the shoulder-length hair which had been her hallmark for so long was cropped short; well-cut business suits replaced dresses, and designer handbags were dumped in favour of a leather briefcase. Financial men who had been looking forward to meeting Susan George, highly fanciable actress, suddenly discovered they were dealing with a single-minded businesswoman determined to get her own way.
Simon MacCorkindale, who stars in Jaws 3, is still living out a love story with his actress wife Susan George. The pair have also gone into partnership, he as producer, she as executive producer, to put another love story on screen. Stealing Heaven, which was filmed recently in Yugoslavia, tells the tale of the legendary medieval romance between Heloise and a celibate monk called Abelard. It is the result of plans that MacCorkindale started in the early Eighties. When he left Britain for America – and, ultimately, the TV series Falcon Crest – six years ago, he was a man with a secret mission; to get together the expertise and money to return and set up film projects here. ‘I just got frustrated at not being in control of my own destiny,’ he says. ‘Now, at least I will know I’m giving a project my all.’
