Suzy Mandel
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Jacqueline Ann Elaine Jefcoate, better known as Suzy Mandel is an ex-actress and model best known for her roles in 1970’s British sex comedies like Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976), Come Play with Me (1977), The Playbirds (1978) and for her appearances on The Benny Hill Show.
Biography
Born March 6th, 1953 in London, Mandel grew up on the Isle of Sheppey and later in Epping Essex and then Woodford Essex and Buckhurst Hill Essex. After graduating from The London Modeling Academy in 1968, she began her career as a coat model then worked in modeling lingerie winning such prestigious awards as 'Miss Teenage London', 'Miss Benson and Hedges' and 'Miss TV Times' (broadcast on UK television on 14/06/1974 and presented by Hughie Green). Her modeling career also included appearances as a Page Three Girl in The Sun, as well as one of the earliest “Mirror Girls" in the Daily Mirror, at a time when The Mirror still carried glamour pictures on Page 3. Her acting career in British sex comedies began in 1976, with her first film Intimate Games, which was seen by Benny Hill who then cast her in his The Benny Hill Show. She appears in multiple roles in two episodes of the 1977 series (broadcast in the UK 26/01/1977 and 23/03/1977) Of Hill and Jackie Wright’s famous ‘head slapping’ routine, she said "Jackie Wright was a chain smoker and he would often hide his cigarette in his mouth or behind his back during scenes. In fact, you could often see a little plume of smoke rising behind him if you looked close enough. Benny would slap his head to fan the smoke away." Aside from the Hill shows, Mandel also featured in numerous television productions of this period, as well as comedy sketches in shows by Dick Emery, Marty Feldman, Eric Idle, and Basil Brush.
In films, she quickly became a firm favorite of both British sex film directors and audiences alike and was soon receiving equal billing to Mary Millington, the UK’s biggest sex symbol of the 1970s. As well as appearing with Mary Millington in two films, Mandel was also present when the infamous topless picture of Millington was taken at 10 Downing Street where Millington while posing for a picture with a policeman outside Number Ten, unzipped her top, exposing her breasts, much to the surprise of Suzy, the photographer George Richardson (who took the picture anyway) and the policeman in question (who tried to confiscate the reel of film). According to Simon Sheridan’s biography of Millington “For this stunt, Mary was conditionally discharged and bound over to keep the peace". Mary and Suzy’s film Come Play With Me still stands as the longest-running film in British movie history, and ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in London's West End from 1977 to 1981. In a publicity stunt for the second year anniversary of the film’s opening, both Mandel and Millington posed in lingerie on the Moulin cinema’s marquee. Sadly only a few months later Millington committed suicide aged just 33, Mandel later remarked to a fan that Mary’s death was “extraordinarily sad".
During her career in British sex comedies, Suzy also had her own cartoon strip “The Adventures of Suzy Mandel" that appeared in the pages of Whitehouse magazine, modeled for the UK poster of the film Pussy Talk (despite the fact that she doesn’t actually appear in the film itself), and had a racehorse named after her.
In Los Angeles, in 1981 she married wealthy British film financer Stanley Margolis, who had ties with Tigon British Film Productions the company that released some of Suzy’s best-known films, and would later co-produce the 1993 film True Romance. Suzy had already been living in Los Angeles for some time, in 1979 she attended the world-famous Lee Strasberg Institute in LA for one year studying acting and voice, as well as studying with the well-known voice and dialect coach Robert Easton (actor)|Robert Easton. Suzy also continued working appearing in films like The Private Eyes (1981), Mistress of the Apes (which was directed by Larry Buchanan) as well as a walk-on in TV’s The Love Boat. She also appeared in the hardcore film Blonde Ambition (also known as Can I Come Again) which was shot in NY in 1977, but only released in 1980. Scripted under the title “White Tie and Tails" Blonde Ambition saw Mandel cast as Sugar Cane, one half of a talentless duo of singers who become embroiled in the search for a missing broach. Directed by the eccentric Amero Brothers, the role entailed Mandel to strip while ice-skating, impersonate a drag queen, play the tuba and perform in hardcore scenes- however, it should be noted that she used a body double for the latter. Blonde Ambition was not Mandel's first encounter with hardcore, previously in 1975 she had made a fleeting non-sex appearance in Health Farm, a hardcore short directed by John Jesnor Lindsay.
Mandel's stateside career continued into the 1980s with national TV commercials for Kawasaki, Toyota, and Nissan. She performed her own stunts for the Toyota commercial as well as in a commercial for Red Mountain Coffee which was filmed in Sedona, Arizona by a British crew, most of whom had previously worked on the film Chariots of Fire. She also appeared in several American TV pilots, including All Nonsense Network News starring Garry Owens, We're Making It starring Peter Lawford and Larry Storch and Sunset Strip starring The Unknown Comic. However Mandel eventually moved behind the scenes, working on the horror-comedy Dead Men Don't Die (1991) starring Elliot Gould and co-producing Love Bites, starring Adam Ant, in 1993. She and Margolis divorced the following year.
In 1996 Mandel revealed in the British Newspaper The People (in an article entitled “Ex-Hill’s Angel Suzy is a real Angel of Mercy"), that she had quit showbiz to work as a nurse caring for people dying from AIDS after several of her friends had died due to the disease. “The stunning blonde, who often dressed as a saucy nurse, is now wearing a real nurse's uniform to care for dying patients" claimed the article. Mandel was awarded a full scholarship to become a LVN and to study at the world-famous Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA. In 2006 she returned to producing, working with Adult Video director Jennifer James on a series entitled ‘Inside Erotica’ and was subsequently spotted at several adult industry socials.
A delightful woman, who is happy to reminisce about her career, Mandel was recently interviewed by writer and film historian Simon Sheridan for the liner notes of the upcoming UK DVD release of Intimate Games (1976) due out on the 18th of August. She currently resides in Arizona, USA.
Acting Roles
- The Lotus Eaters (TV show, BBC 1973)
- Miss TV Times (TV show, LWT 1974) ... Herself/Contestant
- Dial M for Murder (TV show, BBC 1974)
- Churchill’s People (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- The Girls of Slender Means (TV show, BBC 1975)
- Play of the Month: King Lear (TV show, BBC 1975)
- The Fight Against Slavery (TV show, BBC 1975)
- Health Farm (hardcore short 1975) ... 2nd Girl
- Rutland Weekend Television (TV show, BBC 1975 episode “Rutland Weekend Whistle Test" in sketch “A Penny for your Warts")[1]
- The Best of Marty (TV show 1970s)
- The Generation Game (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- The Basil Brush Show (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- Intimate Games (1976) ... Erica
- Confessions of a Driving Instructor (1976) ... Mrs Hargreaves
- Rentaghost (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- What’s on Next (TV show, Thames, 1976)
- Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- [[Benny Hill|The Benny Hill Show}} (TV show, Thames 1977) ... Various Roles
- The Dick Emery Show (TV show, BBC 1977) ... Dawn, the biker chick
- Within These Walls (TV show, LWT 1970s)
- Z-Cars (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- Van der Valk (TV show, 1970s)
- Target (TV series)|Target (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- Jackanory Playhouse (TV show, 1970s)
- George Sands (TV show, 1970s)
- Nice Day Tomorrow (TV show, 1970s)
- The Liver Birds (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- The Sweeney (TV show, Thames 1970s)
- Rock Follies (TV show, Thames 1970s)
- The Barry Humphries Show (TV show, BBC 1977)
- The World of Pam Ayres (TV show, LWT 1977)
- The XYY Man (TV show, Granada 1970s)
- The Other One (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- Play of the Month: The Country Wife (TV show, BBC 1977)
- Mr. Big (TV show, BBC 1977)
- Play of the Month: The Ambassadors (TV show, BBC 1977)
- Get Some In! (TV show, BBC 1977) ... Non-responsive W.A.A.F(screenie)
- Come Play with Me (1977) ... Rena
- Over Exposed (1977) (unreleased)
- The Playbirds (1978) ... Lena
- Adventures of a Plumber’s Mate (1978) ... First Tennis Girl(screenie)
- Pennies from Heaven (TV show, BBC, 1978)
- You’re Driving Me Crazy (1979) ... Anthea
- Mistress of the Apes (1979) ... Secretary
- The Love Boat (TV show, ABC 1980) ... Trina
- Blonde Ambition (hardcore 1980, filmed 1977) ... Sugar Cane
- The Private Eyes (1981 film)|The Private Eyes (1981) ... Hilda
- The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982)
- Things Are Tough All Over (1982)
- Kawasaki (TV Commercial, 1980s)
- Toyota (TV Commercial, 1980s)
- Nissan (TV Commercial, 1980s)
- Red Mountain Coffee (TV Commercial, 1980s)
- We're Making It (TV show, series regular, 1980s)
- Sunset Strip (TV show, series regular, 1980s)
- All Nonsense Network News (TV show, series regular/opera reporter, 1980s)
- Love Bites (1993)
![[1]](http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1508/mandelrwt1pg4.jpg%7C){kind=link}
Magazine Covers
- Whitehouse issue 27
- Whitehouse issue 25
- Park Lane issue 21
- Playbirds issue 14, 1977
- Playbirds issue 13, 1977
- National News issue 8
- Lovebirds issue 6
- Cine Revue 1 May 1980, Vol. 1, Iss. 18
References
- Simon Sheridan X-Rated - Adventures of an Exploitation Filmmaker (2008) (Reynolds & Hearn Books)
External links
- Suzy Mandel article
- Suzy Mandel 2007 interview
- Benny Hill picture
- Benny Hill picture
- Benny Hill picture
- Benny Hill picture.
- Blonde Ambition cover
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