Suzy Mandel
Encyclopedia
Suzy Mandel is the stage name
of an ex-actress
and model
best known for her roles in such 1970’s British sex comedies
as Confessions of a Driving Instructor
(1976), Come Play with Me (1977), and The Playbirds
(1978), and for her appearances on The Benny Hill Show
.
, Mandel grew up on the Isle of Sheppey
and later in Epping, Essex and Woodford, Essex and Buckhurst Hill
, Essex. She began her career as a coat model. Later, she worked modeling lingerie
, winning such 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
). Mandel's acting career in British sex comedies began in 1976, with her first film, Intimate Games.
Benny Hill
saw Intimate Games, and this led him to cast Mandel on his eponymous show. She appears in multiple roles on two 1977 episodes of the series (broadcast in the UK 26/01/1977 and 23/03/1977)http://www.runstop.de/bennysplace/cage02.jpg http://www.runstop.de/bennysplace/bionic03.jpghttp://www.runstop.de/bennysplace/feast02.jpg. 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.".
On the big screen she quickly became a favorite of both British sex film directors and audiences. Soon she was receiving equal billing with Mary Millington
, the UK’s biggest sex symbol of the 1970s. Millington and Mandel's film, Come Play With Me still stands as one of the longest-running films in British movie history, and ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in London's West End
from 1977 to 1981.
After the release of her final British sex film, You're Driving Me Crazy, Mandel moved to Los Angeles
where, in 1979, she attended the Lee Strasberg Institute for one year, studying acting and voice. She also studied with noted voice and dialect coach Robert Easton
.
On the 16th August 1981, Mandel married wealthy British film financer Stanley Margolis. Margolis had owned Tigon British Film Productions
, the company that released some of her best-known British films, and that would later co-produce the 1993 film True Romance
.
Mandel continued acting, appearing in films like The Private Eyes (1981), and Mistress of the Apes (directed by B-movie king Larry Buchanan
), and on television shows like The Love Boat
. She also appeared in the hardcore film Blonde Ambition (also known as Can I Come Again), which was shot in New York
in 1977, but only released in 1980. 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 brooch. 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 sex scenes. She used a body double for the last.
Mandel eventually moved behind the scenes, working on the horror comedy Dead Men Don't Die (1991) starring Elliot Gould as well as 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
, that she had quit showbiz to work as a nurse caring for people dying from AIDS
after several of her friends had died from 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. In 2006, she returned to producing, working with adult video director Jennifer James on a series entitled ‘Inside Erotica’. She was subsequently spotted at several adult industry socials http://www.lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/suzy_mandel.htm.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
of an ex-actress
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
best known for her roles in such 1970’s British sex comedies
Sex comedy
Sex comedy is a term for comedy movies with sexual content usually referring to those made in the United Kingdom in the mid 1970s. They may range from comic pornographic films like the Confessions series to relatively innocent comedies that include jokes about sex and other sexual related humour,...
as Confessions of a Driving Instructor
Confessions of a Driving Instructor
Confessions of a Driving Instructor is a 1976 British sex-farce film. This was the third instalment of the Confessions sequence on the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based on the novels published under the name by Christopher Wood.-Premise:...
(1976), Come Play with Me (1977), and The Playbirds
The Playbirds
The Playbirds is a 1978 British sexploitation film made by Irish-born director Willy Roe and starring 1970s' pin-up Mary Millington alongside Glynn Edwards, Suzy Mandel and Windsor Davies...
(1978), and for her appearances on The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show
The Benny Hill Show is a British comedy television show starring Benny Hill.There were various incarnations of the show between 1951 and 1991, and it aired in over 140 countries. The show is generally sketch-based with heavy use of slapstick, mime, parody and double-entendre...
.
Biography
Born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Mandel grew up on the Isle of Sheppey
Isle of Sheppey
The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some to the east of London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale...
and later in Epping, Essex and Woodford, Essex and Buckhurst Hill
Buckhurst Hill
Buckhurst Hill is an affluent suburban town in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. Located adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London, it forms part of the Greater London Urban Area.- Overview :...
, Essex. She began her career as a coat model. Later, she worked modeling lingerie
Lingerie
Lingerie are fashionable and possibly alluring undergarments.Lingerie usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials like Lycra, nylon , polyester, satin, lace, silk and sheer fabric which are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarments.The term in the French...
, winning such 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
Hughie Green
Hughie Green was the host of numerous British television shows.-Early life:Hugh H. Green was born in London; his Scottish father was a former British Army Major who made his fortune supplying tinned fish to the Allied forces in World War I, while his mother Violet was the Surrey-born daughter of...
). Mandel's acting career in British sex comedies began in 1976, with her first film, Intimate Games.
Benny Hill
Benny Hill
Benny Hill was an English comedian and actor, notable for his long-running television programme The Benny Hill Show.-Early life:...
saw Intimate Games, and this led him to cast Mandel on his eponymous show. She appears in multiple roles on two 1977 episodes of the series (broadcast in the UK 26/01/1977 and 23/03/1977)http://www.runstop.de/bennysplace/cage02.jpg http://www.runstop.de/bennysplace/bionic03.jpghttp://www.runstop.de/bennysplace/feast02.jpg. Of Hill and Jackie Wright's
Jackie Wright
John "Jackie" Wright was an Irish comedian, best known for being the bald-headed sidekick of Benny Hill on his television programme for one and a half decades...
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.".
On the big screen she quickly became a favorite of both British sex film directors and audiences. Soon she was receiving equal billing with Mary Millington
Mary Millington
Mary Millington was a British model and pornographic actress. She has been described as one of the "two hottest British sex film stars of the seventies", the other being Fiona Richmond....
, the UK’s biggest sex symbol of the 1970s. Millington and Mandel's film, Come Play With Me still stands as one of the longest-running films in British movie history, and ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in London's West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
from 1977 to 1981.
After the release of her final British sex film, You're Driving Me Crazy, Mandel moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where, in 1979, she attended the Lee Strasberg Institute for one year, studying acting and voice. She also studied with noted voice and dialect coach Robert Easton
Robert Easton (actor)
Robert Easton is an American actor whose career in film and television spans more than 60 years. His mastery of English dialect has earned him the epithet "The Man of a Thousand Voices", For decades he has been a leading Hollywood dialogue or accent coach.Easton was born Robert Easton Burke in...
.
On the 16th August 1981, Mandel married wealthy British film financer Stanley Margolis. Margolis had owned Tigon British Film Productions
Tigon British Film Productions
Tigon British Film Productions or Tigon was a film production and distribution company founded by Tony Tenser in 1966. It is most famous for its horror films, particularly Witchfinder General and Blood on Satan's Claw...
, the company that released some of her best-known British films, and that would later co-produce the 1993 film True Romance
True Romance
True Romance is a 1993 American romance crime film written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott. The film stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette with an ensemble cast consisting of Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin...
.
Mandel continued acting, appearing in films like The Private Eyes (1981), and Mistress of the Apes (directed by B-movie king Larry Buchanan
Larry Buchanan
Larry Buchanan was a film director, producer and writer, who proclaimed himself a "schlockmeister". Many of his titles have landed on "worst movie" lists, but all at least broke even and many made a profit.Buchanan was born in Mexia, Texas. He was orphaned as a baby, and was raised in Dallas in...
), and on television shows like The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
. She also appeared in the hardcore film Blonde Ambition (also known as Can I Come Again), which was shot in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1977, but only released in 1980. 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 brooch. 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 sex scenes. She used a body double for the last.
Mandel eventually moved behind the scenes, working on the horror comedy Dead Men Don't Die (1991) starring Elliot Gould as well as co-producing Love Bites, starring Adam Ant
Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...
, in 1993. She and Margolis divorced the following year.
In 1996, Mandel revealed in the British newspaper The People
The People
The People, previously known as the Sunday People, is a British tabloid Sunday-only newspaper. The paper was founded on 16 October 1881.It is published by the Trinity Mirror Group.In July 2011 it had an average daily circulation of 806,544....
, that she had quit showbiz to work as a nurse caring for people dying from AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
after several of her friends had died from 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. In 2006, she returned to producing, working with adult video director Jennifer James on a series entitled ‘Inside Erotica’. She was subsequently spotted at several adult industry socials http://www.lukeford.net/profiles/profiles/suzy_mandel.htm.
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 MeansThe Girls of Slender MeansThe Girls of Slender Means is a novella written in 1963 by Scottish author Muriel Spark. It was included in Anthony Burgess's 1984 book Ninety-Nine Novels: The Best in English since 1939 — A Personal Choice.-Plot introduction:...
(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 TelevisionRutland Weekend TelevisionRutland Weekend Television was a television sketch show on BBC2, written by Eric Idle with music by Neil Innes. Two series, the first consisting of six episodes, the second of seven, were broadcast, in 1975 and 1976. A Christmas special also aired on Boxing Day 1975.It was Idle's first television...
(TV show, BBC 1975 episode “Rutland Weekend Whistle Test” in sketch “A Penny for your Warts”) - The Best of Marty (TV show 1970s)
- The Generation GameThe Generation GameThe Generation Game was a British gameshow produced by the BBC in which four teams of two competed to win prizes...
(TV show, BBC 1970s) - The Basil Brush Show (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- Intimate Games (1976) ... Erica
- Confessions of a Driving InstructorConfessions of a Driving InstructorConfessions of a Driving Instructor is a 1976 British sex-farce film. This was the third instalment of the Confessions sequence on the erotic adventures of Timothy Lea, based on the novels published under the name by Christopher Wood.-Premise:...
(1976) ... Mrs Hargreaves - RentaghostRentaghostRentaghost is a British children's television comedy show, broadcast by the BBC between 6 January 1976 and 6 November 1984. The show's plot centred on the antics of a number of ghosts who worked for a firm called Rentaghost, which rented out the ghosts for various tasks.-Background:The company,...
(TV show, BBC 1970s) - What’s on Next (TV show, Thames, 1976)
- Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a 1970s British sitcom broadcast between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974 on BBC1. It is the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais...
(TV show, BBC 1970s) - The Benny Hill Show (TV show, Thames 1977) ... Various Roles
- The Dick Emery Show (TV show, BBC 1977) ... Dawn, the biker chick
- Within These WallsWithin These WallsWithin These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison...
(TV show, LWT 1970s) - Z-CarsZ-CarsZ-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
(TV show, BBC 1970s) - Van der Valk (TV show, 1970s)
- Target (TV show, BBC 1970s)
- Jackanory Playhouse (TV show, 1970s)
- George Sands (TV show, 1970s)
- Nice Day Tomorrow (TV show, 1970s)
- The Liver BirdsThe Liver BirdsThe Liver Birds is a British situation comedy, set in Liverpool, Merseyside, North-West of England, which aired on BBC1 from 1969 to 1978, and again in 1996. It was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpool housewives had met at a local writers club and decided to pool their talents...
(TV show, BBC 1970s) - The SweeneyThe SweeneyThe Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
(TV show, Thames 1970s) - Rock FolliesRock FolliesRock Follies, and its sequel, Rock Follies of '77, was a comedy musical drama shown on British television in the mid 1970s. The storyline, over 12 episodes and two series, followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the "Little Ladies" as they struggled for recognition and...
(TV show, Thames 1970s) - The Barry Humphries Show (TV show, BBC 1977)
- The World of Pam Ayres (TV show, LWT 1977)
- The XYY ManThe XYY ManThe XYY Man began life as a series of novels by Kenneth Royce, featuring the character of William 'Spider' Scott, a one-time cat-burglar who leaves prison aiming to go straight but finds his talents still to be very much in demand by both the criminal underworld and the British secret service...
(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!Get Some In!Get Some In! was a British television series about life in Royal Air Force National Service broadcast between 1975 and 1978 by Thames Television...
(TV show, BBC 1977) ... Non-responsive W.A.A.F - Come Play with Me (1977) ... Rena
- Over Exposed (1977) (unreleased)
- The PlaybirdsThe PlaybirdsThe Playbirds is a 1978 British sexploitation film made by Irish-born director Willy Roe and starring 1970s' pin-up Mary Millington alongside Glynn Edwards, Suzy Mandel and Windsor Davies...
(1978) ... Lena - Adventures of a Plumber’s Mate (1978) ... First Tennis Girl
- Pennies from Heaven (TV show, BBC, 1978)
- You’re Driving Me Crazy (1979) ... Anthea
- Mistress of the Apes (1979) ... Secretary
- The Love BoatThe Love BoatThe Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
(TV show, ABC 1980) ... Trina - Blonde Ambition (hardcore 1980, filmed 1977) ... Sugar Cane
- The Private Eyes (1981) ... Hilda
- The Sword and the SorcererThe Sword and the SorcererThe Sword and the Sorcerer is a 1982 fantasy film, starring Lee Horsley, Richard Lynch, and Richard Moll, directed by Albert Pyun. A mercenary with a three-bladed sword rediscovers his royal heritage when he is recruited to help a princess foil the designs of a brutal tyrant and a powerful...
(1982) - Things Are Tough All OverThings Are Tough All OverThings are Tough All Over is the fourth Cheech and Chong movie. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are featured as the two hippies, and additionally as Arab businessmen Mr. Slyman and Prince Habib...
(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)
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