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Suzy Mandel smiles at Benny in the "Girls, Girls, Girls" segment from the March 23, 1977 episode.
Recently, I was contaced by Suzy Mandel about her part in the famous "Milk Marketing Board" Sketch. I asked Suzy if she would consent to an interview and she was very generous to take some time and reminisce about Benny Hill, her time on the show and her life in general. A Special Thanks to Suzy for being so candid. Enjoy!
When did you start on the Benny Hill Show and what was it like working on the Show?
Firstly, I would like to thank you so much for this opportunity to talk about Benny and what an amazing and wonderful person he was. I consider myself very blessed to have worked with him and to have had him as a dear friend up until his passing, when we lost one of the world's greatest comedians of all time!!
When did you first work on the show?
I first worked on the show in 1976 or 1977. I cannot recall exactly, as we shot some on location and some in the studio and then I believe it aired in 1977.
Can you tell us how you became a part of the Benny Hill Show?
Benny saw me in a film called "Intimate Games", starring George Baker and Felicity Devonshire and Directed by Tudor Gates. This was my very first film. He called my agent and I met him at his flat
for tea!! He asked if I would like to do his show!! I was stunned!! Of course, I said yes!!
What was it like working with Benny and what can you remember about him?
It was amazing working with him, truly a joy. I loved every moment as I am sure everyone did. He was so much fun, and yet at the same time, so very professional. I only did three one hour specials with him, but he taught me so very very much!!! These were later edited into many shows, but at that time, we
only did three shows a year. I would have loved to have worked with him some more, but unfortunately, other
commitments always clashed!!
There are so many things that I remember about him I think I could write a whole book, but above all his kindness and understanding. He was a very private person in many ways and very down to earth, He did so many good things for people that no one ever knew about, and he never would take credit for them. He adored his mother deeply and looked after a lot of people, giving much of his time. He never forgot a birthday or to send a card when he was on a trip and was always there to lend an ear when needed. I miss him so... I have great pictures of us when he was here in LA and we would often talk on the phone and he would write great letters and send funny cards, always Saying "Dear Heart" and signing off "Love, Little Benny"!!
Were you always interested in working in Show Business?
I sort of grew up in Show Business. I was brought up for the first part of my life by my grandparents who
owned bars and clubs and Holiday camps, so there were always entertainers around. My grandmother would
dress me up and I would often end up on the stage of a nightclub singing or leading a good old fashioned knees up in the club house!!
Did you have other areas you were interested in working?
Later I decided I wanted to become a fashion designer (which in later years I did), but at age 13, my grandfather sent me to the London Academy of Modeling in Bond Street. Although I had already been
modeling, I became a runway model and then later a photographic model, followed by becoming a page 3
girl, mostly due to my Grandmother, whom I was then living with again. I was also a top PR girl and
beauty queen and ran a modeling agency by the time I was 20. However, by pure mistake, I ended up doing a small part at the BBC on a show called The Lotus Eaters starring Ian Hendry and that took me into TV, and
later into film.
What kind of work did you do after the Benny Hill Show?
After Working with Benny I worked with many of the great comics in England, including Dick Emmery and
Marty Feldman and in many films, the list of which goes on and on. Come Play With Me, Confessions of A Driving Instructor, Adventures Of A Plumber's Mate etc., etc. and many TV shows.
After my first marriage broke up and two bad love affairs ended in disaster I came to the USA to do a film which was later released some years later as Blond Ambition, now a big cult movie. It was X rated, but I had a body double and it was a very good script. I Returned to England to do Play Birds and a few other shows, but then was offered more work in the USA, so I returned and eventually moved here when I got fed up with commuting.
I worked with many of the greats here, too. Tim Conway, Don Knots, Peter Lawford, Garry Owens, Larry Storch, Bernard Fox, Cheech and Chong and again, the list goes on. I was also under contract to Toyota, Nissan and Kawasaki for commercials and appeared on the Love Boat, starred in three TV pilots, one of which was directed by the late John Robbins who also directed many of Benny's shows. I did many TV shows and films in the USA also.
I then retired from being in front of the camera, became an agent, personal manager, worked in the Music Biz with many big names, became a casting director and later a production coordinator and producer. I worked for Waymar Productions, (Malcolm Marmostine one of my bosses was the writer of Payton Place, Dark Shadows and Return From Witch Mountain) at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood and did a film called Dead Men Don't Die with Elliot Gould and later, The Reluctant Vampire (also known as Love Bites) with Adam Ant (in which you can see me in a small role!).
After that I was involved in many films including True Romance (Quintin Tarentino), which Stanley Margolis, my last husband, was a producer on. He was originally part of Tigon and Classic films who released a lot of my films in England.
However I decided to make a change in my life after my Divorce from Stanly and returned to live in England and worked for a Dutch film company, but then returned to the USA to work for yet another film company and then independently.
In 1996 I left Show Biz completely and entered the medical field, which I left for a short time to run an art gallery in Beverly Hills. Alas, it is a long story, but in 2001, while working back in the medical field again, I was involved in a very serious accident and I have been in retirment ever since, but for being a Producer on a News show called Inside Erotica, which is about all things erotic and should be released shortly.
Did you have any close friendships with other stars on the show and have you been able to keep in touch with them?
Because of the accident, I lost touch with almost every one in my life and my Grandmother passed away a few months later. I have not been back to England since 1999. For years I had been in touch with Jenny
Westbrook, Sue Upton and Carla Wandsey and would see Henry McGee when he was in the USA. It is such a
shame to have lost touch with them all and from time to time I have tried to find them but they all
moved!!! I also moved around quite a lot, too.
In what way do you believe that working for Benny has impacted your career?
I believe, if it was not for Benny, I would never have had such a wonderful career. He taught me so much and by working with him it opened so many doors for me. I was truly blessed the day I met him! There are no words that could thank him enough for what he did for me!!!! He made my life very special and gave me an incredible career!!
I hope that whereever he is now, there are lots and lots of beautiful Hill's Angels looking after Him with great boobs and long legs chasing him arround the heavens and that they are having as much fun with him as I did!!!
Have you ever re-married and do you have any children?
As for me being married, no!! I have been engaged a number of times since my last divorce and have called it off each time. Cold feet!!!! Now, no one would belive me if I said I was going to do it again, anyway!!
However, I still keep in touch with a few of my ex-lovers, one of which, god bless him, is in Iraq and I never did have children of my own, but I always made a great Auntie Suzy and am Godmother to quite a few and a step-mom!!!
What's next for Suzy Mandel?
As for what I am working on these days? Gosh! That is a biggy. I am trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life, where to live, which includes which country, what to do with all the stuff I have in storage and where to take a 6 month vacation as soon as I am able too. Then I will decide what project to take on next!!
This was a really wonderful experience to be able to tell a little about my life and how blessed I am and how just one special person can change the path of one's life so much!!!
Thank you for giving me this chance to talk a little about Benny and myself, and if you see or speak to any of the girls please give them all my love and wish them well for me...
God Bless,
Suzy Mandel
Special thanks to Suzy Mandel for taking some time to talk to us so candidly about the Benny Hill Show. Hopefully we'll hear more about Suzy's fascinating life and career in the future. In the meantime, on behalf of your fans Suzy and Benny Hill fans everywhere, Thank You.