Raunchy
Connie star Stephanie Beacham flew to America with two
aims: to make as much money as possible and to leave her
unmistakable mark on Tinsel Town.
So far she has
achieved both. She earns a reputed £17,000 an episode in
the Dynasty spin-off The Colbys of California.
And she has already made a name for herself with her bitchy
remarks and string of glamorous escorts.
This has made her
hot news with Hollywood gossip columnists but has not proved so
popular with her British boyfriend, actor Martyn Stanbridgc.
Ten years her
junior. he insists they are still crazy about each other, even
though sexy Stephanie has already admitted the dangers of
long-distance love and revealed: "There are cracks in our
relationship."
The plain fact is
38-year-old Beacham cannot believe her luck in landing the role
of Sable Colby. And if the price she has to pay is ending her
affair, then so be it. "At 22 I was a victim. Now I'm a
predator," she explains.
After years of B
movies and relative obscurity, Stephanie Beacham has finally
arrived. She is having the time of her life and making the most
of the Californian climate, clothes and cars.
Her childhood
hero Charlton Heston is playing her husband, timber tycoon Jason
Colby. And Barbara Stanwyck - another girlish idol - her
sister-in-law Constance. "Fancy little me, playing between
two legends like Charlton and Barbara, " she says. "What
a sandwich!"
Stephanie is sure
she was offered the role of Sable Colby because when she
auditioned she was still wearing an aura of achievement from
Connie, the !TV soap series that established her as a
star. "Connie had been such a success for me and
that was what they cottoned on to," she says.
But Connie
was never like The Colbys. Nowadays Beacham travels in
stretch limos - "The one that met me at Los Angeles airport
was as big as a bus," she giggles - and dresses the way she
always dreamed of.
But she is
determined to keep her feet on the ground. She calls Sable Colby
her "insurance" and says if the Hollywood gods decide
she is not good enough, she will have no regrets. "I'd just
go back to my house in London, get a hired telly and start doing
the rounds again."
It might have
taken 38 years but Stephanie Beacham is her own woman. She is
strong, inside and out, and she has learned to be tough. "There's
no room in modern life for a weepy vulnerable woman. That's a
luxury we can't afford," she says.
"My parents
feel I'm rather materialistic. My mother said to me, 'Don't get
hard.' But I want money. I'm a single parent and we need it."
She adores her
two daughters - Phoebe, 10, and Chloe, 8 - by former husband,
actor John McEnery. But she has no intention of taking them out
of their English boarding schools and bringing them up in
America. "This place reeks," she says. "Children
get very spoiled and don't learn the true values of life.
"What I've
told them is Mum has gone down the mine to bring back the pot of
gold. And that's what I'm doing. Or that's what I think I'm
doing.
"But if it
looks like I'll stay in America they'll come, as they do now,
for holidays. I cannot do without them. The children are my
life. They are the only people who I've sworn undying love to.
Everyone else is just a friend."
Stephanie has
always worked hard to support her daughters. "Look after
yourself and your children. That's all I care about." A
sentiment that her ex-husband dismisses as totally phoney.
McEnery blames their break-up on her massive ambition.
He says bitterly:
"She wanted to keep herself in the public eye, keep her
career ticking over in productions which, frankly, did not have
much artistic merit. It paid the mortgage and helped her career
but it didn't do much for our marriage."
But Stephanie
retorts: "I could cry when I think of all the roles I
turned down. And why? Because I was married and John came first.
And what was he doing? Playing at the National Theatre which
didn't even pay the rent.
"I gave up a
lot for my idea of middle-class marriage. Now I think it's dull
and boring and I'm not too keen on it. Once you have one motor
accident you don't really want to go in for another."
John
says Stephanie is a lot like Connie: "A go-getting, ballsy,
totally committed sort of woman who might not know when to back
off if she can see a big opportunity in front of her."
Which is exactly
how Stephanie views The Colbys of California. It is a
last chance to make a name for herself and to enjoy the good
life she has always lusted after.
"Here I am,"
she says, "working in the capital of the film industry and
anyone who doesn't get a thrill when they walk through those
gates is a harder person than me.
"To be
employed is wonderful and to be able to live by the seaside at
the same time is having your cake and eating it. I would be
pretty silly if I didn't enjoy life."
She admits with
unabashed enthusiasm she has her own personal assistant, for the
first time in her life. 'I've never bothered with anyone like
that before and I've always worked very hard. But in this town
everyone telephones everyone all the time and leaves messages
for the call to be returned."
Beacham says she
has tried to pretend to herself that she hasn't changed but
obviously she has and what's more she's happy about it. "I've
been stubbornly saying I'm going to be myself. But what do I
think I am - perfect? There are all sorts of things I want to
change. One of them is the misty side of me I pretend is an
artist. But in fact it's just a messy disorganised woman who
could do with some sharpening up, please, because I'm sick of
her."
So she is more
than happy to play the publicity game and sparkle on the
Hollywood social scene, each time with a different beau in tow.
There were rumours of a romance with her heart throb co-star
John James when he ditched his fiancée to take Stephanie
to a charity dinner but she says the reports were absolute
rubbish: "John is an enchanting man but I don't see him
after work."
Latest gossip
links her with musician Mickey Raphael, 33, a member of the
Willie Nelson Country and Western backing band. The hunky
harmonica player says Stephanie is fantastic, "She's a
wonderful woman and I love her."
But coy Stephanie
is playing her cards close to her chest. "Mickey's the
third man I'm supposed to have had an affair with since I got
here," she says, "People interpret two smiles in a row
as a certain indication that I'm sleeping with the man of the
moment."
She smiles
enigmatically and turns to the next topic: her body. There was a
time when any comment on her shape or size absolutely infuriated
her. Now it merely amuses her. She says old age doesn't terrify
her because there are plenty of good parts around for character
actresses.
And she feels she
has paid her dues: she's been on stage at the National Theatre
and performed in the West End. "That proves I can do the
job," she says. "It has nothing to do with stardom."
But she's glad she's not a young starlet competing against
hundreds of identikit clones for parts of little substance.
