Sable
Colby fans would be hard pushed to recognise Stephanie Beacham
striding through the foyer of the elegant West Hollywood apartment
complex in which she has her office. It is refreshingly clear to
see that 42-year old Stephanie is a down-to-earth, and
delightfully gritty lady. Commendable, after basking in all that
glory from the now-defunct but once incredibly glamorous Dynasty
spin-off, The Colbys.
Stephanie
is planning her next move while filming Jackie Collins'
mini-series, Lucky, based on Jackie's books, Lucky
and Chances.
While
Stephanie works in America, her daughters, Phoebe, 15, and
Chloe, 12, attend a Somerset boarding school. Stephanie has
begun to put down some roots in the US. She's bought a beautiful
Malibu beach house, and for three years has been living with
Steven Silver, a cameraman 10 years her junior.
Stephanie
tell us about Steve
"He's
just a lovely bloke and I'm terribly lucky. We did split up for
a while and I missed him every single day. He is of no advantage
to my career, so that's a very un-Hollywood thing to do, to
choose a partner for love alone.
"He's
10 years younger than I am, which is nothing actually. But he is
10 years younger. But in a deep, inside-ourselves way, from the
heart, we share a great deal.
"He's
gorgeous. Tall, dark and handsome. He's somebody who doesn't
ever bother to push his personality on to anybody, and he can
cope with any situation. He's got a very broad pair of
shoulders."
How
have Phoebe and Chloe adapted to what started as a short-haul
separation with The Colbys, but has now turned into a
way of life?
"Phoebe's
started her GCSE course so it would be rotten to pull her out.
So that rather fixes that one.
"Chloe?
I don't know. At the moment I feel that she ought to be with her
mummy. And I don't normally feel that, she's usually such an
independent girl. But now I'm feeling she's at a different
stage."
How
important is fame to you?
"Fame
means nothing unless you're actually proud of what your famous
for.
"I
just want to make sure that I do justice to the stuff that I
know I can do, and that I don't just do dreary mini-series and
plod on to pay an alarmingly large mortgage and to keep up some
front that actually alienates me from people that I really like.
Because most of the folk that I like don't seem to have two
pennies to rub together."
What
kinds of things do you hope to do now?
"I
would really like to do some independent movies. Some 'Never
mind the fee... what about the subject matter?'"
How
have the children handled your fame and fortune?
"Pretty
well, but I feel they've bought the myth a bit."
You
married their father, John McEnery, in 1973, and separated in
1978. Are you still in touch with one another?
"Oh,
yes, we keep in touch. We're dear, best friends.
Do
Phoebe and Chloe spend much time with him?
"Not
as much as perhaps would be good, but he seems to be on father
duty more often now. He seems to have come round to the
realisation he's got two pretty stunning girls."
If
you had to choose between your career and your relationship
which would win?
"Really
the priorities are - children, work, relationship, I suppose.
Which is why I haven't married again."
Do
you still feel anti-marriage?
"Yup."
And
you still feel you'll never rely on a man, that you can only
count on yourself?
"Yup.
How much easier it would be for me to take a more selective
career stream if I could be softened at the edges by a husband
who could cough up some money and support me. If my career was,
not a dilettante thing, but something that was more able to be
carved, but the truth of it is I have to do it all."
What
if suddenly you wanted to go on an amazing world cruise Steve
couldn't afford?
"I'd
say: 'I'm taking you on a world cruise, Stevie'. And why not?
Do
you think you'll stay with Steve?
"I
think it's impossible to say. And I think that the clue probably
to marriage, but anyway definitely to a good relationship, is
having absolutely no expectations.
"We
both know what the bottom line is. Infidelity is the end of the
relationship. Infidelity simply means goodbye. I'm just not
interested in compromise. Our relationship is pure. It's based
on the fact that we love each other, and I couldn't cope with
infidelity. Neither could he.
"Also,
I think that you've got to give everybody the fair chance to
have their own children. He's 10 years younger than I am, and
maybe by the time he's 40, a family will be what he wants, and
he should be able to have it."
Do
you think that you could live happily on your own?
"I
love spending two or three nights a week alone. But I honestly
wouldn't like to do without those four nights together."
