Celebrating The Wild Career Of Susan George!
My ‘2021 Sex Kitten Countdown” has gone around the world highlighting some of the lesser-known Cult Movie Queens, but now it’s time to celebrate one of the most popular!
Susan George was born on July 26, 1950 in Surbiton, England as Susan Melody George.
Susan not only became a famous Actress, she was one of cinema’s most popular sex kittens as well!
Susan George is a woman of many talents, with dozens of credits in her career – but it’s her notorious films of the 70’s that we are going to focus on here…
The Actress has starred alongside some great Hollywood names – in action, comedy as well as thrillers – and a very controversial drama – opposite Charles Bronson!
Twinky!
Yes, Susan and Charles Bronson starred in this film from 1969 – with a very controversial subject matter.
A 38-year-old writer of pornographic novels meets and falls in love with a sixteen-year-old school girl in London. Here is the trailer:
Interestingly, Woody Allen made “Manhattan” in 1979, about a middle-aged man having a relationship with a 17-year old high school student. Hard to imagine that sort of film being made today…
Here’s some interesting trivia: “Twinky” was directed by Richard Donner, who went on to make “The Omen” and “Superman” with Christopher Reeve!
But it was her film in 1971 that catapulted her to stardom – and even more controversy!
George starred alongside Dustin Hoffman in Director Sam Peckinpah’s notorious “Straw Dogs” – a revenge thriller with a very controversial scene involving the Actress:
It’s remained one of cinema’s most debated scenes. Several Film Critics called it obscene, and the film was briefly rated “X” for its brutality.
First, here is the trailer for “Straw Dogs”:
Dustin Hoffman starred as a “bookish” U.S. teacher whose new wife, played by Susan George, convinces him to move back to her small hometown in England…
The film suggests that she seems to enjoy teasing her former male schoolmates from her bedroom window as they repair their house…
The tension mounts as the husband is subtly humiliated about his lack “manliness”, while Susan amps up the teasing – leading to the most controversial scene in the film.
While Hoffman is taken out to go hunting as a ruse, George is raped by her former lover…
The film was directed by Sam Peckinpah – and the rape scene was widely criticized at the time for suggesting George’s character enjoyed the act of violence.
It continues to be one of the most polarizing scenes in movie history. George herself has said that she was NOT a willing participant in the rape – as some critics charged.
“Straw Dogs” ends with an extended action sequence involving Hoffman and George fighting off the local thugs – it was one of the most shockingly violent endings of any film to that time…
When asked in a 2013 interview about working with Hoffman and director Sam Peckinpah, George said:
“I had a love-hate relationship with Sam, but he was a brilliant director and a genius of his time. Dustin was a generous actor to work with, who could be intense at times, but had a great personality and an incredibly mischievous sense of humour. Making the film was a fantastic experience and one that I cherish to this day.”
That same year, Susan starred in the thriller “Die Screaming, Marianne” – directed by Pete Walker, who made “The Flesh And Blood Show” – here’s the trailer:
She ws building a career as a fearless Actress who was willing to put herself out there for a movie role…
Soon she would have her biggest box office success, this time in a great “drive-in” action film opposite Peter Fonda…
Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry!
This is, without a doubt, one of the best car chase movies of the 70’s – an action-filled romp across America’s back roads – here is the trailer:
This was the perfect drive-in movie: lots of action sequences, car chases and Susan George having a great time as “Dirty Mary”…
“Dirty Mary Crazy Larry” was a huge hit, and gave George her biggest exposure in the US – and she seemed to love the attention…
As you can see, she was being sold as a sex kitten in these films, and it was her next performance that was perhaps her most notorious of all!
Mandingo!
1975 saw the release of George’s most outrageous film, because it was one of the wildest, most racist films of all time!
“Mandingo” is everything you think it is and more – George plays the daughter of a Plantation owner in the deep south who has a fling with one of his slaves – boxer Ken Norton!
Folks, they don’t make ’em like this anymore!
Here is the trailer:
There are elements of this film in Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained”, but I don’t think a film like this one would ever be made today!
The film was a smash hit and spawned the sequel “Drum.”
One of Susan’s final roles took her to Japan – where she encountered “Ninja Ghosts!”
“The House Where Evil Dwells”
In this 1982 horror film, a young American family moves to a House in Kyoto, Japan. It turns out to be haunted by the ghosts of a woman and her lover, who were killed by the woman’s husband, as well as the ghost of the husband, who killed himself afterward.
Here’s the trailer with those “Ghost Ninjas!”
Of course, these evil spirits are also sexy, so her character engages in an adulterous affair while possessed by a ghost!
Susan’s film appearances slowed down in the 80’s, but she amassed more than 60 credits in her career.
In 1995 she made the list at #72 on “Empire” magazine’s 100 Sexiest Stars in film history.
George gradually left the film business but took on an equally successful endeavor. Here is a shot of Susan at a film event from 2007:
Susan now runs a stud farm of 20 Arab horses, as she and her late husband Simon MacCorkindale formed Georgian Arabians, a world-renowned farm.
Susan George made a number of great films, a few that continue to be controversial to this day – bravo Susan!
George wasn’t the only “British Sex Kitten” from the 70’s who made a slew of controversial films:
Helen Mirren is an Oscar-winning Actress, but in the 70’s she made a number of very provocative films, and you can see them all by clicking on my story here:
Another provocative 70’s British Cult Movie Queen never aspired for “art” – just some wild wild times!
Fiona Richmond loved the controversy that swirled around her – she even wrote books about her notoriety – she exuded sex and wasn’t afraid to say so!
Click here to see much more of Fiona and her wild career!
And her is another fearless Actress from that era:
Felicity Devonshire had an adventurous career to be sure – click here to see some of her best films:
And of course, Mary Millington was one of England’s most notorious Actress / Models:
Her wild life and career has been captured in a terrific documentary that includes her most notorious films, click here to see them all:
If you like these stories, you can go to my website’s front page and sign on to follow me, ensuring you will get every single “2022 Sex Kitten Countdown” still to come – there are NO ads at all, just lots of stories to come about the wild world of exploitation and cult films!
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Leave a comment and let me know your favorite Susan George film!
Categories: 70's Films, Artsploitation, Classic Action Films, Cult Classics, Exploitation Films, Extreme Cinema, Grindhouse, JRsploitation, Nudity, sex kittens, Talent / Celebrites
JR-Sploitation! 
John, speaking as an Englishman exposed to the whole so-called ‘career’ of Susan George, I have to say she was a crappy actress. She got her tits out on camera, and that was all that was required of her at the time.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, I love how you get right to the point with your reviews! The films that were hits here in the US made her quite the popular star for a time! Drive-in movie fare!
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You seem to gotten some Tanya-Roberts-in-“Sheena” on your Susan George there…
See the collage underneath “She ws building a career as a fearless Actress who was willing to put herself out there for a movie role…”
Those are some horrible accents in the “Mandingo” trailer from Perry King AND Susan George.
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Yes, poor Susan, delete those Tanya Roberts pics 🙂
Susan was a stunningly beautiful actress.
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