It is with great sorrow that I have to announce the passing of former Tigon films boss Stanley Margolis, an ex-husband of my friend Suzy Mandel.
Margolis was
a tremendous property wiz who along with his friend, mentor and business
partner Laurie Peter Marsh was the driving force behind Star Holdings Inc. Throughout the 1960s Star Holdings was
involved in the business of buying up cinemas, finding a particular niche in
then totally or partially renovating them into Casinos and Bingo Halls. Celebrities like Leonard Sachs and Coronation
Street’s Pat Phoenix were often employed in publicity stunts to mark the
re-opening of the premises.
One of
Margolis’ earliest known involvement in film was working in an uncredited
capacity on the 1965 film Repulsion, produced by Tony Tenser and Michael Klinger. Margolis later recalled to Suzy the onset
conflicts that arose over the perfectionist nature of the film’s director Roman
Polanski, resulting in several members of the production –Margolis included-
unsuccessfully attempting to oust Polanski from the project and have Repulsion
finished by a ghost director.
A year later
Star Holdings would cross paths with Tony Tenser again after Tenser sought out Laurie
Marsh’s advice and financial assistance in acquiring the Windmill Theatre in
Soho. This in turn lead to Marsh and
Margolis becoming financially involved in Tenser’s newly formed film production
and distribution company Tigon. Initially
silent partners, the years that followed saw Marsh and Margolis’ interest and
involvement in the company grow, and Tigon’s film production output shift from
its exploitation film roots to more mainstream titles like Hannie Caulder,
Black Beauty and The Magnificent 7 Deadly Sins.
A change in direction for the company also resulted in a change of name
for its film production arm, which became known as L.M.G (The Laurie Marsh
Group) for its final few productions- The Creeping Flesh, Not Now Darling, and For
The Love of Ada. In contrast to Marsh,
whose business dealings, film industry involvement and private life rarely saw
him out of the newspapers during this period, Margolis kept a much lower
profile, making the full extent of his involvement in Tigon and L.M.G hard to
document. As such Margolis is something
of the forgotten man in the Tigon story.
The Star
Holdings company expanded further in the 1970s, after buying the Classic Cinema
Chain and the Essoldo Chain in 1971.
Reportedly acquiring the former for seven million pounds, according to
press reports of the time. 1974 saw the
company also branch out into the theatre market and- in conjunction with 1950s
pop impresario Larry Parnes- Marsh formed ‘Laurence Theatres’ an offshoot of
Star Holdings that set about converting cinemas into theatres.
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| 1970 advert for a star holdings owned cinema |
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After Tony
Tenser departed from Tigon in 1972, Marsh and Margolis became its two most
influential figures and the company ceased to be active in film production,
concentrating solely on distributing other people’s movies. Tigon might have become a small fish in the
larger pool that was Margolis and Marsh’s business empire but it remained a lucrative
arm of the company, releasing many of the big hits of the British sex comedy
era including Intimate Games, Come Play With Me and The Playbirds, all
co-starring Suzy Mandel who’d become Margolis’ third wife in 1981.
Suzy first
met Margolis in 1977, not however as a result of the Tigon released films, but
after being introduced by their mutual friend, the prolific sexploitation film
producer and director David Hamilton Grant.
Margolis had an eye on expanding Star Holdings into the US property
market and in 1976 had relocated to Los Angeles along with his two children
from his second marriage, a son Alex and a daughter Rachel. At one point in time Star Holdings owned the
Airport Park Hotel in Los Angeles, several condo conversations in the La Jolla
neighbourhood of San Diego and apartment complexes in Houston, Texas.
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| the airport park hotel - early 1980s |
During the
1980s Margolis maintained a diverse number of business interests, he bred and
professionally raced greyhounds and in 1983 founded ‘FinMgt’ a firm that
managed the business affairs of actors, writers, musicians and record producers. Margolis himself occasionally returned to
dabble in the entertainment industry; in the early 1980s he produced a TV pilot
“We’re Making It” starring Peter Lawford and Suzy in a small role. His final involvement with the film world and
his only known onscreen credit was as executive producer of Tony Scott’s True
Romance in 1993. He and Suzy divorced a
year later but he remained a fondly remembered figure in her life who she
affectionately referred to as ‘my ex-old man’.
“Although we
were divorced for a long time” remembers Suzy “we did spend many years together
and some very good times, he was a very big part of my life”.
Stanley Margolis
passed away at UCLA Medical Center on Sunday the 14th 2013, he is
survived by his fourth wife Angela, Suzy (his third wife), his second wife Lorraine,
his daughter by Lorraine, Rachel McDermott, his son-in-law, David and his
grandchildren Cynthia and Christopher.
