"Falcon Crest" Star Weds Secretly in Paradise
"Falcon Crest" star Simon MacCorkindale and actress
Susan George shocked guests by showing up at thair
Hollywood wedding shower -–and announcing they were
already married!
The happy lovebirds had eloped several days earlier —
jetting off to the romantic South Sea island of Fiji where
they were wed October 5 by a local minister with only the
island's natives looking
on.
But to keep their families
and friends happy, 31-year-old
MacCorkindale — who plays
Greg Reardon — and 34-year-
old Susan are planning a
second, very formal wedding
in their homeland, England, in
the month of December.
"We ran off to Fiji because
we wanted to have
a really romantic wedding.
"We wanted to be alone, away
from all the glitter ; that usually
surrounds our lives," MacCorkindale told a
friend.
"I said to Susan, 'Let's do
it twice, once for ourselves , and
then once for everyone else.'
"She said, 'Choose the
place but don't tell me where it is
until we're on the way.'
"So I secretly bought tickets
for Fiji and called ahead to a local
minister, asking him to make our
wedding arrangements.
"As Susan and I walked into
Los Angeles Airport, she couldn't
hide her curiosity any longer.
" 'Where's it going to be?' she
said.
"When I said 'Fiji,' she was
overjoyed — and we stood there
hugging."
Taito Rarasea, an executive at
Fiji's plush Regent Hotel where
the couple stayed, served as best
man and the hotel's public re-
lations representative was maid of
honor.
The wedding was held in the
tiny Anglican Church of
Veiseisei.
It was MacCorkindale's second
marriage and Susan's first.
"It was a beautiful ceremony,"
Rarasea recalled. "Susan wore a
long cream-colored chiffon gown
and had beautiful island flowers
arranged in her hair.
"She carried a bouquet of
colorful fresh-cut flowers as she
walked down the aisle. She was
simply breathtaking.
Simon wore a cream-colored
suit with a flower in his lapel. As
they exchanged their vows, Susan
began to cry.
"Tears of joy streamed down
her face, and Simon held her
hand. He later told me, 'This is
the happiest day of my life. I love
Susan so much.'"
Simon, who also starred in the
short-lived series "Manimal,"
told his friend: "After the
ceremony we had a wonderful
Fijian feast - all sorts of tropical
fruits, coconuts, pineapples and
suckling pigs.
"Native maidens in grass skirts
provided the entertainment.
"Covered in flowers, we joined
in the dancing.
"I don't think Susan and I ever
felt so happy, so totally free."
Susan told the friend: "I
wish we could have stayed in
that tropical paradise forever!"
"When we came back to
Los Angeles and went to the
wedding shower - given by
Olivia Newton-John - no
one knew we were married.
People kept asking, 'When's
the happy day?' Finally we both
burst out laughing and we
shouted: 'We're already married!'
"It took a moment for the news
to sink in. then everyone began
toasting us with champagne and
breaking up with laughter!"
--Tony Brenna and Richard Taylor
National Enquirer, October 30, 1984
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