Suzy Amis Cameron (born Susan Elizabeth Amis, January 5, 1962) is an American former actress, model, author and activist, who advocates for a plant-based diet.

Suzy Amis Cameron
Amis in 2017
Born
Susan Elizabeth Amis

(1962-01-05) January 5, 1962 (age 62)[1]
Other namesSuzy Cameron
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
  • author
  • plant-based diet activist
  • environmental activist
Years active1984–1998, 2014
Spouses
(m. 1986; div. 1994)
(m. 2000)
Children4

Early life and career

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Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,[2] Amis Cameron worked as a Ford model before she began acting in the 1980s. She is best known for her role as Rose's granddaughter Lizzy in Titanic, and also appeared in films such as Fandango, The Usual Suspects, and The Ballad of Little Jo.[3]

Muse Global Schools

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In 2006, Amis Cameron co-founded Muse Global Schools, a Reggio-inspired, independent, nonprofit school in the Calabasas, California, area north of Los Angeles, with her sister, Rebecca Amis.[4] An exclusively plant-based diet was adopted in the fall of 2015,[5][6] and it is the country's first plant-based K-12 school with a 100% plant-based lunch program.[7] Additionally, the school is zero waste and 100% solar powered, with Solar Sun Flowers designed by her husband, James Cameron.[8]

Environmental and plant-based activism

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In 2009, Amis Cameron founded[9][10] Red Carpet Green Dress, a global initiative showcasing sustainable fashion on the red carpet at the Oscars.[11] Collaborating with fashion brands such as Armani, Vivienne Westwood, and Reformation, the gowns and tuxedos have included vintage, recycled, repurposed and eco design. Previous campaign ambassadors include Emma Roberts, Priyanka Bose, Naomie Harris, Olga Kurylenko, Kellan Lutz, Sophie Turner, and Missi Pyle.[12][13][14]

In 2012, Amis and Cameron became vegan after watching the film Forks Over Knives.[15][16]

In 2014, Amis Cameron co-founded, with her husband, director James Cameron, and Craig McCaw,[17] Plant Power Task Force, an organization focused on showing the impact of animal agriculture on climate change and the environment.[18] Plant Power Task Force supported the first multi-country studies on global diets and climate change by the independent U.K.-based think tank, Chatham House: Livestock—Climate Change's Forgotten Sector and Changing Diets, Changing Climate.[19] They also spearheaded the MyPlate MyPlanet initiative in spring 2015, a platform for hundreds of environmental and health organizations in support of linking health and the environment in the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.[20]

She also is a founder of Cameron Family Farms and Food Forest Organics, a plant-based café and market in New Zealand.[21] Her farm in New Zealand supports regenerative agriculture using 500-600 cattle livestock to improve the soil and help carbon sequestration. In an interview with NZ media the Cameron couple assured the audience that this was merely a pathway for other NZ farmers in their eventual transition, for the planet, to plant based agriculture, without livestock. A plant-based diet is, she explained, a healthier choice, despite their use of cattle on their land. A shortage of foreign labour during lockdown was another reason for keeping on the cattle, instead of making the transition to plant based agriculture as she and James Cameron had planned.[22]

Book

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In fall 2018, Amis Cameron published the plant-based cookbook, OMD: Swap One Meal a Day to Get Healthy, Live Longer, and Save the Planet, with Simon & Schuster's Atria Publishing Group; in 2019, the paperback edition, The OMD Plan: Swap One Meal a Day to Save Your Health and Save the Planet, was published.[3] The OMD Plan was featured on Oprah Winfrey's Super Soul Sunday in Fall 2019. The book inspired Oprah Winfrey to eat one plant-based meal a day.[23]

Personal life

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In 1986, she married actor Sam Robards, the son of Lauren Bacall and Jason Robards. Amis and Robards co-starred in the 1985 film Fandango. Their marriage produced a son, Jasper, before their divorce in 1994.[24]

Although Amis and James Cameron met while filming Titanic, they did not marry at that time. Instead, Cameron married Linda Hamilton in 1997, and divorced two years later.[25] Amis and Cameron subsequently married in 2000,[26] and have three children.[27] In 2020, they became the permanent guardians for one of their daughter's teenage friends.[27]

Amis, Cameron, and their family live on an organic farm in Hollister Ranch, California.[28]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1984 Miami Vice Penny McGraw Episode: "Heart of Darkness"
1985 Fandango Debbie
1987 The Big Town Aggie Donaldson
1988 Plain Clothes Robin Torrence
Rocket Gibraltar Aggie Rockwell
1989 Twister Maureen Cleveland
1990 Where the Heart Is Chloe McBain
1993 Rich in Love Rae Odom
Watch It Anne
The Ballad of Little Jo Josephine "Jo" Monaghan Alternative title: Little Man Jo
Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead
Two Small Bodies Eileen Mahoney
1994 Blown Away Kate Dove
Nadja Cassandra
1995 The Usual Suspects Edie Finneran National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
1996 Cadillac Ranch C.J. Crowley
One Good Turn Laura Forrest
1997 The Ex Molly Kenyon
Titanic Lizzy Calvert Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The Beneficiary Connie Roos Television movie
Last Stand at Saber River Martha Cable Television movie
Dead by Midnight Lisa Larkin / Dr. Sarah Flint Television movie
1998 Firestorm Jennifer
Judgment Day FBI Agent Jeanine Tyrell Direct-to-video release
2014 Deepsea Challenge 3D Herself Documentary

References

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  1. ^ "UPI Almanac for Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019". United Press International. January 5, 2019. Archived from the original on January 5, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019. actor Suzy Amis in 1962 (age 57)
  2. ^ McDonnell, Brandy (December 16, 2018). "On the movement: OKC native Suzy Amis Cameron returns to hometown to tout her new book". The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City. Archived from the original on September 6, 2019. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Who Is James Cameron's Wife? All About Suzy Amis Cameron
  4. ^ Andriakos, Jacqueline (February 27, 2015). "James Cameron Announces His Wife's Private School Is Going Vegan". People. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  5. ^ Popkin, Helen A.S. (February 26, 2015). "'Titanic' director's wife terminates meat from school lunch menu". Today. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  6. ^ Erbentraut, Joseph (March 5, 2015). "America Is About To Get Its First All-Vegan School Cafeteria For Kids". HuffPost. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  7. ^ Metro.co.uk, Deni Kirkova for (12 November 2015). "First ever vegan school in the US says you can't consume animals and care for the environment". Metro. Retrieved 2016-01-09.
  8. ^ "James Cameron, Suzy Amis Cameron Unveil 'Solar Sun Flowers' Project". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
  9. ^ A Conversation With Suzy Amis Cameron, Environmental Activist
  10. ^ Dress, Red Carpet Green. "Red Carpet Green Dress". Red Carpet Green Dress. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  11. ^ Cameron, Suzy Amis (2016-03-19). "Designing Change: The History of Red Carpet Green Dress". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  12. ^ Prudom, Laura (2015-02-20). "Eco-Friendly Fashion Reigns at Suzy Amis Cameron's 'Red Carpet Green Dress' Pre-Oscar Bash". Variety. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  13. ^ "Red Carpet Green Dress is here to change the way you think of sustainable fashion". HelloGiggles. 2017-02-22. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  14. ^ "3 Celebrities Who Wore Eco-Fashion to the 2016 Oscars". Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  15. ^ Barclay, Eliza (2014-06-08). "James Cameron-Backed School To Terminate Meat And Dairy". NPR. Archived from the original on 2014-08-16. Retrieved 2014-08-15. The turn happened, Amis Cameron says, when the couple went vegan in 2012 after watching the documentary Forks over Knives.
  16. ^ Woods, Judith (2012-10-02). "Rare interview with director James Cameron: Titanic temper, Kate Winslet, and veganism". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on 2012-10-06. Retrieved 2014-08-15. [James Cameron] drives a Toyota Hybrid that is a whole six years old and recently became vegan, along with his family of five children, aged from five to 23.
  17. ^ "Home". Plant Power Task Force. Retrieved 2019-11-22.
  18. ^ "Food Politics by Marion Nestle » My Plate, My Planet: Support Sustainability in Dietary Guidelines". Foodpolitics.com. 2015-03-24. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  19. ^ Witt, Annick de. "People Still Don't Get the Link between Meat Consumption and Climate Change". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  20. ^ "Curried kale cakes for My Plate, My Planet". CSMonitor.com. 2015-05-07. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  21. ^ "James Cameron snaps up organic empire". Stuff. April 2015. Retrieved 2017-09-14.
  22. ^ "James Cameron explains dairy cows on Wairarapa farm". Rnz.co.nz. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  23. ^ Winfrey, Oprah (2019-10-14). "Oprah Talks to Suzy Amis Cameron About the Benefits of Eating One Plant-Based Meal Every Day". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  24. ^ Kolson, Ann (1993-04-04). "Actress Suzy Amis Is Great, Critics Say, But Nobody Knows It - Yet". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2016-05-26.
  25. ^ "Linda Hamilton: 'Everyone's terrified of James Cameron. I'm not'". The Independent. October 21, 2019. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
  26. ^ Keegan, R. (2010). "Kicking in the Door". The Futurist: The Life and Films of James Cameron. Crown. p. 55. ISBN 9780307460325.
  27. ^ a b Fernandez, Alexia (October 15, 2020). "James Cameron and Wife Suzy Amis Petition to Become Permanent Guardians of Daughter's Friend". People. Retrieved February 12, 2022.
  28. ^ Boone, Lisa (2013-10-11). "Suzy Amis and James Cameron's 100-acre mini farm near Santa Barbara". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
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