Jane Seymour (actress)

Jane Seymour

Seymour at the 2010 Academy Awards
Born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg
15 February 1951 (1951-02-15) (age 59)
Hayes, Middlesex, England
Spouse Michael Attenborough (1971–1973)
Geoffrey Planer (1977–1978)
David Flynn (1981–1992)
James Keach (1993–present)
Website
http://www.janeseymour.com/

Jane Seymour, OBE (born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg 15 February 1951) is an English actress, best-known as a Bond girl, in the 1973 James Bond film, Live and Let Die, and the star of the 1990s American television series, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and its telefilm sequels.

Contents

Early life

Seymour was born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg in Hayes, Middlesex, England, the daughter of Mieke, a nurse, and John Benjamin Frankenberg, an obstetrician.[1] Her father was an English Jew whose family was from Poland, and her mother was a Dutch-born Protestant who was a prisoner of war during WWII.[2][3] Seymour was educated at the independent The Arts Educational School in Tring, Hertfordshire, in England. She took on the stage name "Jane Seymour", also the name of King Henry VIII's third wife, at the age of 17.

Acting career

Seymour has had a long acting career in both film and television, beginning in 1969 with an uncredited role in Richard Attenborough's film version of Oh! What a Lovely War. Soon afterward, she married Attenborough's son, Michael Attenborough. Her first major film role was as Lillian Stein, a Jewish woman seeking shelter from the Nazis, with a Danish family, in the 1970 war drama The Only Way.

From 1972 to 1973, she gained her first major TV role, as Emma Callon in the successful 1970s series The Onedin Line. During this time, she appeared as female lead Prima in the two-part TV mini-series Frankenstein: The True Story, and as Winston Churchill's lover Pamela Plowden, in another of the films, produced by her father-in-law, Young Winston. She also drew her first major international attention, as Bond girl Solitaire in the 1973 James Bond film, Live and Let Die. IGN ranked her as 10th in a Top 10 Bond Babes list.[4]

Seymour divorced Michael Attenborough in 1973. She then took only two minor TV roles, until cast as Princess Farah in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, the third part of Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad trilogy, in 1975. (The film was not released, however, until its stop motion animation sequences had been completed in 1977.) In 1978, she played Serina, in the Battlestar Galactica motion picture, and then, in the first two episodes of the series that followed, until the character was killed. In 1981, she was cast as Cathy Ames, in the TV miniseries of John Steinbeck's East of Eden. She also played the role of an undercover reporter in a TV movie about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

In 1980, Seymour returned to the big screen in the comedy Oh Heavenly Dog opposite Chevy Chase, and as Elise McKenna in the romantic fantasy Somewhere in Time opposite Christopher Reeve. In 1982 she also starred in The Scarlet Pimpernel, co-starring Anthony Andrews and Ian McKellen. Seymour appeared nude in the 1984 film, Lassiter, co-starring Tom Selleck, but the film was a box office and commercial failure. In 1987, Seymour was the subject of a pictorial in Playboy magazine, although she did not actually pose nude.

Seymour won the female lead in the 12-part TV-miniseries, War and Remembrance (1988), in which she played Natalie Henry, an American Jewish woman trapped in Europe during World War II. The series was based on the successful novel by Herman Wouk, and is noted for its accurate, and graphic, depiction of the Holocaust.

In 1989, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, Seymour appeared in the television movie, La révolution française (filmed in both French and English). Seymour appeared as the doomed French queen, Marie Antoinette; the actress' two children, Katherine and Sean, appeared as the queen's children.

Seymour at the Emmys, September 11, 1994

Seymour continued to take numerous roles in TV movies and series, most notably as Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn in the TV series, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and its TV-movie-sequels (1993–2001), through which she met her fourth husband, actor-director James Keach. In 2004, she made several guest appearances in the WB Network series, Smallville, playing Genevieve Teague, the wealthy, scheming, mother of Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles).

Seymour returned to the big screen in 2005, playing Kathleen Cleary, wife of fictional US Secretary of the Treasury William Cleary (Christopher Walken), in the comedy, Wedding Crashers. She returned to TV in the short-lived WB series Modern Men, broadcast in spring 2006.

In fall 2006, Seymour guest-starred as a law-school-professor on an episode of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother, and as a wealthy client, on the Fox legal drama, Justice. In 2007, she guest-starred in the ABC sitcom, In Case of Emergency, which starred Lori Loughlin and Jonathan Silverman. She also appeared in ITV's Marple: Ordeal By Innocence, based on the Agatha Christie novel. She was a contestant on season five of the US reality show, Dancing with the Stars; she finished in sixth place, along with her partner, Tony Dovolani.

In 2008, she replaced Selina Scott as the new face of Country Casuals.

Personal life

Seymour has heterochromia - her right eye is hazel, and her left is green. In 2007, she admitted to having undergone plastic surgery, including breast augmentation, and blepharoplasty.[5]

Seymour has been married four times:

Seymour dated musician Peter Cetera, former bass guitarist and lead singer of the rock band, Chicago during 1991. Her relationship with Cetera was publicized in a number of celebrity gossip magazines and supermarket tabloids of the time.[6][7][8][9][10][11]

In 1984, Seymour bought, with then-husband, David Flynn, the Grade One listed St Catherine's Court for £350,000, located in the village of St Catherine, near Bath, Somerset. After spending £3 million on refurbishments, she spent her summers at the house, and her winters in Malibu. After her divorce from Flynn, and marriage to Keach, she spent more time in the US, and made little use of the house, so she began to rent it out. In 1996, during that season's filming for Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, she rented it, to English rock group, Radiohead, who recorded their album, OK Computer, at the house. Another famous group that occupied the home are The Cure. In May 2007, she was granted a 24-hour alcohol and entertainment licence, under new UK regulations. However, this caused much disturbance with neighbours, who claimed the access lane was too narrow, and the noise too excessive. Seymour won the court battle, but sold the house in November 2007.[12]

Seymour was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II, in 2000.

Seymour is a patron of Meningitis UK.

Seymour is a celebrity ambassador, for the non-profit organisation, Childhelp. She regularly makes appearances at fund raisers, and events for the child abuse prevention, and treatment organisation, and is an ardent supporter. In 2007, she sponsored a children's Art Pillow contest, as part of the Jane Seymour Collection. 100% of the proceeds went to Childhelp.

An allergic reaction to antibiotic medicine on a film shoot in Spain almost killed her, and the scrape with death profoundly changed her whole outlook on life. Seymour explains: "I saw the white light and I saw, from the corner of the room, them trying to resuscitate me, and I saw a syringe, with blood in it. It did change my whole life, because, when you die, I realised, you take nothing with you, except for what you've done."[13]

On December 2, 2008, she was honoured by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, in a ceremony in Los Angeles, for her work with people with disabilities.

In late 2009, furniture supplier AICO and founder/CEO Michael Amini announced that they will collaborate with Jane Seymour to co-brand a new line of fine furniture. The line of furniture was unveiled in February 2010 and featured three collections consisting of a traditional collection, a casual European collection, and a Hollywood glamour collection.

She currently resides in Malibu, California, with her husband, and twin sons.

Books

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes
1969 Oh! What a Lovely War Chorus Girl Uncredited
1970 The Only Way Lillian Stein
Here Come the Double Deckers Alice Episode: 'Scooper Strikes Out'
1972 The Best Pair of Legs in the Business Kim Thorn
Young Winston Pamela Plowden
The Pathfinders (TV series) Shelia Conway Episode: 'Fly There, Walk Back'
The Strauss Family Karolin Mini-Series
The Onedin Line Emma Callon/Emma Fogarty Appeared in 8 episodes, 1972–1973
1973 Live and Let Die Solitaire
Great Mysteries Veronique d' Aubray Episode: 'The Leather Funnel'
Frankenstein: The True Story Agatha/Prima
1975 The Hanged Man (TV series) Laura Burnett Episode: 'Ring of Return'
1976 The Story of David Bathsheba
Our Mutual Friend (TV series) Bella Wilfer Appeared in 6 episodes, 1976
Captains and the Kings Marjorie Chisholm Armagh Mini-series
1977 The Four Feathers Ethne Eustace
Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover Margie Parks
McCloud (TV series) Nidavah Ritzach Episode: 'The Great Taxicab Stampede'
Seventh Avenue (TV series) Eva Meyers Mini-series
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger Princess Farah
Killer on Board Jan
1978 The Awakening Land Genny Luckett
Love's Dark Ride Diana
Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series) Serina
1979 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (TV movie) Laura Cole
1980 Somewhere in Time Elise McKenna
Oh! Heavenly Dog Jackie
1981 East of Eden Cathy/Kate Ames Mini-series
BBC2 Playhouse Episode: 'Last Summer's Child'
1982 The Scarlet Pimpernel Marguerite St. Just
1983 The Phantom of the Opera Maria Gianelli/Elena Korvin
Jamaica Inn (1983 film) Mary Yellan
The Haunting Passion Julia Evans
1984 Lassiter Sara Wells
Dark Mirror Leigh Cullen/Tracy Cullen
The Sun Also Rises Brett Ashley
1985 Obsessed with a Married Woman Diane Putnam
Head Office Jane Caldwell
1986 Crossings Hillary Burnham Mini-series
1987 El Túnel Maria Iribarne
1988 Keys to Freedom Gillian
The Woman He Loved Wallis Simpson
Onassis: The Richest Man in the World Maria Callas
Jack the Ripper (1988 TV series) Emma Prentiss
1988–1989 War and Remembrance Natalie Henry Appeared in 12 episodes, 1988–1989
1989 La Révolution française Marie Antoinette
1990 Angel of Death Laura Hendricks
Matters of the Heart (movie) Hadley Norman
1991 Passion Amanda Brooks
Memories of Midnight Catherine Alexander Douglas
1992 Are You Lonesome Tonight Adrienne Welles
Sunstroke Teresa Winters
1993 Praying Mantis Linda Crandell
Heidi Fräulein Rottenmeier
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Dr. Michaela 'Mike' Quinn Appeared in 149 episodes, 1993–1998
1994 Count on Me
A Passion for Justice: The Hazel Brannon Smith Story Hazel Brannon Smith
1997 California (TV series) Dr. Michaela 'Mike' Quinn
The Absolute Truth Alison Reed
1998 Quest for Camelot Lady Juliana Voice
The New Swiss Family Robinson Anna Robinson
A Marriage of Convenience Chris Winslow Whitney
1999 A Memory in My Heart Rebecca Vega/Abbie Swenson Stewart
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Movie Dr. Michaela 'Mike' Quinn
2000 Murder in the Mirror Dr. Mary Kost Richland
Enslavement: The True Story of Fanny Kemble Fanny Kemble Butler
Yesterday's Children Jenny Cole/Mary Sutton
2001 Blackout Kathy Robbins
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within Dr. Michaela 'Mike' Quinn
2002 Touching Wild Horses Fiona Kelsey
Heart of a Stranger Jill Maddox
2004 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Debra Connor
2004–2005 Smallville Genevieve Teague Appeared in 6 episodes, 2004–2005
2005 Wedding Crashers Kathleen Cleary
2006 Modern Men Dr. Victoria Stangel Appeared in 7 episodes, 2006
The Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell President Lauren Coffey
Blind Dating Dr. Evans
How I Met Your Mother Professor Lewis
Justice Karen Patterson guest role, 1 episode
"Filicide"
2007 After Sex Janet
In Case of Emergency (TV series) Donna Appeared in 3 episodes, 2007
Marple: Ordeal by Innocence Rachel Argyle
2008 Dear Prudence Prudence McCoy
2009 The Assistants Sandy Goldman
Wake Mrs. Reitman
The Velveteen Rabbit Mom Voice
Freeloaders Post-Production

Awards

References

  1. ↑ http://www.filmreference.com/film/12/Jane-Seymour.html
  2. ↑ Craker, Lorilee (2009-11-05). "Actress Jane Seymour visits Grand Rapids, shares her 'open heart philosophy'". The Grand Rapids Press. http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/11/actress_jane_seymour_visits_gr.html. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 
  3. ↑ Ames, Katrine (1981-07-05). "Jane Seymour Captures America". Ocala Star-Banner. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rusTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SQYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4534,2676157&dq=jane-seymour-captures-america&hl=en. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 
  4. ↑ "IGN: Top 10 Bond Babes". Stars.ign.com. http://stars.ign.com/articles/746/746292p1.html. Retrieved 2008-10-20. 
  5. ↑ Daily Mail article
  6. ↑ April 8, 1991. "Dances with Wolf Whistles (or, Madonna and Other Oscar Highlights)", People Weekly, 35(13), 51.
  7. ↑ Robertson, Peter. April 6, 1991. "How the Fairytale Relationship Ended After Ten Years", Hello! Magazine, Issue 147. Available online at [http://www.thedqtimes.com/pages/castpages/other/Jane%20Hello%20issue%20147%20Jane%20talks%20about%20her%20divorce/janetellshersideofdivorce.htm (accessed 20 March 2010).
  8. ↑ Glynn, Michael, and Patricia Towle. "Jane Seymour in hot new romance with rock star", National Enquirer, April 9, 1991, 20.
  9. ↑ April 9, 1991. "Jane Seymour finds new love with rock star", Globe, 38(15), 15.
  10. ↑ April 9, 1991. "Star People", Star, 12.
  11. ↑ September 9, 1991. "Star Tracks", People Weekly, 36(9), 5. Available online at http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20115835,00.html (accessed 20 March 2010).
  12. ↑ 'Neighbour from hell' Jane Seymour sells mansion after row with residents Daily Mail - 6 December 2007
  13. ↑ "Near Death Experience Changed Seymour". contactmusic.com. http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/near%20death%20experience%20changed%20seymour_1074688. Retrieved 2008-08-05. 

External links

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Miniseries or a Movie

Esther Rolle (1979) · Mare Winningham (1980) · Jane Alexander (1981) · Penny Fuller (1982) · Jean Simmons (1983) · Roxana Zal (1984) · Kim Stanley (1985) · Colleen Dewhurst (1986) · Piper Laurie (1987) · Jane Seymour (1988) · Colleen Dewhurst (1989) · Eva Marie Saint (1990) · Ruby Dee (1991) · Amanda Plummer (1992) · Mary Tyler Moore (1993) · Cicely Tyson (1994) · Judy Davis / Shirley Knight (1995) · Greta Scacchi (1996) · Diana Rigg (1997) · Mare Winningham (1998) · Anne Bancroft (1999) · Vanessa Redgrave (2000)

(1979–2000) · (2001–present)
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama

Sharon Gless/Patricia Wettig (1990) · Angela Lansbury (1991) · Regina Taylor (1992) · Kathy Baker (1993) · Claire Danes (1994) · Jane Seymour (1995) · Gillian Anderson (1996) · Christine Lahti (1997) · Keri Russell (1998) · Edie Falco (1999) · Sela Ward (2000) · Jennifer Garner (2001) · Edie Falco (2002) · Frances Conroy (2003) · Mariska Hargitay (2004) · Geena Davis (2005) · Kyra Sedgwick (2006) · Glenn Close (2007) · Anna Paquin (2008) · Julianna Margulies (2009)

 · (1969–1989) · (1990–2009)
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film

Jane Seymour (1981) · Ingrid Bergman (1982) · Ann-Margret (1983) · Ann-Margret (1984) · Liza Minnelli (1985) · Loretta Young (1986) · Gena Rowlands (1987) · Ann Jillian (1988) · Christine Lahti (1989) · Barbara Hershey (1990) · Judy Davis (1991) · Laura Dern (1992) · Bette Midler (1993) · Joanne Woodward (1994) · Jessica Lange (1995) · Helen Mirren (1996) · Alfre Woodard (1997) · Angelina Jolie (1998) · Halle Berry (1999)

 · (1981–1999) · (1990–2009)