Jane Seymour (actress)
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Jane Seymour (born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg; 15 February 1951) is a British actress. After making her screen debut as an uncredited teenage extra in the 1969 musical comedy Oh! What a Lovely War, Seymour moved to roles in film and television, including a leading role in the television series The Onedin Line (1972–1973) the role of psychic Bond girl Solitaire in the James Bond film Live and Let Die (1973) and as Serina in the original 1978 series of Battlestar Galactica.
Critical acclaim came with a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series for her role in Captains and the Kings (1976). In 1982, Seymour won her first Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for her role in the miniseries East of Eden (1981). She received three additional Golden Globe nominations in that same category: one for her portrayal of Wallis Simpson, the twice-divorced American wife of the former King Edward VIII, in the television film The Woman He Loved (1988), and another two (in consecutive years) for her role in the miniseries War and Remembrance (1988-1989). Her War and Remembrance role also garnered her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special.
Seymour also won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Special for her portrayal of Maria Callas in Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988).
In 1993, Seymour was cast as Dr. Michaela Quinn in the television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, a medical drama set in the 1880s Wild West. For her performance in this role, over the course of its six-season run she received nominations twice for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, twice for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, and four times for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama. Winning one of the latter awards.
She later earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and, in 2000, was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Seymour also had roles in numerous films, including Somewhere in Time (1980), The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), La Révolution française (1989), Wedding Crashers (2005), Love, Wedding, Marriage (2011), Little Italy (2018), The War with Grandpa (2020) and Friendsgiving (2020).
In addition to her acting career, Seymour established a nonprofit, the Open Hearts Foundation, co-authored several children's books and self-help books, and created jewellery, scarves, furniture, rugs, handbags, paintings and sculptures under the label Jane Seymour Designs.
Early life
Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg was born on 15 February 1951 in Uxbridge, Middlesex (now part of Greater London), England, to Mieke van Tricht (1914–2007), a nurse, and Benjamin John Frankenberg FRCOG (1914–1990), a distinguished gynaecologist and obstetrician. Her father was Jewish; born in England to a family from Nowe Trzepowo, a village in Poland. Her mother was a Dutch Protestant (with family from Deventer) who was a prisoner of war during World War II, and had lived in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). Seymour stated that she'd learned Dutch from her mother and the fellow survivors from the Japanese internment camp, who frequently spent holidays together in the Netherlands, when she was a child. Encouraged by her parents (who sent her to live with family friends in Geneva to practise her languages) --- she learned to speak fluent French.
Her paternal grandfather Lee Grahame had come to live in the East End of London, after escaping the Czarist pogroms when he was just 14. He is listed in the 1911 census as living in Bethnal Green, working as a hairdresser. Then went on to establish his own company. Seymour's father Benjamin qualified at the UCL Medical School in 1938. Joining the medical branch of the RAFVR after the outbreak of war. Serving in England, Belgium, Italy and South Africa. Ending his service as a squadron leader with a mention in despatches. After the war, Frankenberg continued his career at various London hospitals, including St Leonard's Hospital, Hackney, the East End Maternity Hospital, the City of London Maternity Hospital and finally Hillingdon Hospital, for which he designed the maternity unit. A close associate of Patrick Steptoe, he assisted in pioneering discussions on in-vitro fertilisation and published papers on adolescent and teenage sexual behaviours.
Seymour was educated at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire. Choosing the screen name Jane Seymour, after the English queen Jane Seymour, because it seemed more saleable. One of her notable features is heterochromia, making her right eye brown and her left eye green.
Acting career
In 1969, Seymour appeared uncredited in her first film, Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War. In 1970, she appeared in her first major film role in the war drama The Only Way. Playing Lillian Stein; a Jewish woman seeking shelter from Nazi persecution. In 1973, she gained her first major television role as Emma Callon, in the successful 1970s series The Onedin Line. During this time, she appeared as the female lead Prima, in the two-part television miniseries Frankenstein: The True Story. Later appearing as Winston Churchill's girlfriend Pamela Plowden in Young Winston, produced by her father-in-law Richard Attenborough.
In 1973, she achieved international fame in her role as Bond girl Solitaire in the James Bond film Live and Let Die. IGN ranking her as 10th in a Top 10 Bond Babes list. In 1975, she was cast as Princess Farah in Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, the third part of Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad trilogy. Filmed in 1975, it was not released until its stop motion animation sequences had been completed in 1977. Then in 1978, she appeared as Serina in the Battlestar Galactica film, and in the first five episodes of the television series. She later returned to the big screen in the comedy Oh Heavenly Dog opposite Chevy Chase.
In 1980, she played the role on stage of Constanze in Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus, opposite Ian McKellen as Salieri. With Tim Curry as Mozart. The play premiering on Broadway in 1980, running for 1,181 performances. And was nominated for seven Tony Awards, of which it won five.
Also in 1980, she was given the role of young theatre actress Elise McKenna in the period romance Somewhere in Time. Though the film was made with a markedly limited budget, the role enticed her with a character she'd felt she knew. The effort decided a break from her earlier work, and marked the start of her friendship with co-star Christopher Reeve.
In 1981, she appeared in the television film East of Eden, based on the novel by John Steinbeck. Her portrayal of main antagonist Cathy Ames which won her a Golden Globe. In 1982, she appeared in The Scarlet Pimpernel with Anthony Andrews, and her Amadeus costar Ian McKellen. In 1984, she appeared nude in the film Lassiter, co-starring Tom Selleck. But the film was a box office flop. In 1987, she was the subject of a pictorial in Playboy magazine, although she did not pose nude.
In 1988, she won the female lead in the twelve-part television miniseries War and Remembrance, the continued story from the miniseries The Winds of War. Playing Natalie Henry, an American Jewish woman trapped in Europe during World War II. That same year, she won an Emmy Award for playing Maria Callas in the television movie Onassis: The Richest Man in the World.
In 1989, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution, she appeared in the television film La révolution française, filmed in both French and English. Then appeared as the doomed French queen, Marie Antoinette; her two children, Katherine and Sean, appearing as the queen's children.
In the 1990s, Seymour earned popular and critical praise for her onging headlining role as Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn in the television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and its television sequels Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Movie (1999) and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Heart Within (2001). Her work on the original series earning her a second Golden Globe Award. And while working in the series, she met her fourth husband, actor-director James Keach.
In the 2000s, she continued to work primarily in television. In 2004 and 2005, she made six guest appearances in The WB series Smallville, playing Genevieve Teague, the wealthy, scheming mother of Jason Teague (Jensen Ackles). In 2005, she returned to the big screen in the comedy Wedding Crashers, playing Kathleen Cleary, wife of fictional United States Secretary of the Treasury William Cleary, played by Christopher Walken. In spring 2006, she appeared in the short-lived The WB series Modern Men. Later that year, she 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. She also appeared in ITV's Marple: Ordeal By Innocence, based on the Agatha Christie novel. Appearing as a contestant on season five of the American reality show Dancing with the Stars; where she finished in sixth place, along with her partner Tony Dovolani. Then guest starred in "One Life to Lose", a soap opera-themed episode of the ABC crime dramedy Castle.
She later appeared in the Hallmark Channel film Dear Prudence (2008); the romantic comedy Love, Wedding, Marriage (2011); and the Hallmark Movie Channel film Lake Effects (2012).
In April 2016, she starred as Florence Lancaster in Noël Coward's play The Vortex, presented in Singapore by the British Theatre Playhouse. In 2022, she began playing the title role on the Irish Acorn TV series Harry Wild.
In 2020, she starred in Ruby's Choice, an Australian comedy/drama produced and directed by Michael Budd. Which follows Ruby as a woman with early dementia, and its impact on her and her family, when she is no longer able to live independently. And so moves in with the family. Winning the Australian screen industry Network Award for best actress.
The film released theatrically across Australia and New Zealand on 3 March 2022. Then on 7 March 2022, Ruby's Choice premiered in Santa Barbara, California, at the 37th Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Where it was a Nominee Best International Feature Film. Seymour's 'Ruby's Choice' made the U.S. premiere at SBIFF|first=Joe|last=Buttitta|date=March 8, 2022</ref> On 24 September 2023, at the Burbank International Film Festival (BIFF) Winning Best Foreign Film and Best Feature Film. The event coinciding with the honouring of the legendary filmmaker Tim Burton. 'Ruby's Choice' releasing nationwide in North America on May 7th, 2024."
Seymour then appeared in the Netflix movie, Irish Wish, released on 14 March 2024, on Netflix. Debuing at number one on Netflix's most watched films list - two days following its release.
In 2025, she began hosting an Acorn TV/BBC America series called Relative Secrets.
Personal life
Seymour has been married and divorced four times. Her first marriage was to Michael Attenborough. She was then briefly married to Geoffrey Planer.
In 1981, she married David Flynn. The marriage produced two children: Katherine Flynn (born on 7 February 1982) and Sean Flynn (born on 31 July 1985). Flynn involved her in the housing market, which left her "completely beyond bankrupt". The couple divorced in 1992. The following year, she married actor/producer/director James Keach. The couple had twins, John Stacy and Kristopher Steven, born on 30 November 1995. The twins were named after family friends Johnny Cash and Christopher Reeve, and James's brother, actor Stacy Keach.
In February 2005, Seymour became a naturalised citizen of the United States.
Jane is a celebrity ambassador for Childhelp, a national nonprofit organisation dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect. In 2007, she sponsored a children's Art Pillow contest as part of the Jane Seymour Collection, with the proceeds going to Childhelp.
On 12 April 2013, it was announced that she was divorcing Keach. The divorce was finalised in December 2015.
In February 2018, she posed for Playboy for a third time, becoming at the age of 67 the oldest woman to be photographed for the magazine. In the Playboy interview, she revealed that she had briefly quit acting after being sexually harassed by an unnamed film producer, in the early 1970s. She had earlier referred to the incident in her 1986 book Jane Seymour's Guide to Romantic Living.
Her Malibu house almost burned down during the 2018 fires, but was saved, according to her, "by an incredibly devoted gardener and neighbour".
Since 2023, she has been in a relationship with musician John Zambetti.
Writing and fashion career
In the 1980s, Seymour began a parallel career as a writer of self-help and inspirational books, including Jane Seymour's Guide to Romantic Living (1986), Two at a Time: Having Twins (2002), Remarkable Changes (2003) and Among Angels (2010). She also co-wrote several children's books, with her then-husband James Keach, for the This One 'N That One series.
In 1985, she appeared at Fashion Aid, a one-time fashion show fundraiser held at the Royal Albert Hall in London and organised by Bob Geldof to raise funds for the ongoing Ethiopian famine caused by the policies of dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam. The finale of the show showing her partake in a mock wedding with Freddie Mercury. Jane wearing a white lace wedding dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel – who had previously created Princess Diana's wedding gown.
In 2008, she had replaced Selina Scott as the new face of fashion label CC (formerly known as Country Casuals) under the Austin Reed banner of retailers.
Likewise in 2008, she teamed up with and designed the "Open Heart Collection" for Kay Jewelers, which promoted it with the advice, "Keep your heart open and love will always find its way in." Beginning that year, seeing to it that she would always be wearing one of the collection's necklaces whenever seen in public, while not in character for any of her acting performances. In the same year, also writing and publishing the books Open Hearts: If Your Heart Is Open, love Will Always Find Its Way In and Open Hearts Family.
A 2.08-carat cushion-cut fancy vivid blue diamond in an 18-karat rose-gold-plated platinum setting was named "The Jane Seymour" in her honour, by World of Diamonds Group. Which had mined it in Russia, then cut and set it. The ring presented to Seymour in April 2016 in Singapore, while she was there to star in The Vortex.
Bibliography
- Jane Seymour's Guide to Romantic Living. Macmillan Publishers, 1986. ASIN: B003JFVAKC.
- Gus Loved His Happy Home. With Seymour Fleishman. Linnet Books, 1989. ISBN 978-0-208-02249-3
- Yum!: A Tale of Two Cookies. This One 'N That One series. With James Keach. Angel Gate, 1998. ISBN 978-1-932431-08-7
- Boing!: No Bouncing on the Bed. This One 'N That One series. With James Keach. Putnam Juvenile, 1999. ISBN 978-0-399-23440-8
- Splat!: The Tale of a Colorful Cat. This One 'N That One series. With James Keach. Turtleback Books, 2001. ISBN 978-1-4176-0825-6
- Two at a Time: Having Twins: The Journey Through Pregnancy and Birth. With Pamela Patrick Novotny. Atria Books, 2002. ISBN 978-0-671-03678-2
- Remarkable Changes: Turning Life's Challenges into Opportunities. New York: HarperEntertainment, 2003. ISBN 978-0-06-008747-0
- Making Yourself at Home: Finding Your Style and Putting It All Together. DK Adult, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7566-2892-5
- Open Hearts: If Your Heart Is Open, Love Will Always Find Its Way In. Running Press, 2008. ISBN 0-7624-3662-X
- Among Angels. Guideposts, 2010. ISBN 978-0-8249-4850-4
Filmography
Awards and nominations
Honours
- 1999: Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
- 2000: New Years Honours List. "For services to acting and entertainment".
- 2000: OBE Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Civil Division)
- 2010: Ellis Island Medal of Honor
- 2025: Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, High Point University
See also
External links
- at IMDb
- at the TCM Movie Database