Jane Seymour Biography
Born: February 15, 1951
Birth Name: Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg
Best known for her role as Dr. Michaela Quinn in the western drama series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Women, Jane Seymour was born in Wimbledon, England. Her father was a British doctor of Jewish origin, and her mother was a nurse from Holland. Jane started dancing at an early age and by 13, she made her professional debut with the London Festival Ballet.
Though her dream was to be a dancer, a knee injury forced her to take another path in life. At the time, she was dating Richard Attenborough's son Michael, and landed a bit part in Attenborough's Oh, What a Lovely War (1969). Next, she played a Jewish woman in The Only Way (1970) then landed a recurring role in the British TV series, The Onedin Line. Roles in several more films and TV series followed, but it wasn't until she was cast as heroine Solitaire in Live and Let Die opposite Roger Moore as James Bond, that she found fame.
Not long after, she moved to the U.S. to seek greater fame and fortune. Although she had a few lean years, she was finally cast in the mini-series Captains and the Kings (1976), earning an Emmy nomination in the process. A role in the TV pilot movie for the new series Battlestar Galactica (1978) again brought her to the attention of American audiences. She returned to feature film work for a short time in 1980 starring opposite Christopher Reeve in the cult hit Somewhere In Time, followed by Oh, Heavenly Dog! with Chevy Chase.
Jane spent most of the '80s working in television, focusing on telefilms and mini-series, earning the title "Queen of the Mini-series." In 1982, she won a Golden Globe for her performance in the mini-series, East of Eden and an Emmy award in 1988 for her supporting role in the TV movie Onassis: The Richest Man in the World. By the early '90s she struck gold, landing the starring role in the western Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, which followed the trials of a female doctor in 1860s Colorado. The series went on for six years and has spawned two telefilms. In 1995, she won a second Golden Globe Award, this time for her performance as Dr. Michaela Quinn.
In 1999, Jane was given a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. She returned to the big screen with a supporting role in The Wedding Crashers (2005), starring Owen Wilson, and played a starring role in the comedy Austenland (2013). In the Hallmark movie, A Royal Christmas (2014), Jane played Isadora - Queen of Cordinia.
Other highlights of her career include a recurring role on the hit TV series Jane the Virgin from 2015 to 2016, the role of Janet on eight episodes of Let's Get Physical in 2018 and Madelyn on the Golden Globe award-winning Netflix series The Kominsky Method, opposite Alan Arkin.
In 2020, The War with Grandpa, a movie that she'd filmed two years earlier with Robert De Niro, finally came out during the pandemic.
Married four times, she is the proud mother of four, including twin boys with her fourth husband, James Keach, whom she divorced in 2015 after 22 years of marriage.
In her spare time Jane paints, does charity work for numerous children's organizations and writes books on various subjects. Jane owns a 14th-century manor house outside Bath, England called St. Catherine's Court.
Filmography:
The War with Grandpa (2020)
High Strung, Free Dance (2018)
Little Italy (2018)
Mistrust (2018)
Better Start Running (2018)
Just Getting Started (2017)
The Female Brain (2017)
Pray for Rain (2017)
Sandy Wexler (2017)
Becoming Bond (2017)
High Strung (2016)
Fifty Shades of Black (2015)
Love by Design (2014)
Austenland (2013)
Blind Guy (2006)
Odd Girl Out (2005)
Wedding Crashers (2005)
Touching Wild Horses (2002)
Junket Whore (1998)
The New Swiss Family Robinson (1998)
Quest for Camelot (1998) (voice)
La Révolution française (1989)
Keys to Freedom (1988)
Túnel, El (1987)
Head Office (1985)
Lassiter (1984)
Oh, Heavenly Dog! (1980)
Somewhere in Time (1980)
Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1972)
Young Winston (1972)
The Only Way (1970)
Oh! What a Lovely War (1969) (uncredited)