SEYMOUR, JANE

SEYMOUR, JANE (Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg; 1951– ), actress. Born in Hayes, England, to a British father and a Dutch mother, she assumed the stage name of Jane Seymour at age 17, after King Henry VIII's third wife. Her film career began in 1969 with an uncredited role in Oh\! What a Lovely War. Her first major film role was as Lillian Stein, a Jewish woman seeking shelter from the Nazis, in the 1970 war drama The Only Way. Other feature films include Young Winston (1972); the James Bond movie Live and Let Die (1973); Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977); Somewhere in Time (1980); Lassiter (1984); and Wedding Crashers (2005). Seymour appeared in numerous TV movies and series, most notably as Dr. Michaela Quinn in the TV series and movie Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (1993–2001), a role that earned her three Emmy nominations. She won a Best Supporting Actress Emmy for her performance in the TV miniseries Onassis (1988) and was nominated for Best Actress Emmys for the miniseries Captains and the Kings (1976) and War and Remembrance (1988).   In 1999 Seymour was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. She has served as the official spokesperson for UNICEF and the international ambassador for Childhelp U.S.A. In 2005 she became a U.S. citizen. Seymour was married to theater director Michael Attenborough (1971–73); after two other divorces, she married film director James Keach in 1993. She wrote several books, including Remarkable Changes (2003); Two at a Time: Having Twins (2001); and Jane Seymour's Guide to Romantic Living (1986). (Ruth Beloff 2nd ed.))