Jane Seymour Biography
Jane Seymour OBE, born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg on 15th February 1951, is an English actress who grew up in Uxbridge, London. She is known for her role as Bond girl Solitaire in the James Bond film Live and Let Die and has won several awards for her performances in film and television.
Seymour received her education at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire and later chose the screen name Jane Seymour after the English Queen, as it seemed more marketable.
She made her film debut in 1969 in Richard Attenborough’s Oh! What a Lovely War and her first major film role in 1970 in the war drama The Only Way. In 1973, she got her biggest break casting as Roger Moore‘s first main Bond girl Solitaire in the film Live and Let Die.
In a recent interview, Seymour said she would love to do it all again. Italian superstar Monica Bellucci is the oldest Bond Girl at 50 years old, and Jane Seymour looks fantastic at over 70, but she’s probably a bit too old nowadays.
Throughout her career, Jane Seymour has received critical acclaim and awards. She won her first Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film for East of Eden in 1981. She also won an Emmy Award for playing Maria Callas in the television movie Onassis: The Richest Man in the World in 1988. Seymour has also been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for Captains and the Kings in 1976.
Jane Seymour has been married and divorced four times, with her first marriage being to Michael Attenborough from 1971 to 1973. She then married David Flynn in 1981, with whom she has two children. In 1993, she married actor James Keach and together they had twins in 1995. She divorced Keach in 2015.
In addition to acting, Jane Seymour has also had a parallel career as a writer of self-help and inspirational books, including Jane Seymour’s Guide to Romantic Living and Two at a Time: Having Twins. She has also co-written several children’s books with her then-husband James Keach for the This One ‘N That One series.
Jane Seymour is also a philanthropist and is a celebrity ambassador for Childhelp, a national non-profit organization 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.
In 2000, Jane Seymour was made the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) after being knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.