Jane Seymour: A versatile career

Jane Seymour in the television miniseries "War and Remembrance" in 1989.

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The colonial fleet had been decimated by a sneak Cylon attack, and the human race was literally on the run. As it struggled to survive, the humans also realized they had to protect themselves. That meant conscripting every able body and training them to fly Vipers, their fighter ships of defence.

Leading the remnants of the fleet and humanity, was the Battlestar Galactica commanded by Commander Adama. His son Apollo was one of the surviving pilots of the fleet, and tasked to train the new recruits who were all women.

One of those recruits was his very own wife played by a very young Jane Seymour.

It was the first time I had ever seen Jane Seymour, but it definitely would not be the last.

The other night she was on the Country Music Television awards presenting the first ever humanitarian award.

It reminded me of that role so long ago in a galaxy far away – and so much more.

The years before
I did not know that Jane Seymour was a Bond girl. However, she appeared in “Live and Let Die”, a 1973 James bond movie with Roger Moore portraying the British spy with the licence to kill.

She had also been appearing in a variety of film and television productions in her native England since 1969.

In 1977 she had a guest spot in “McCloud” then in 1978 she appeared as Serina in “Battlestar Galactica” for five episodes.

Serina was a reporter before the Cylon attack, then was on the run with the rest of humanity. She had a son named Boxy, when she met and fell in love with Colonial Warrior Apollo. Sadly, Serina was killed by the Cylons during one of their skirmishes early in their quest to find a shining planet known as Earth.

As the 1980s dawned, Jane Seymour had begun to spend more time on screens in North America, and was poised to break out.

Movie time
Seymour began the decade with two motion pictures in 1980. In “Oh! Heavenly Dog” she played opposite Chevy Chase, a private investigator who dies and comes back to Earth as a dog to solve his own murder. In “Somewhere in Time”, Seymour played opposite Christopher Reeve, who believed he could go back in time, live a life, and pursue romance, by pretending hard enough.

Miniseries magic
Then, in 1981, she appeared in the TV miniseries “East of Eden” where she played a malevolent woman toying with the emotions of two battling brothers, played by Bruce Boxleitner and Timothy Bottoms. Seymour won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Like the Lone Ranger
In 1982, Seymour appeared in the television movie “The Scarlet Pimpernel” starring opposite Anthony Andrews as a Lone Ranger-type vigilante during the Reign of Terror in France. As the Scarlet Pimpernel, he would rescue French aristocrats from the guillotine by night, while posing as a seemingly harmless English aristocrat by day.

Seymour also appeared in other television movies such as “The Phantom of the Opera” in 1983; “The Sun Also Rises” in 1984; and the miniseries “Crossings” in 1986.

It takes a thief
In 1984, Seymour was in “Lassiter”, playing opposite Tom Selleck. He was a professional thief coerced into stealing Nazi diamonds for the Allied war effort. I never did see this movie, and plan to because I love Selleck. Yet it was a box office bomb like “High Road to China” and “Runaway”, two other movies he made when his TV series “Magnum P.I.” was on hiatus. For the record, I liked “High Road to China.”

War and Remembrance
The miniseries “Winds of War” was an epic that spanned a whole week in 1982. It told the story of the Henrys, an American naval family, during the time leading up to the start of the Second World War.

It was based on the book by Herman Wouk. It was also the prelude to its sequel “War and Remembrance”.

There was a lot of anticipation surrounding the production of “War and Remembrance” as a miniseries. By the time it went into production, many of the actors were no longer suitable for the parts they played in “Winds of War”.

One actor was Ali McGraw who had played Natalie Jastrow Henry. She was a Jewish woman who married Byron Henry, one of the sons of naval leader “Pug” Henry. By the time “War and Remembrance” went into production, McGraw was just not suitable.

So, the producers cast Jane Seymour to play Natalie.

“War and Remembrance” was so big, it came out in two parts in my second year of university. The first half came out in November of 1988, and I was so busy with university life that I did not even know it existed.

The second half came out in May. I was living in res for the summer, and my friend Dave Turnbull was sticking around for a few weeks. One day, I saw he was watching “War and Remembrance”, and I was hooked again. I watched a few episodes with him. I also had planned to go home to visit my parents for a week. Consequently, I watched the rest of “War and Remembrance” back on the farm when I went home in May of 1989.

It was really good, although at times I found it difficult seeing Jane Seymour as Natalie Jastrow Henry. She was still Ali McGraw to me.

For her efforts, Seymour was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special, and a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.

More TV movies, more awards
Jane Seymour ended the ‘80s portraying two real-life people in television movies, both in 1988.

She portrayed Wallis Simpson in “The Woman he Loved.” She was the “commoner” King Edward VIII of England, played by Anthony Andrews, gave up his crown for. Seymour was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television for the role.

Seymour also portrayed Maria Callas in “Onassis: The Richest Man in the World”, about Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis. Callas was a Greek opera singer who had a love affair with Onassis. For her efforts, Seymour won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special.

The years after
Jane Seymour keeps on acting to this day.

She continued to appear in theatrical releases such as “The New Swiss Family Robinson”; “Wedding Crashers”; “The Family Tree”; “The War with Grandpa”; and much more. She also appeared in a lot of TV movies including “Heidi” and much more.

However, her biggest contribution was in television. From 1993 to 1998 she was the title character in “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” for 150 episodes and two TV movies. She was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1994 and 1998; and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama in 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996, winning in 1995.

She also had guest-starring roles in “Diagnosis: Murder” and “Dharma and Greg” as herself; “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit”; “Smallville”; “Modern Men”; “How I Met Your Mother”; “My Name is Earl”; “Castle”; “Jane the Virgin”; “B Positive”; and much more.

In 1999, she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Classical Music – Dance Program for “A Streetcar Named Desire”.

I particularly enjoyed her in the 2018 sitcom “Let’s Get PhysicaL” where she plays the mother of an aerobics instructor. The show only lasted eight episodes but I loved it.

Seymour also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, and in 2000 was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Parting thoughts
Jane Seymour seems to be absolutely ageless. When I saw her on the CMT Awards she didn’t look much different from one I saw her on “Battlestar Galactica” more than 45 years ago.

In that time, she has put together an amazing body of work that ranges from the dramatic such as “War and Remembrance” and “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” to the comedic such as “Let’s Get Physical” and “The War with Grandpa”.

She has always been charming, elegant and sophisticated, but has never been afraid to get her hands dirty.

Jane Seymour really has had a versatile career.