Jenny Seagrove, a gentle-looking British actress, rose to fame in the 1980s as a sensitive heroine in TV romances such as The Woman in White, Diana, A Woman of Substance, and Hold the Dream.
Born Jennifer Ann Seagrove on Independence Day, 1957, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jenny's childhood was marked by sadness, as her mother suffered a debilitating stroke when Jenny was less than a year old. At age 9, Jenny attended a girls' boarding school in England and appeared in school plays.
Initially interested in a culinary career, Jenny opted for acting instead and trained at the Bristol Old Vic. She met Indian-born actor-director Madhav Sharma, but the marriage was not a happy one (1984-1988). She also had a long-term relationship with director Michael Winner.
Jenny is known for her superb theatre work in England. She played the title role in "Jane Eyre" at Chichester Festival Theatre in 1986, and returned to play Bett in "King Lear in New York" in 1992. Other notable roles include Ilona in "The Guardsman," Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle Worker," and Ilona in "The Guardsman."
Jenny's film career has not matched her impressive stature on stage or TV. She made her British film debut as "Anna" in the Jeremy Irons film Moonlighting, and subsequently appeared in Local Hero and Nate and Hayes.
She was part of an all-star suspect line-up in the Agatha Christie whodunnit Appointment with Death, and followed that with the Jeremy Irons starrer A Chorus of Disapproval. In the United States, Jenny was seen in an unsympathetic light as the evil nanny in The Guardian, and appeared in the comedy caper Bullseye!.
In later years, Jenny was given several starring film roles. She played the title missionary in Miss Beatty's Children, co-starred with Anthony Edwards in the romantic comedy Don't Go Breaking My Heart, played an eccentric widow who forms a bond with a teenage runaway in Zoe, and played a woman who hid an escaped Russian POW during World War II in Another Mother's Son.
Jenny is also known for her long-time partnership with theatre impresario Bill Kenwright, with whom she has worked on many productions.
