Jane Seymour, TV’s Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Celebrates Her Birthday

She reigned as Queen of the Miniseries, and in the ensuing years earned a legion of fans for her work on one of the most acclaimed TV series of all time. And now, Jane Seymour is about to celebrate a very special milestone.

Happy Birthday, Jane Seymour!

And that’s because she was born on February 15, 1951, in Uxbridge, Middlesex, which means that this talented, luminous beauty is turning 70 years old today! Born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg, Seymour changed her name because it, “scanned nicely and rolled trippingly from the tongue.”

She initially trained to be a ballet dancer and even spent time amongst the dancers at the renowned Kirov Ballet. However, after injuring herself during her debut stage performance, Seymour decided to try her hand at acting.

In 1969, Seymour appeared in the film Oh! What a Lovely War, though her work went uncredited. A year later, she starred in the war film The Only Way. Roles in several primetime series and miniseries followed, including, The Pathfinders (1972) and The Strauss Family (1972).

Seymour received considerable notice for her work in the serial The Onedin Line (1972-1973) and the two-part TV movie Frankenstein: The True Story – which eventually led to her casting in the James Bond film Live and Let Die (1973).

On the heels of that film’s success, Seymour took to heart some advice offered by casting director Renée Valente: lose the English accent, and acquire an American one. Subsequently, she emigrated to the U.S. where she enjoyed consistent employment, received copious praise for her range, and earned a vast array of accolades.

After appearing in the likes of Battlestar Galactica (1978), Oh Heavenly Dog (1978), the Broadway production of Amadeus (1980), and the romantic fantasy drama Somewhere in Time (1980), Seymour played the wicked Cathy Ames in the television adaption of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden (1981).

For her efforts, Seymour was awarded a Golden Globe – a moment made all the more memorable when she took to the stage, thanked her recently delivered daughter, and claimed that she knew the infant was missing her because “my milk just came in!”

Her later roles included Wallis Simpson in the TV movie The Woman He Loved (1988), Maria Callas in the TV movie Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988), and Natalie Henry in the miniseries War & Remembrance (1988-1989). Seymour had declined to play Natalie on three separate occasions before finally relenting.

In 1993, Seymour was cast to headline the period Western drama series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, a series which ran for five years (and two sequel television films), which netted her a Primetime Emmy Award, and which reunited her with former paramour Joe Lando, who played Dr. Michaela Quinn’s love interest.

Seymour’s other film and TV credit include Wedding Crashers (2005), Fifty Shades of Black (2016), and Sandy Wexler (2017), and episodes of Smallville (2004-2005), Castle (2011), Jane the Virgin (2015-2016), and The Kominsky Method (2019). She also competed during the fifth season of Dancing With the Stars where she finished in sixth place.

Seymour has been married and divorced four times – a fate she claims was foretold by a psychic she visited during the filming of Live and Let Die. Seymour had two children with her third husband, David Flynn: actress Katherine Flynn (born February 7, 1982), and Sean Flynn (born July 31, 1985); and twin sons John Stacy and Kristopher Steven (born November 30, 1995), with her fourth husband, James Keach. The boys were named after their respective godfathers, Johnny Cash and Christopher Reeve (who had been Seymour’s co-star in Somewhere In Time). Entertainment Hub would like to wish Jane Seymour a very happy birthday.