Jenny Agutter

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Jenny Agutter
Born Jennifer Ann Agutter
20 December 1952 (1952-12-20) (age 57)
Taunton, Somerset, England
Occupation Actress
Years active 1964–present
Spouse(s) Johan Tham (m. 1990–present) «start: (1990-08-04)»"Marriage: Johan Tham to Jenny Agutter" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Agutter)
Official website

Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is a BAFTA- and Emmy award-winning English actress best known in recent years for her role as Tessa Phillips in the British TV drama series Spooks (broadcast on American PBS television and released on DVD in the US under the title MI-5). She is also known for playing Alex Price in An American Werewolf in London, Jessica 6 in Logan's Run, and Jill Mason in Equus.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Agutter was born in Taunton, Somerset, the daughter of Catherine "Kit" (née Lynam) and Derek Brodie Agutter, a former British Army officer and live entertainment organizer.[1] As a child, she lived in Dhekelia, Cyprus and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was discovered while at Elmhurst Ballet School when a casting agent was looking for a young English-speaking girl for a film. She did not get the part, but he recommended her to the producers of East of Sudan (1964).

[edit] Career

Agutter first came to the attention of television audiences as Kirsty in the twice a week BBC soap "The Newcomers". Kirsty was the daughter of the new Managing Director, but could only appear during the school holidays and was listed in the credits as "Jennifer". Later, she appeared as Roberta in the BBC children's drama series of The Railway Children, and went on to play the same part in Lionel Jeffries' 1970 film of the book. Her quality of ingenuousness had led to an earlier more serious role in the thriller I Start Counting (1969). She also won an Emmy for her television role as Fritha in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of The Snow Goose (1971). Agutter continued a transition to adult roles in Walkabout (1971), playing a teenage schoolgirl who was lost in the Australian outback with her younger brother. She first auditioned for the role in 1967 but funding problems delayed filming until 1969. The delay in production meant Agutter was 16 at the time of filming, and the director took advantage of her new legal status by including nude scenes in the film.[2] Among them was a five-minute skinny-dipping scene,[3] which was cut from the original US release.[4] She commented during an interview at the 2005 Bradford Film Festival at the National Media Museum that she was shocked by the film's explicitness when she first viewed it, but is still on good terms with director Nicolas Roeg.[5]

Agutter moved to Hollywood at 21 and appeared in a number of films over the next decade, including The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Logan's Run (1976), Equus (1977), Sweet William (1980), and An American Werewolf in London (1981). Since 1990, Agutter has deliberately focused on the upbringing of her son and much of her work focused away from film and television work and rather involved audio recordings and supporting various charities, notably the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, of which she is a patron (she is also a carrier of the disease).[6] Nonetheless, she had a guest role in Series 6 of Red Dwarf, and appeared in the TV series TECX, The All New Alexei Sayle Show, and And The Beat Goes On. In 2000, she made her third appearance in a production of The Railway Children, produced by Carlton TV and this time playing the role of the mother. In 2002, Agutter featured in the BBC television series Spooks and in 2007, she starred in the first episode of the new series of David Jason's ITV television series Diamond Geezer. In 2007, she also guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio drama The Bride of Peladon.

Agutter enjoys an unusual and enduring popularity among the generation of men who grew up watching her films, first as a child actress and then as an adult. She puts this down to the fact that having grown up with the films, audiences have come to relate to her characters through their own personal experiences. She believes that the innocence of the characters she played in her earlier films combined with the costumes and nudity in some of her later adult roles such as Logan's Run (1976), Equus (1977) and An American Werewolf in London (1981) are "perfect fantasy fodder".[7][8]

[edit] Personal life

Agutter remained single during her many years of residence in Los Angeles, and it has been reported she never lived with a man until she was married.[9] In 1989 while attending an arts festival in Bath she met Johan Tham, a Swedish hotelier who at the time was a director of Cliveden Hotel in Buckinghamshire. In 1990, she became pregnant by Tham and they subsequently married on 4 August of that year. Their son Jonathan was born on 25 December 1990. They live in Camberwell, London. For many years Agutter, a great admirer of Cornwall, has owned a second home on The Lizard, the most southerly point on the English mainland.

[edit] Filmography

Filmography
Year Title Format Role Other notes
1964 East of Sudan Film Debut aged 11
1966 A Man Could Get Killed Film Linda Frazier
1968 Gates to Paradise Film Maud
Star! Film Pamela Roper
1969 I Start Counting Film Wynne
1970 The Railway Children Film Bobbie Waterbury
The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens TV Film
1971 Walkabout Film Girl
1972 Shelley Television Mary Shelley BBC series
1976 Logan's Run Film Jessica 6
The Eagle Has Landed Film Molly Prior
1977 Equus Film Jill Mason
1978 China 9, Liberty 37 Film Catherine Sebanek
The Riddle of the Sands Film Clara
1980 Sweet William Film Ann Walton
1981 Othello Film Desdemona
An American Werewolf in London Film Nurse Alex Price
1984 Secret Places Film Miss Lowrie
1985 Love's Labour's Lost Television Rosaline
Magnum, P.I. Television Krista Villeroch
1987 Dark Tower Film Carolyn Page
1990 Child's Play 2 Film Joanne Simpson
Darkman Film Burn Doctor uncredited cameo
1993 Red Dwarf Television Prof. Mamet
2000 The Railway Children Television Mother ITV
2001 The Parole Officer Film Victor's Wife
2002 At Dawning Escaping woman
Spooks Television Tessa Phillips
2004 Number One Longing, Number Two Regret Film Kenosha
The Alan Clark Diaries Television Jane Clark BBC TV series
2005 New Tricks, Season 2, Episode 1 Television Yvonne Barrie BBC TV Series
2007 Diamond Geezer Television Vanessa ITV series
Irina Palm Television
2008 The Invisibles Television Barbara Riley BBC TV series
2009 Monday Monday Television Jenny Mountfield ITV1 TV series

[edit] Awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jenny Agutter Biography (1952-)
  2. ^ Mr Skin - Jenny Agutter Nude Review (requires subscription)
  3. ^ Creative Spirits - Walkabout
  4. ^ IMDB - Walkabout: alternative versions
  5. ^ Jenny Agutter: A Charmed Career, 2006. Directed by Tony Earnshaw. National Museum of Photography, Film & Television.
  6. ^ Patrons [Cystic Fibrosis Trust]
  7. ^ McLean, G., 2002. My life in front of the lens. The Guardian, [internet] 22 February. Available at http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2002/feb/22/artsfeatures2 and archived at http://www.webcitation.org/5jBN0KSUl. [Accessed 21 August 2009].
  8. ^ Crace, J., 1997. Interview: Almost forever young. The Independent, [internet] 8 December. Available at http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interview-almost-forever-young-1287588.html and archived at http://www.webcitation.org/5jBNM9E2z. [Accessed 21 August 2009].
  9. ^ BBC - Drama Faces - Jenny Agutter

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Drama Series

Barbara Hale (1959) · Pamela Brown (1962) · Glenda Farrell (1963) · Ruth White (1964) · Lee Grant (1966) · Agnes Moorehead (1967) · Barbara Anderson (1968) · Susan Saint James (1969) · Gail Fisher (1970) · Margaret Leighton (1971) · Jenny Agutter (1972) · Ellen Corby (1973) · Joanna Miles (1974) · Ellen Corby (1975)
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