Jenny Agutter

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Jenny Agutter
Born Jennifer Ann Agutter
20 December 1952 (1952-12-20) (age 55)
Taunton, Somerset, England
Other name(s) Jennifer A. Agutter
Miss Jenny Agutter
Occupation Actress
Years active 1964-present
Spouse(s) Johan C. S. Tham (1990-present)
Official website

Jennifer Ann "Jenny" 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.

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 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 Roberta in a BBC dramatisation of The Railway Children, and went on to play the same part in Lionel Jeffries's 1970 film of the book. Her quality of ingenuousness had led to an earlier more serious role in what is now regarded as something of a horror cult film 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 many nude scenes in the film. 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.

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). In Equus she appeared nude, prompting controversy.[2] 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).[3] 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.

[edit] Personal life

Agutter remained resolutely single during her many years of residence in Los Angeles, to the point that it has been reported she claims to have never lived with a man until she was married.[4] 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 Berkshire. 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. Agutter, a big admirer of Cornwall, had owned a second home on The Lizard (the most southerly point in the UK) for many years but has since sold it. The family lives in Camberwell, London.

[edit] Filmography

Filmography
Year Title Format Role Other notes
1970 The Railway Children Film
1971 Walkabout Film
1972 Shelley Television BBC series
1976 Logan's Run Film Jessica 6
The Eagle Has Landed Film
1977 Equus Film
1978 China 9, Liberty 37 Film
The Riddle of the Sands Film
1980 Sweet William Film
1981 Othello Film
An American Werewolf in London Film
1984 Secret Places Film
1985 Love's Labour's Lost Television
1990 Child's Play 2 Film
Darkman Film uncredited cameo
1993 Red Dwarf Television
2000 The Railway Children Television ITV
2001 The Parole Officer Film
2002 At Dawning
Spooks Television
2004 Number One Longing, Number Two Regret
2007 Diamond Geezer Television ITV series
Irina Palm Television
2008 The Invisibles Television Barbara Riley BBC TV series

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jenny Agutter Biography (1952-)
  2. ^ » Cult Goddess: Jenny Agutter - Martin Anderson
  3. ^ Patrons [Cystic Fibrosis Trust]
  4. ^ BBC - Drama Faces - Jenny Agutter

[edit] External links

Awards
Preceded by
Jodie Foster
for Taxi Driver		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1977
for Equus		 Succeeded by
Geraldine Page
for Interiors
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)
Persondata
NAME Agutter, Jenny Agutter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Agutter, Jennifer Ann
SHORT DESCRIPTION British actress
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Taunton, Somerset, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH