From Rags to Riches: Jane Seymour’s journey from homelessness and debt to ‘Dr. Quinn’ stardom & love with Joe Lando

The fabulous actress is known for her beauty, grace, and elegance, which have made her a timeless icon in the entertainment industry.

But if Jane Seymour had the same foresight as her character Solitaire, the psychic Bond girl extraordinaire, she might have been able to stop her ex-husband from leaving her with a $9 million debt.

Finding herself at “the lowest depths of despair,” Seymour, now 72, really needed a remedy from a good doctor to change her fortune for the better.

Before landing the leading role in the globally acclaimed hit TV series, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, Seymour was penniless and homeless.

Before her troubles, she was at the top of her game with leading roles in the TV series The Onedin Line and in the James Bond film, Live and Let Die, where she played the psychic Solitaire.

“I was 20 years old when I shot the James Bond film and I had no idea what was going on,” Jane said according to People.

Actress Jane Seymour on the set of “Live And Let Die”. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

She collected several nominations for her roles in The Woman He Loved and War and Remembrance and earned her first Golden Globe in 1981 for her performance in the TV series East of Eden (1981), which was followed by a Primetime Emmy Award for Onassis: The Richest Man in the World (1988).

She married and divorced twice: Michael Attenborough–the son of the legendary Richard Attenborough–whom she married in 1971 and divorced in 1971, and then she was wed to her ex’s friend Geoffrey Planer from 1977-1978.

In 1981, she married David Flynn and had two children, Katherine (1982) and Sean (1985).

With all Seymour’s deserved successes, her third husband Flynn was struggling with addiction and biding his time with poor investments in the housing market.

Having two young children at home, Seymour was desperate to crawl out of financial devastation.

“The first thing I remember is that my ex-husband at that time had lost all our money, left me nine million in the red with lawsuits from every major bank,” Seymour said in a 2020 interview with ET.

“I was homeless, penniless and I called my agent and said I would do anything. He called the networks, and they said, how about a little movie of the week? But she has to sign for five years in case it becomes a series, she has to start tomorrow morning–less than 12 hours from now–and that was it.”

September 16 1994 Paramount Ranch … Jane Seymour On The Set Of “Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman”Atwhere The Set Was Blessed By A Local Indian. More Caption Info Availabe On Photaograph. (Photo By Tammie Arroyo/Getty Images)

The series was about a 19th-century doctor in the wild west called Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. The multiple-award-winning show was a huge hit–150 episodes spanning over six seasons (1993 to 1998)–that was followed by two movies where Seymour reprised her role as Dr. Michaela Quinn.


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