One look at Jane Seymour’s resume would be enough to give the Energizer Bunny himself reason to pause. Not only is she an internationally known actress, she is also a wife and mother, author, designer, activist for children’s causes and a celebrated artist whose work now takes her all over the world and has helped raise thousands for worthy causes. Her passion for living seems to be fueled by a drive to not waste a moment and indeed “living in the moment” is the motto she lives by.  It’s a lesson she learned at a very young age.

Early Childhood
Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg (later to be known as Jane Seymour) was born on February 15, 1951. Her parents, John and Mieke Frankenberg, were determined to raise Jane and her two younger sisters Sally and Anne with a passion for life so, although they weren’t wealthy, they traveled as much as possible in the hope that this would expose their girls to as many different ideas and experiences as possible. The family would have "adventures" either staying with friends and family throughout Europe or traveling in a broken-down old car, which Jane remembers fondly her mother would pack with every possible item they could want on the road; even going so far as to bring plants in case they would run out of food and need to grow their own!

Jane’s father, John Frankenberg, was a top fertility specialist in England whose need to work 3 of 4 weekends resulted in Jane and her sisters spending a lot of time at the hospital- working as auxiliary nurses. Ironically this training came in quite handy when years later Jane would be called on to play one of the most beloved roles of her career- that of Michaela Quinn in Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.

Her mother, Mieke, had survived 3 years in a concentration camp in Indonesia before she met Jane’s father. Her life lessons were not lost on Jane who took to heart from a tender age, her mother’s motto - go out and help someone else when you are down yourself.

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