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Jane Seymour now UNICEF spokesperson

Tuesday, 15 October 1996: UNICEF today appointed actress Jane Seymour one of its international spokespersons. The star of the current CBS series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman has been an active supporter of UNICEF, donating her own paintings and sketches for auction to raise funds for UNICEF programmes for children.

Ms. Seymour has also appeared in public television service announcements encouraging volunteer support and fund-raising for UNICEF Committees in Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States. Roger Moore, another UNICEF spokesperson, representing UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy, announced the appointment.

Ms. Seymour follows in the footsteps of the late Danny Kaye and Audrey Hepburn, becoming one of several prominent personalities supporting UNICEF worldwide, such as Sir Peter Ustinov, Liv Ullmann, Harry Belafonte, Lord Richard Attenborough and Mr. Moore. She joins a global team of Special Representatives for the Performing Arts, including Vanessa Redgrave, Judy Collins and Julio Iglesias. She will speak out on such issues as maternal health, breastfeeding benefits, and education for women and girls.

Millions of television viewers in over 90 countries worldwide know Ms. Seymour as the feisty and dedicated doctor in Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman who struggles to bring health care to families in the old American West. She will have the opportunity to see UNICEF field workers delivering the same kind of services today, when she visits El Salvador next month during a break from filming.

A mother of four, including twins boys born late last year, Ms. Seymour is National Ambassador for Childhelp USA, dedicated to the research, treatment and prevention of child abuse. She is also honorary chairperson for City Hearts, which uses art, dancing and acting to teach and help abused children, inner city kids and incarcerated delinquent youths.

The daughter of a British obstetrician and his Dutch wife, Ms. Seymour was born in Wimbledon, England. She began training in dance at an early age, and at thirteen made her debut with the London Festival Ballet, later dancing with the Kirov Ballet. She then turned to acting and has distinguished herself with a long list of film, television and theatrical performances.

She made her film debut in Richard Attenborough's Oh! What a Lovely War. This led to roles in classical plays and radio dramas and to a part in the film Young Winston. She also appeared as Solitaire in the James Bond thriller Live and Let Die. Her other credits include Somewhere in Time and the television adaptation of East of Eden.

On Broadway, she starred in the highly-acclaimed Amadeus, and then in two television mini-series Jack the Ripper and War and Remembrance. She later won awards for her portrayals of Maria Callas in The Richest Man Alive and the Duchess of Windsor in The Woman He Loved.

Ms. Seymour is also a talented watercolour and sketch artist, and has donated her work to benefit several humanitarian organizations. She lives with her actor-director husband James Keach in Malibu, California, with their combined family of six children.

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