Jenny Agutter was born on December 20, 1952, in Taunton, Somerset, England, UK. The daughter of an army officer, she spent her childhood traveling and living in different countries. Her film career began at the age of 12 in
East of Sudan (1964), which was quickly followed by
Ballerina: Part 1 (1966) and
Ballerina: Part 2 (1966), and
A Man Could Get Killed (1966). Other films and television appearances in her early career include
Gates to Paradise (1968),
Long After Summer (1967),
Star! (1968),
I Start Counting (1970),
The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (1970), and
The Wild Duck (1971).
In 1970, she appeared in what was her real big break as a child star:
The Railway Children (1970), as "Bobbie". The next year, Hollywood called and she spent several years there, appearing in such works as
The Cherry Orchard (1971),
Walkabout (1971), and
The Snow Goose (1971) with
Richard Harris, for which she received an Emmy Award. She also appeared in the critically acclaimed
A War of Children (1972) and
Shelley (1972).
In 1976, Jenny really came to the attention of US film audiences with her starring role in the science-fiction classic
Logan's Run (1976) with
Michael York. Though not a critical favorite, it was a huge box-office success and spawned a television series. She also starred alongside
Richard Chamberlain in a well-received made-for-TV version of the famous Dumas tale
The Man in the Iron Mask (1977) and turned in a solid performance in the WW II thriller
The Eagle Has Landed (1976) with
Michael Caine and
Donald Sutherland. The next year, she starred in
Peter Shaffer's weighty
Equus (1977) as "Jill Mason", alongside
Richard Burton. Among her other TV and film work during the 1970s were
Dominique (1979),
School Play (1979), and
The Riddle of the Sands (1979).
In 1981, she played "Desdemona" opposite
William Marshall in
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice (1981). Other Shakespeare performances include "King Lear",
Love's Labour's Lost (1985) as "Rosaline" for the BBC and
Romeo & Juliet (1993) as "Lady Capulet". During this time, she was in numerous films and television series, including
Sweet William (1980),
Beulah Land (1980),
The Survivor (1981),
Amy (1981), and one of the films for which she
is most fondly remembered,
An American Werewolf in London (1981). She also appeared in
This Office Life (1984),
Secret Places (1984),
Silas Marner (1985),
Dark Tower (1989),
Miss Right (1982), and
King of the Wind (1989).
In the 1990s, she concentrated mainly on television, with roles in
TECX (1990);
Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less (1990);
Red Dwarf (1988);
The All New Alexei Sayle Show (1994);
The Buccaneers (1995);
And the Beat Goes On (1996);
September (1996) with
Edward Fox,
Michael York,
Virginia McKenna, and
Jacqueline Bisset;
A Respectable Trade (1998) with
Warren Clarke,
Anna Massey, and
Richard Briers. Her theatrical films during this period included
Darkman (1990) with
Liam Neeson; and
Blue Juice (1995) with
Sean Pertwee,
Ewan McGregor, and
Catherine Zeta-Jones. She also appeared as "Mrs. Bruce" in two feature-length episodes of the popular ITV series
Bramwell (1995) in which she starred with
Jemma Redgrave. She has also made several guest appearances in TV shows such as
The Red Dwarf (1998);
Boon (1986);
The Equalizer (1985) with
Edward Woodward;
The Twilight Zone (1985);
Magnum, P.I. (1980) and
The Six Million Dollar Man (1974).
Jenny married to Johan Tham in August 1990. They have one son Jonathan, born in December 1990 and live in Cornwall, England, UK. Her
particular love is charity work for The Diabetic Association and NCH Action for Children - a charity which provides home and other help for
homeless children - with which she has been involved for many years.