Jill Townsend

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Jill Townsend (* 25. January 1945 as Kathryn Joan Townsend in Santa Monica , California ) is an American actress .

Life

Townsend grew up in Locust Valley , Long Island as the daughter of well-to-do parents and graduated from the private Masters School in Dobbs Ferry in 1963 . She then studied acting at the Royal Academy of Arts in London . During this time, she had a nearly two-year relationship with British actor Nicol Williamson . She made her television debut in 1966 in an episode of the series Hawk with Burt Reynolds in the title role. The following year she received a starring role in the Western series The Marshall of Cimarron alongside Stuart Whitman . She married the stuntman Tom Sutton, who was a stand-in Whitman on the series . The marriage lasted just a little longer than the short-lived series that was discontinued after the first season.

As a result, she had various other appearances in the western genre, including in Bonanza and The People of Shiloh Ranch . Townsend made her big screen debut in 1972 in the British-US co-production Blood Red Morning by director Douglas Hickox with Oliver Reed and Jill St. John in the lead roles. The year before, she had married Nicol Williamson, with whom she stood in front of the camera in 1976 in Herbert Ross ' No Coke for Sherlock Holmes ; she played the wife of Williamson portrayed Sherlock Holmes in the crime film . Through the marriage, Townsend moved permanently to England, where she gave birth to a son in 1973. She was seen in several British television productions in the following years; in particular by her portrayal of Elizabeth Warleggan in the successful BBC - Literaturverfilmung Poldark she gained notoriety in the British television audience.

In 1976 she played the lead female role in the comedy Alfie, the philosopher of love ; for this she received the Evening Standard British Film Award in the category Most Promising Young Talent . The Ken Hughes directed film with Alan Price and Joan Collins in additional roles, however, was a financial failure. In the same year, she divorced her second husband Nicol Williamson. Her last feature film role was in the 1980 horror film The Awakening of the Sphinx at the side of Charlton Heston , followed by a radical career change; after training in journalism in the late 1970s, she took on a business column in the Daily Mail . She later taught at Harvard University and was involved in environmental protection . In 1985 she returned briefly in front of the camera for a guest role in the American television series Agentin mit Herz . She has been remarried since 1993 and now lives in California again.

Filmography (selection)

Movie

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Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e Everett Aaker: Television Western Players, 1960-1975: A Biographical Dictionary , McFarland 2017, ISBN 978-1476662503
  2. ↑ The curse of Poldark: Stars of the new version, beware. The originals were hit by tragedy - and never found fame again in the Daily Mail (English)
personal data
SURNAME Townsend, Jill
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Townsend, Kathryn Joan (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Santa Monica , California