Hollywood Calling
Jane Semour chats with Colleen Richmond about her life and success.

A multiple Emmy and Golden Globe winner, recipient of the Officer of the British Empire (OBE) bestowed upon her by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, Jane Seymour has proven her talents in virtually all media, the Broadway stage, motion pictures and television. As iconic star of the beloved TV series “Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman,” she became a role model to young women and girls throughout the world with her inspiring rendition of a woman who can courageously dare, achieve and improve anything a man can do, investing it with that “woman’s touch” of caring humanity. She has been a leading contributor to a vibrant new time of equality which is tearing down walls of limitation everywhere. With her customary practice of leading by achieving, she has earned spectacular success in the worlds of art, design and corporate entrepreneurship. With her Open Hearts line of jewelry and her successful enterprises in related design fields, she has taken her Jane Seymour brand to the position of being in the top one hundred of Licensing Global Magazine’s list of the world’s top brands, something no other actor or actress has accomplished. In the process, her love of art and color has led to her great success as a painter in watercolors and oils and as a designer of product from botanicals to furniture.

Seymour has reached success with a star career encompassing international movie stardom with such lasting films as "Somewhere in Time" and "Live and Let Die", Broadway and London stage acclaim including creating the role of Constanza in "Amadeus" and television achievements in award winning performances in “War and Remembrance” and “East of Eden.” Awarded a Golden Globe for her role as “Dr. Quinn,” Seymour made history with her six season “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” series, blazing a trail for family-worthy programming to return to series TV. The program fostered such a devoted audience and such a wide audience demand for fulfilling, informative drama that parents could share and enjoy with their children that a national in fact, international, furor was occasioned by the series’ cancellation. The beloved series still airs around the world in over 90 different countries.

Her now classic turn in “The Wedding Crashers” paired her with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson playing the sexually charged wife of Christopher Walken and changed the industry landscape for Seymour, showcasing her comedy skills to a broad audience that quickly embraced the acting range that Seymour exhibited. Suddenly she became a “go to” star for memorable guesting spots on top award-winning comedy shows like “How I Met Your Mother” and “Jane the Virgin.”

Through her production company she has produced and starred in programs such as "Sunstroke", "A Passion for Justice", “Praying Mantis", "The Absolute Truth", “Enslavement: The Fanny Kemble Story”, “Murder in the Mirror”, “Dr. Quinn, The Movie”, “A Marriage of Convenience” and "Blackout". Behind the camera, Seymour served as an executive producer on the documentary film “Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me”, which told the touching story of musician Glen Campbell’s farewell tour while dealing with the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

In early 2008, Seymour launched one of her most successful brands to date, a special jewelry collection called "Open Hearts by Jane Seymour". Inspired by one of Seymour’s original paintings of two hearts connected and open at either end, the exclusive designs symbolize that love has no boundaries and flows unconditionally. The Open Hearts design reminds us that if we keep our hearts open, love will always find its way in. It has become a universal symbol for giving and receiving love and to date has become the most successful line of jewelry currently on the market and has outlasted many of its brand contemporaries with unmatched success.

In 2009 Seymour’s Open Hearts, the first book in a series of four, was published. Open Hearts reflects life’s joys, heartaches, and inspirations and symbolizes that only when you can love yourself and keep your heart open are you able to give and receive love. This theme is celebrated in the book through a collection of poems, essays and quotes and illustrated with a selection of her art. Subsequent books in the series were released Among Angels in 2010, Open Hearts Family in 2012 and most recently The Wave in 2014. Inspired by the Open Hearts philosophy, in 2017 The Road Ahead was published. The book explores how we handle life’s challenges and how those challenges define us as we face the road ahead. The book touches on everything from medical crises to broken hearts to career failures and everything in between. Seymour released her book, “Making Yourself at Home”, a style book featuring her home and lifestyle tips in 2007. In 2002, Jane Seymour penned an autobiographical book, “Remarkable Changes”, profiling her own and 20 personal stories of others who have experienced positive transformation in the face of life-changing crisis. In addition, Jane Seymour co-authored a series of exceedingly successful children’s books titled “This One and That One”, inspired by her highly and delightfully altered life since the actress gave birth to twins in late 1995. She is also the author of “Two at a Time: A Journey through Twin Pregnancy and Birth”.

That same year Seymour released a collection of fine art Open Heart bronze sculptures and introduced the editions to the fine art world; the Open Heart Icon and the Single Open Heart designs are currently available in three different patinas. To further illustrate the artist’s and her family’s commitment to the Open Hearts philosophy, the Open Heart Icon Monumental fine art sculpture was born in 2012. The very first example of the seven-foot tall bronze casting was installed in Seymour’s oceanside organic garden to commemorate her birthday in that year. The second Open Heart Icon Monumental sculpture was introduced formally at the 2nd Annual Open Hearts Foundation Gala in 2012 and has since been installed outdoors in Akron, Ohio. The third Open Heart Icon Monumental outdoor sculpture in sandstone was created in 2015, and unveiled in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the Fall of 2016, welcoming the residents and visitors of the grand new master-planned community called “Legacy.” The first-ever monumental-sized Single Open Heart sculpture, was unveiled and installed in the lobby of the noted cardiac center, Centra Care in St. Cloud, MN in 2017. In January of this year, the City of Bradenton, FL unveiled the artist’s newest Open Heart Icon Monumental bronze sculpture on their Riverwalk along the Manatee River, as the 61st piece of public art in the art-minded beach community.

Seymour is a prominent spokesperson for Crepe Erase, one of the leading Guthy Renker brands in the skincare space and sold at retailers ranging from ULTA to QVC and Amazon. Jane Seymour Designs – a national lifestyle brand inspired by her homes, art and family-centered lifestyle has teamed with several co-collaborators such as esteemed furniture designer Michael Amini and his team at AICO. They’ve partnered for a decade and have created several best-selling home furnishing collections available around the world. Their unique collection, Micheal Amini Jane Seymour Living continues to be top sellers for AICO.

Additional associations for Jane Seymour Designs home décor are lines with companies such as Style Craft for portable lighting and accessories, The Danbury Mint for handbags, Winward International Inc. for permanent botanicals and Prestige Art for wall décor, and Loom for rugs. In recent years, Seymour and her art company, Coral Canyon Publishing, have partnered with Fotiou Frames, a luxury international moulding manufacturer, to launch the JS Moulding Line to offer a wide selection of beautiful and elegant moulding designs to quality framers nationwide to great success. Whether it is products that range from jewelry to skincare or from silk florals, furniture or candles, business associations with Seymour achieve hundreds of millions of dollars in retail sales each year.