A HEART OF GOLD

While Seymour's timeless appeal might be attributed to her soft, lilting voice, her ballerina's body or her signature long locks, digging deeper, it's easy to see that her true appeal comes from within. This is one celebrity whose star shines brighter because she has a heart of gold.

Seymour may be a multiple Emmv and Golden Globe winner and the recipient of the Officer of the British Empire. but what many people might not know is that she also is a member of the American Red Cross National Celebrity Cabinet and an international ambassador for Childhelp USA. a national organization dedicated to the research, treatment and prevention of child abuse.

In addition, Seymour is the honorary chairperson for City Hearts, an organization that enriches the lives of abused children, inner-city children and disadvantaged youths by teaching the performing arts. Her latest philanthropic endeavor is the creation of a set of limited-edition note cards that are being sold in partnership with the Calilornia Pistachio Commission to raise awareness and funds for women's heart disease prevention.

According to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. one in three women die of heart disease, making it the No. 1 killer of American women "It's nine times more risky to women than breast cancer, believe it or not," Seymour says. With this startling statistic in mind, Seymour makes sure to eat a healthy diet and exercise as often as she can.

"I do some aerobics, usually on an elliptical machine, and I do a lot of stretching," Seymour says. "l do isometrics and light weights, and I usually do it with the trainer across the street because I had back issues. I used to be a ballerina, and I had injuries when I was younger. The good news is that I can do pretty much everything. I even manage to golf, which is amazing."

Seymour's back problems arose from her pregnancies. "My regular pregnancies caused havoc on my lower back, but with the twins it was really hard," she says. "I did very specific exercises for it. In fact, I wrote a book called Two At A Time:A Journey Through Twin Pregnancy and Birth, chronicling what I did. because I was proactive about the fact that at my age, I would have issues and that (because of) the weight of the children and my being a very small person I would have a lot of issues in terms of my lower back."