Jane Seymour's Story - written by Jane Seymour
exclusively for Hello- Part Three |
My career took off with a bang after the success of Captains And Kings and my nomination of the Emmy award. I found a good agent and I didn't have any problems getting a work permit. They also started offering me bigger and better roles.
My next job was 7th Avenue (1977). Critics liked the way
I played Eva Meyers. I'm not too happy with my acting in it. Sometimes
I believe I'm quite good but sometimes I don't like myself at all.
But the critics were very kind. They thought me "fantastic." I
think that it really had to do with the sort of role I had.
Meanwhile I kept up my relationship with Geep. But it wasn't easy for
either of us. My work in Los Angeles didn't allow me to return to England,
and Geep 's job kept him in London. He finally was able to take time
off and he came to visit me. He didn't like what he saw.
When we were in London, I was just a young actress who didn't have
much work. I wasn't well known. I didn't earn much money. Geep was
the head of the family. He took charge of everything. And I think he
quite enjoyed this, like most men.
But things were very different in Los Angeles. I was doing quite well
in my career and I was, therefore, earning more money. I earned more
than Geep. I was becoming quite popular. I didn't care too much about
this. Everyone knows that when you appear on television people start
recognising you on the street. But Geep did care. I was always busy
and didn't have any spare time. In a few words, Geep felt I didn't
need him at all. It wasn't true. But that's what he felt.
He wasn't at his ease. He told me he didn't like California and that
he could never live there. Now, when I think about his words, I realise
he didn't dislike California as much as the possibility of being the
husband of a famous actress. In England he had his friends, his lifestyle.
In Los Angeles he found himself in the middle of my environment.
I belonged to the movie world and he was a stranger to it. I had a
reason for staying in California. He didn't.
He must have mulled these ideas over to his mind. The best thing for
him was him was a quiet life in London with a wile and children. I
wasn't ready then to give this to him. So Geep went back to England
and I went back to my work.
Suddenly I was offered the chance of a film in London. I accepted a
role in The Four Feathers and went back home. I revived my
warm and peaceful relationship with Geep. I recuperated my family.
My dear England. And it was then, while filming that romantic story,
that Geep and I decided to get married. That's the way it was, from
one day to another.
We were at home spending a quiet afternoon like in the good old days,
when Geep said: "What if we got married?" I didn't doubt
it for an instant. I said yes.
We didn't have much time or money to prepare a big wedding, but that
didn't matter. We happened to
get married in 1977, the year of the Queen's Silver Jubilee. And as
everyone knows, people were allowed to have parties on the street in
honour of the Queen. All yo had to do was to get a special permit from
the City Hall. They usually gave it. Then they shut off the street
and all the neighbours poured out to eat and drink toasts to the Queen's
health.
So we though we'd take advantage of the situation, get the permit, tell the City Hall we wanted to celebrate a party in honour of Queen Elizabeth, but celebrate our wedding instead. Everyone thought it a splendid idea.
We supplied the food and the drink for 300 people and the neighbours, who were automatically invited, said they woul dalso bring things. Everthing was perfect. We natually planned to toast the Queen's health since our wedding would be great fun thanks to her.
To make it even more romantic, Bermans, the company hired to put together the wardrobe for the film, lent us the outfits for the day. I wore a white, Edwardian-style dress. It was marvellous. And to top it all, they even let us have one of the carriages for the film. I would arrive at my wedding like a fairy-tale princess.
There was only one problem. The weather. It had been raining non stop for two weeks. While I was dressing for the occasion, I anxiously looked at the overcast sky and spotted a ray of sun far away in the distance. I prayed it wouldn't rain.
Miraculously it didn't rain for the whole of that glorious 20th of August. When night fell, and everyone went home exhausted from the day's exertions, the heavens unleashed an incredible downpour. It didn't stop raining for a month after that. What would have happened to my fantastic dress and open-top carriage had it rained? I don't even want to think about it.
I have marvelous memories of my wedding day. Everyone was there. My
parents. The family. Even my work colleagues, Beau Bridges and Robert
Powell. It was unforgettable day. Pity our marriage wouldn't last long...
I realised I'd made a mistake almost the same day of the wedding. Everything
seemed perfect, but we knew from the beginning that if wanted to keep
our relationship alive, both of us would have to be prepared to make
sacrifices. Which one of us would take the first step?
I believe I married Geep in effort to retain that wonderful happiness
we shared before my career took off in America. Both us clung to the
past, trying to make it last, suspecting that our future together was
a very uncertain affair.
Some days later I had to go Chicago to work in a new film. Once there
I realised that our problem didn't have a solution. I had my career
in America. I couldn't be hopping to and fro all the time. On the other
hand, if I left my career and returned to London with Geep, I would
let drop by the waysidei everything I had worked so hard to achieve
in California.
I decided to think of my career first. I thought that my love for my
profession was greater at that time than my love for Geep. It was
also a difficult decision for him.
It's very hard for a man to be married to a successful actress. He
must sometimes overcome situations which are often very disagreeable
for a husband. Everyone is always on the lookout for you, and no one
cares about him. The job, the schedules... Far too many things to list.
But that's the way things were and that's the way they ended.
Yes, those days in Chicago were very sad for me. To make matters even
worse, I was offered a very important role in a very important film
but, because I hadn't finished some scenes of the film I was doing
in which I didn't even speak, I couldn't accept it.
My marriage to Geep may have been a very short one but our relationship,
the time we spent together, the understanding, the help he gave me,
were wondeful. It's a pity he wasn't ready to be' an actress' husband
Or. maybe, it ,just wasn't our moment... Coming next: A third marriage
and the daughter Jane almost lost.
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