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Jenny Agutter

Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is an English actress and best known for her roles in the science fiction film "Logan's Run" and the horror film "An American Werewolf in London". Agutter was born in Taunton, Somerset, the daughter of Catherine "Kit" Lynam and Derek Brodie Agutter, a former British Army officer and live entertainment organizer. As a child, she lived in Dhekelia, Cyprus and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She was discovered while at ballet school when a casting agent was looking for a young English-speaking girl for a film. She did not get the part but he recommended her to the producers of East of Sudan (1964). Agutter first came to the attention of television audiences as Roberta in a BBC dramatization of The Railway Children, and went on to play the same part in Lionel Jeffries's 1970 film of the book. Her quality of ingenuousness had led to an earlier more serious role in what is now regarded as something of a horror cult film I Start Counting (1969). She also won an Emmy for her television role as Fritha in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production of The Snow Goose (1971). Agutter continued a transition to adult roles in Walkabout (1971), playing a teenage schoolgirl who was lost in the Australian outback with her younger brother. She first auditioned for the role in 1967 but funding problems delayed filming until 1969. The delay in production meant Agutter was 16 at the time of filming, and the director took advantage of her new legal status by including many nude scenes in the film. She commented during an interview at the 2005 Bradford Film Festival at the National Media Museum that she was shocked by the film's explicitness when she first viewed it, but is still on good terms with director Nicolas Roeg. Agutter moved to Hollywood at 21 and appeared in a number of films over the next decade, including The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Logan's Run (1976), Equus (1977), Sweet William (1980), and An American Werewolf in London (1981). In Equus she appeared nude, prompting controversy. Since 1990, Agutter has deliberately focused on the upbringing of her son and much of her work focused away from film and television work and rather involved audio recordings and supporting various charities, notably the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, of which she is a patron (she is also a carrier of the disease). Nonetheless, she had a guest role in Series 6 of Red Dwarf, and appeared in the TV series TECX, The All New Alexei Sayle Show, and And The Beat Goes On. In 2000, she made her third appearance in a production of The Railway Children, produced by Carlton TV and this time playing the role of the mother. In 2002 Agutter featured in the BBC television series Spooks and in 2007 she starred in the first episode of the new series of David Jason's ITV television series Diamond Geezer. In 2007 she also guest-starred in the Doctor Who audio drama The Bride of Peladon. Agutter remained resolutely single during her many years of residence in Los Angeles, to the point that it has been reported she claims to have never lived with a man until she was married. In 1989 while attending an arts festival in Bath she met Johan Tham, a Swedish hotelier who at the time was a director of Cliveden Hotel in Berkshire. In 1990, she became pregnant by Tham and they subsequently married on 4 August of that year. Their son Jonathan was born on 25 December 1990. Agutter, a big admirer of Cornwall, had owned a second home on The Lizard (the most southerly point in the UK) for many years but has since sold it. The family lives in Camberwell, London.

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