Gayle Hunnicutt, Lady Jenkins (February 6, 1943 – August 31, 2023) was an American film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her film roles in Marlowe (1969), Fragment of Fear (1970), Running Scared (1972), and The Legend of Hell House (1973), as well as her portrayal of Vanessa Beaumont on the soap opera Dallas (1988–1991).
Early life and education Hunnicutt was born February 6, 1943 in Fort Worth, Texas, the daughter of Mary Virginia (née Dickerson) and Colonel Sam Lloyd Hunnicutt. Hunnicutt attended Texas Christian University before winning a scholarship to the University of California, Los Angeles, where she majored in English literature and theatre.
She worked as a fashion model, then became an actress.
Career Acting During her early film career, Hunnicutt was typecast as a red-haired sexpot. She portrayed Emaline Fetty, a con woman trying to extort money from the Clampetts in two episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies in 1966. Her film debut was a small role was in the motorcycle film The Wild Angels (1966), which starred Peter Fonda. Bruce Dern, and Diane Ladd. She co-starred with George Peppard in the detective film P.J. (1968) and with James Garner in the detective film Marlowe (1969), in which her character was a glamorous Hollywood actress.
She moved to England with husband David Hemmings in 1970. She and Hemmings co-starred in two horror films in the early 1970s, Fragment of Fear (1970) and Voices (1973). She played Charlotte Stant in the Jack Pulman television adaptation (1972) of Henry James's The Golden Bowl. She played Ann Barrett in The Legend of Hell House (1973), and Tsarina Alexandra in the television miniseries Fall of Eagles (1974). She played a supporting role in the horror film The Spiral Staircase in 1975, which starred Jacqueline Bisset. She appeared as a housewife and mother in an episode of The Martian Chronicles in 1979. She appeared as Irene Adler, opposite Jeremy Brett, in the first episode of the TV series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ("A Scandal in Bohemia") in 1984. She also appeared in another Marlowe mystery in an episode of HBO's Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1983), this time starring Powers Boothe. She had a supporting role in the thriller Target (1985), co-starring Gene Hackman and Matt Dillon and another supporting role in the horror film Dream Lover (1986). Hunnicutt returned to the United States in 1989 to play the role of Vanessa Beaumont in Dallas, making semi-regular appearances until 1991.
In 2012, Hunnicutt was featured in an episode of the HGTV reality show Selling London, in which she presented the Primrose Hill property where she and her second husband, journalist and editor Simon Jenkins, lived for three decades.
Writing Hunnicutt wrote two books. The first, Health and Beauty in Motherhood, was published in 1984. In 2004, she published Dearest Virginia: Love Letters from a Cavalry Officer in the South Pacific, which contains the letters exchanged by her parents during World War II.
Personal life and death On November 16, 1968, Hunnicutt married British actor David Hemmings. The couple had a son, actor Nolan Hemmings, before divorcing in 1975 due to his affair with Samantha Eggar.
Hunnicutt married British journalist Simon Jenkins in 1978. The couple lived in Primrose Hill, London, where they raised their son Edward. Jenkins was appointed a Knight Bachelor for services to journalism in the 2004 New Year honours. They divorced in 2009. In 2010 she started dating Richard Evans, tennis correspondent of The Daily Telegraph.
Hunnicutt died in London on August 31, 2023, at the age of 80.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1966 Suzie 1968 P.J. Maureen Preble Adrianna Television film 1969 Eye of the Cat Kassia Lancaster Marlowe Mavis Wald 1970 Fragment of Fear Juliet Bristow 1971 Freelance Chris Astrological girl at party Uncredited 1972 Running Scared Ellen Case 1973 Voices Claire Scorpio Susan Ann Barrett 1974 Nuits rouges Alternate title: Shadowman 1975 Blanche 1976 Strange Shadows in an Empty Room Margie Cohn Deborah 1978 Once in Paris... Susan Townsend Dylan Liz Reitel Television film 1979 Annabelle West 1980 Flashpoint Africa Lisa Ford 1981 Diana Masterson Television film 1983 Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E. Andrea Mackovich Television film Savage in the Orient Julian Clydesdale Television film 1984 Two by Forsyth Television film 1985 Target Donna Lloyd 1986 Dream Lover Claire Strong Medicine Lillian Hawthorne Television film 1987 Turnaround Pat 1989 Silence Like Glass Mrs. Martin Hard to Be a God Mrs. Cunningham Television film
Television Year Title Role Notes 1966 Emaline Fetty 2 episodes Love on a Rooftop Barbara Ames Episode: "There's Got to Be Something Wrong With Her" Hey, Landlord Joan Episode: "Safari" 1966–1967 Get Smart: It Takes One to Know One Octavia, a KAOS agent 1972 Charlotte Slant Miniseries 1973 Away from it all Madame Dalleray Episode:The Ripening Seed 1974 Fall of Eagles Tsarina Alexandra Miniseries Thriller Suzy Buckley Episode: "K Is for Killing" 1979 Return of the Saint Annabelle West 2 episodes Cynthia Miniseries 1980 Lady Beltham Miniseries Ruth Wilder Miniseries Janet Mallory 3 episodes 1981Lady KillersEdith ThompsonEpisode: "The Darlingest Boy" 1983 Taxi Mrs. Bascome Episode: "Louie Moves Uptown" Tales of the Unexpected Susan Mandeville Episode: "The Luncheon" 1984 Irene Adler Episode: "A Scandal in Bohemia" Mary Sloane Miniseries 1985 Olivia Wainright Miniseries 1986 Dream West Maria Crittenden Miniseries 1989–1991 Dallas Vanessa Beaumont 13 episodes 1996 Tales from the Crypt Ellen Episode: "Smoke Wrings"
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