Gayle Hunnicutt’s biography, net worth, fact, career, awards and life story

Gayle, Lady Jenkins (born February 6, 1943), known by her birth name Gayle Hunnicutt, is an American film, television and stage actress, who was based in the United Kingdom for many years. She has made more than 30 film appearances.

Early life and education

The daughter of Colonel Sam Lloyd Hunnicutt and Mary Virginia (née Dickerson) Hunnicutt, she was born in Fort Worth, Texas. Hunnicutt attended the University of California, Los Angeles on a scholarship to study English literature and theatre. She worked as a fashion model before pursuing acting.

Marriage and family

Hunnicutt is the mother of two boys (through separate marriages).

On November 16, 1968, Hunnicutt married British actor David Hemmings, with whom she had a son, the actor Nolan Hemmings. They divorced in 1975. Hunnicutt subsequently married journalist Sir Simon Jenkins; the couple lived in Primrose Hill, London. With Jenkins, she had a second son, Edward. They divorced in 2009. Hunnicutt has a home in Delray Beach, Florida.

Career

Acting

During her film career, Hunnicutt was typecast as a brunette sexpot. She portrayed Emaline Fetty, a con woman trying to extort money from the Clampetts in two episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies in 1966. She co-starred with James Garner in the 1969 film Marlowe, in which her character was a glamorous Hollywood actress.

After she moved to England with Hemmings in 1970, Hunnicutt was able to use the finer range of her acting. She had a notable role as Charlotte Stant, in Jack Pulman’s 1972 TV adaptation of Henry James’s novel The Golden Bowl. She played Lionel’s wife in The Legend of Hell House (1973) and Tsarina Alexandra in Fall of Eagles (1974).

In 1984, she appeared as Irene Adler, opposite Jeremy Brett, in the first episode (“A Scandal in Bohemia”) of the TV series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Hunnicutt returned to the United States in 1989, where she played the role of Vanessa Beaumont in Dallas until 1991.

In 2012, Hunnicutt was featured in an episode of the HGTV reality show Selling London. It followed her during the sale of her Victorian house in Primrose Hill and her subsequent purchase of an English country property to be close to her grandchildren.

Writing

Hunnicutt has written 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.

Filmography

Television

• The Beverly Hillbillies (1966)
• Get Smart (1966)
• The Golden Bowl (1972)
• Fall of Eagles (1974)
• Dylan (1978)
• Return of the Saint (1979)
• A Man Called Intrepid (1979, TV miniseries)
• The Martian Chronicles (1980, TV miniseries)
• The Love Boat (1980)
• The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984)
• A Woman of Substance (1985)
• Strong Medicine (1986)
• Dallas (1989)