Jenny Runacre

She was active in the theatre as well, and worked often in British television, perhaps the most notable of which was Brideshead Revisited (1981), in which Runacre plays Brenda Champion, Julia's rival for Rex's affection.

After a year, Runacre left the cast and worked in a series of notable films featuring some of the great directors of the time, delivering fine performances in Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Canterbury Tales (1972), John Huston's The MacKintosh Man (1973), Robert Fuest's The Final Programme (1973), Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger (1975), and Derek Jarman's Jubilee (1978) (in which she starred as Elizabeth I and "Bod").

Busby was working as a runner for an American film production that was seeking fledgling English actresses to play opposite John Cassavetes in Husbands (1970), a movie to be shot the following year in London. The young actress was interested, underwent a grueling day of auditioning with Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk, and was told six weeks later, rather to her surprise, that she was being offered the part of Mary Tynan in the movie. Cassavetes demanded a great deal from his performers, but Runacre rose to the occasion and delivered an intense, remarkable performance. Runacre spent six months traveling in Morocco after shooting "Husbands", and soon after her return joined the original London cast of "Oh! Calcutta!", first playing at The Roundhouse and later at the Royalty Theatre.

Jenny Runacre was born on August 18, 1946 in Capetown, South Africa, one of four girls in the family. The family moved to London when she was five, where Runacre developed an early love of movies, spending much time watching them in the local cinemas. She attended The Actor's Workshop in Notting Hill Gate, training in the Stanislavski System (also known as method acting). While attending the Actor's Workshop, Runacre was approached by fellow student (and future agent) Tom Busby with an intriguing offer.