Betsy Brantley

Last updated
Betsy Brantley
Born1955 (age 6869)
Alma mater University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Central School of Speech and Drama
OccupationActress
Years active1981–present
Spouses
  • Simon Dutton
    (m. 19??; div. 198?)
(m. 1989;div. 1994)
Children1

Betsy Brantley is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, plays, and television shows since the early 1980s. Her breakout role was in the 1982 film Five Days One Summer with Sean Connery.

Contents

Early life

Betsy Brantley was born in 1955 to Jack R. Brantley, a textile executive, and Dotty Brantley (née Rabey). [1] In 1960, Jack moved the family to Greensboro, North Carolina, moving into the same house on Meadowbrook Terrace where he grew up. In 1962 Jack moved the family to Rutherfordton, North Carolina, to serve as division president at dress-manufacturer Tanner. [1] Betsy has a fraternal twin Alison, an older brother Jack Jr., and a younger brother Duncan who is a producer and screenwriter. [1]

Growing up Brantley spent a great deal of her time in the Blue Ridge mountains near Rutherfordton, where she developed a love for mountains. Her affinity with mountains helped her land her first major role in the film Five Days One Summer. [2]

Brantley graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1977 and the Central School of Speech and Drama in the United Kingdom in 1980. [3]

Career

Brantley's first major role was Kate in the 1982 film Five Days One Summer with Sean Connery. The film's director, Fred Zinnemann, cast Brantley because he wanted a new, unfamiliar face. Zinnemann only auditioned young women with little or no acting experience because he didn't want audiences associating a known actress, who had been around the block a time or two on screen or in a publicized personal life, spoiling the illusion of virtue. [2] Until her role in Five Days One Summer, her acting experience had been limited to a few roles in the English theater, a five-minute part in a British TV movie and a minor role in the film Shock Treatment . [2]

Like Five Days One Summer, many of Brantley's films are based in Europe. Her most famous role, perhaps, is her portrayal of Neely Pritt in Shock Treatment (1981). She also played alongside Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine in the film version of The Fourth Protocol (1987) and acted a cameo in the Ashley Judd movie Double Jeopardy (1999). Brantley was also the performance model for Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). [4]

Along with roles in several other films, including Havana (1990) and Deep Impact (1998), Betsy has been a cast member in a number of television shows, including Tour of Duty and Second Noah . On Tour of Duty, she played the role of Dr. Jennifer Seymour (later Major Jennifer Seymour). On Second Noah, she played Jesse Beckett, a veterinarian and the mother of eight adopted children.

Brantley played Dolph Lundgren's girlfriend in Dark Angel (1990, retitled I Come in Peace in America).

She has also appeared as Elsie Cubitt in the Granada Television production of "The Dancing Men", from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and also appeared in the 1987 BBC Horizon film, Life Story (the story of the discovery of the DNA double helix) as James Watson's sister, Elizabeth Watson.

Personal life

Brantley married filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. [5] She has one daughter, Sarah, with Soderbergh. Sarah lives in Seattle, Washington. [6]

Brantley is a private person and somewhat uncomfortable with the stardom she achieved. After her critical success with Five Days One Summer, she said "I'd like to have had my career move a little slower, I find the attention just a bit daunting." [2]

Brantley lives in a pre–Civil War era home in the Montford, Virginia, area with her pet cat Blueberry. [1] [6] [7]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1981 Shock Treatment Neely Pritt
1982 Five Days One Summer Kate
1984 Another Country Julie Schofield
1987 The Fourth Protocol Eileen McWhirter
1987 The Princess Bride The Mother
1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit Jessica's Performance Model
1990 I Come in Peace Diane PalloneAKA, Dark Angel
1990 Havana Diane
1993 Flesh and Bone Peg
1993Shepherd on the RockJean
1996 Schizopolis Mrs. Munson / Attractive Woman No. 2
1997 Washington Square Mrs. Montgomery
1998 Mercury Rising Special Ed Teacher No. 2
1998 Deep Impact Ellen Biederman
1999The EncounterWaitressShort
1999 Rogue Trader Brenda Granger
1999 Double Jeopardy Prosecutor
2002The Angel DollMary Barlow
2008This Man's LifeMrs. ZimmermanShort
2022 Kimi KimiVoice

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1984 Sherlock Holmes Elsie CubittEpisode: "The Dancing Men"
1985 Romance on the Orient Express StaceyTV film
1985 Oscar American BeautyEpisode: "Gilded Youth"
1987 Horizon Elizabeth WatsonEpisode: "The Race for the Double Helix"
1987Dreams Lost, Dreams FoundJane McAllisterTV film
1987London EmbassyFlora Domingo-DuncanEpisodes: "The Winfield Wallpaper", "Tomb with a View"
1988 The Comic Strip Presents... VanessaEpisode: "The Yob"
1988 A Year in the Life CynthiaEpisode: "Glory Days"
1988 Heartbeat DorothyEpisode: "Where's Solomon When You Need Him?"
1988 Beauty and the Beast Nancy TuckerEpisodes: "Ozymandias", "A Happy Life"
1988 American Playhouse Marion CastleEpisode: "The Big Knife"
1989 Men ClaireEpisode: "Baltimore"
1989 Tour of Duty Jennifer SeymourRecurring role (seasons 2–3)
1992Yesterday TodayTV film
1993 The Jackie Thomas Show Gail HarperEpisode: "Stand Up for Bastards"
1993 Jack's Place ClaudiaEpisode: "True Love Ways"
1993Final AppealFranTV film
1995Little Lord FauntleroyMrs. ErrolTV miniseries
1995Amazing GraceEpisode: "The Fugitive"
1995Dad, the Angel & MeSusan LyonsTV film
1996–97 Second Noah Jessie BeckettMain role
1997 Touched by an Angel Joanne McNabbEpisode: "Great Expectations"
1998 NYPD Blue Val DixonEpisode: "Speak for Yourself, Bruce Clayton"
1998 From the Earth to the Moon Jan ArmstrongEpisode: "Mare Tranquilitatis"
1999 Chicago Hope Mrs. DanoEpisode: "The Heavens Can Wait"
2002ImpactDiane CousinsTV film

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Jack R. Brantley Obituary". Greensboro News and Record. November 30, 2017. Archived from the original on January 19, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Scott, Vernon (November 22, 1982). "Scott's World: Incest, mountains, new star". United Press International . Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  3. Salter, Charles Jr. (December 26, 1990). "Headed for parts unknown". The News and Observer. North Carolina, Raleigh. p. D 1. Retrieved November 1, 2020 via Newspapers.com.
  4. Listed in the end of movie credits
  5. Biskind, Peter (8 January 2013). Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance, and the Rise of Independent Fil. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   978-1-4391-2710-0 . Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Holladay, Hilary (February 5, 2019). "Pets and Their People: Blueberry and Betsy Brantley". Orange County Review . Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  7. ""Creative to Creative" featuring Betsy Brantley postponed until June". Orange County Review. March 10, 2020. Retrieved November 1, 2020.