Gayle Hunnicutt

• Name — Gayle Hunnicutt • Born — 6 February 1943 • Birthplace — Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. • Died — 31 August 2023 • Place of death — London, England • Education — * Texas Christian University • University of California, Los Angeles • Known for — * Marlowe • The Legend of Hell House • Occupation — Actress, writer, model • Years Active — 1966–1999 • Children — 2, including Nolan Hemmings

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.

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.

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.

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.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes — Reference • 1966 — The — 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 — The — 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 • A — Cynthia — Miniseries • 1980 — Fantômas (1980 film) — Lady Beltham — Miniseries • The — Ruth Wilder — Miniseries • The — Janet Mallory — 3 episodes • 1981 — Lady Killers — Edith Thompson — Episode: "The Darlingest Boy" • 1983 — Taxi — Mrs. Bascome — Episode: "Louie Moves Uptown" • Tales of the Unexpected — Susan Mandeville — Episode: "The Luncheon" • 1984 — The — Irene Adler — Episode: "A Scandal in Bohemia" • The — Mary Sloane — Miniseries • 1985 — A — 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"

The authorities additionally record the heading Lady Jenkins. Her recorded language was English. She married David Hemmings and Simon Jenkins. One child is recorded: Nolan Hemmings.