Actress Jane Seymour living life to fullest after near-death event
Actress Jane Seymour living life to fullest after near-death event

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By Luaine Lee

Published: August 23, 2008

MALIBU, Calif. — It took a near-death experience to turn around actress Jane Seymour's life.

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She was making a biopic on Maria Callas in Spain 20 years ago when she came down with bronchitis. An antibiotic was injected into a vein instead of the muscle, and Seymour — best known as the invincible Dr. Quinn, medicine woman — went into anaphylactic shock.

"The nurse that had administered it saved my life by injecting me with cortisone and adrenaline, but I did actually leave my body, see the white light, see the people resuscitating me and all of that,” she says.

"And after that, I realized that you take nothing with you in this life.” Pausing, she adds, "It was a wonderful moment really; it made me realize how simple it is. It's all about loving and being loved. End of story — and the difference you may have made along the way. ”

Since then, she hasn't wasted a nanosecond. She and her husband, producer-director James Keach, have six children between them, the last, 12 year-old twin boys, are at football practice today.

Her spacious living room, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, is bedecked with six of her large floral paintings. "I paint and design pretty much every day,” she says. "

"It's a real passion for me. Had I not gone through the worst time in my life, this gift wouldn't have happened to me,” she says.

The worst time of her life was when she divorced her third husband, David Flynn, 17 years ago. "When I turned 40, I had a really bad year because my father died of cancer that hadn't been detected, and they didn't do the right thing,” she says.

"My now very ex-husband was unbelievably unfaithful. And I found out our entire financial circumstances were a complete disaster. He was my business manager, and that was devastating. So, I went through a terrible divorce. I thought I was going to have to be bankrupt and really lost all sense of self-esteem and everything.”

It was "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” that saved her from bankruptcy. "I literally called my agent and said, ‘I need to work yesterday.' He said, ‘OK. That's interesting.' So, he said, ‘Anything?' I said, ‘Anything.'”

Recently, Seymour has been unpacking her lighter side, which she'll unfurl in "Dear Prudence,” a comedic mystery in which she plays an advice columnist and TV hostess who stumbles on murder most foul when she retreats to a quiet vacation in Wyoming.