Carolyn Seymour

Carolyn Seymour, born Carolyn von Benckendorf on 6 November 1947 in Buckinghamshire, is an English actress whose career has spanned stage, television, film, and voice performance across several decades. Her father was of Estonian and Russian descent, and her mother was Irish.

Seymour's early screen work included the role of Jenny in the BBC drama series Take Three Girls and an appearance as Zita in the 1972 film Steptoe and Son, alongside Harry H. Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell. That same year she appeared as Grace Gurney in The Ruling Class opposite Peter O'Toole, a role that remains among her most recognized film performances. She went on to portray Abby Grant in the BBC series Survivors, which began in 1975, departing after the first series following disagreements with the producers over the show's direction and the development of her character. Additional British television credits from this period include an episode of Space: 1999 titled "The Seance Spectre" and an appearance alongside Joan Collins in The Bitch in 1979.

Following her relocation to the United States, Seymour accumulated an extensive list of American television credits, appearing on Hart to Hart, Family Ties, Cagney and Lacey, Remington Steele, Magnum P.I., The Twilight Zone, Murder She Wrote, Matlock, Quantum Leap, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Civil Wars, L.A. Law, Red Shoe Diaries, Star Trek: Voyager, and ER, among others. Her Broadway career includes a 1985 appearance in the play Hay Fever. She has also participated in audio productions through L.A. Theatre Works and Hollywood Theater of the Ear, and has narrated audiobooks.

Seymour has contributed substantially to video game voice acting, lending her voice to characters including Shmi Skywalker and Mon Mothma in Star Wars titles, the Locust Queen Myrrah in the Gears of War franchise, Dr. Karin Chakwas in the Mass Effect series, and the Elder God of Water in Mortal Kombat Annihilation. Since 2014 she has voiced Bierce in Dark Deception. That same year she reprised the role of Abby Grant for Big Finish Productions' audio series Survivors, based on Terry Nation's original work and the television series, and has continued to take on various roles for the company. In April 2021, Big Finish Productions released a career retrospective interview with her titled Carolyn Seymour in Conversation.

In her personal life, Seymour married director Peter Medak in 1973. The couple had two children and divorced in 1984.