Jenny Runacre


Jenny Runacre is a South African-born English actress. Her film appearances include The Passenger, The Duellists, Jubilee, The Lady Vanishes, and The Witches.

Career

Runacre was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She moved to London as a child, attended the Actors' Workshop there, and trained in the Stanislavski System.
While attending the Actors' Workshop, Runacre was approached by fellow student Tom Busby, who was working as a runner for an American film production that was seeking fledgling English actresses to play opposite John Cassavetes in Husbands, a film to be shot the following year in London. The young actress auditioned with Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk, and was told six weeks later that she was being offered the part of Mary Tynan in the film. Runacre accepted the offer and Husbands became her first important film role.
Runacre then joined the original London cast of Oh! Calcutta!. Runacre left the cast after a year and starred in such films as Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Canterbury Tales, John Huston's The Mackintosh Man, Robert Fuest's The Final Programme, Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger, and Derek Jarman's Jubilee also appeared in an episode of Lovejoy as an art con artist. She was active in the theatre as well as on British television, including a part in the noted series Brideshead Revisited, playing Brenda Champion.
Runacre focused on higher education in the 1990s. She has a Master's in Fine Art Practice from Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design. She is currently a lecturer in residence in art, and has worked in installation art and experimental filmmaking.
In 2007, Runacre directed Gareth Parker and Andrew Swann's Frozen, which was nominated for Best Direction, Best Writing and Best Overall Production in the LOST Theatre Festival. She also directed the Wireless Theatre Company's audio adaption of Frozen after its successful stage run, featuring the original cast. In 2008, Jenny made her Edinburgh Fringe directing debut with Gullibility Factor by Peter Yates.
In 2008, Jenny appeared in John Maybury's The Edge of Love and starred as Alice in Volcano Theatre Company's National tour of Alice in Wonderland.

Selected filmography