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Jenny Runacre was born on August 18, 1946 in Capetown, South Africa, one of four girls in the family. The family moved to London when she was five, where Runacre developed an early love of movies, spending much time watching them in the local cinemas. She attended The Actor’s Workshop in Notting Hill Gate, training in the Stanislavski System (also known as method acting).

While attending the Actor’s Workshop, Runacre was approached by fellow student (and future agent) Tom Busby with an intriguing offer. Busby was working as a runner for an American film production that was seeking fledgling English actresses to play opposite John Cassavetes in Husbands, a movie to be shot the following year in London. The young actress was interested, underwent a grueling day of auditioning with Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk, and was told six weeks later, rather to her surprise, that she was being offered the part of Mary Tynan in the movie. Cassavetes demanded a great deal from his performers, but Runacre rose to the occasion and delivered an intense, remarkable performance.

Runacre spent six months traveling in Morocco after shooting Husbands, and soon after her return joined the original London cast of Oh! Calcutta!, first playing at The Roundhouse and later at the Royalty Theatre. After a year Runacre left the cast and worked in a series of notable films featuring some of the great directors of the time, delivering fine performances in 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 (in which she starred as Elizabeth I and "Bod"). She was active in the theatre as well, and worked often in British television, perhaps the most notable of which was Brideshead Revisited, in which Runacre plays Brenda Champion, Julia’s rival for Rex’s affection.

In the 1990s Runacre returned to University, obtaining a Master’s in Fine Art Practice at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design in London. Runacre’s career has since focused on the art world; she is currently a lecturer in residence, and has worked in installation art and experimental filmmaking. She continues to be involved in film and theatre, both directing and acting, when the right project presents itself.