Biography

Victoria Tennant trained for eight years at the Elmhurst Ballet School and for two years at the Central School for Speech and Drama in London. In her first film, she starred in the title role of The Ragman's Daughter (1972), written by Alan Sillitoe and directed by Harold Becker. Extensive television work began with Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for the fifteen hour miniseries, The Winds of War (1983). For the thirty-hour miniseries War and Remembrance (1988), she received her second Emmy nomination.

She also wrote and co-produced the film Edie & Pen (1996) for HBO and produced Sister Mary Explains It All (2001) for Showtime with her producing partner and husband, Kirk Stambler.

Ms. Tennant's work in the theatre includes the Santa Barbara Theatre Company's production of "Doubt" by John Patrick Shanley, for which she won the Santa Barbara Independent's Indie award, The Vagina Monologues at the Canon Theatre and the Napa Valley Opera House, The Misalliance at LA Theatreworks, Love Letters at Steppenwolf in Chicago, Getting Married at Circle-in-the-Square on Broadway, and The Taming of the Shrew at the Westport Playhouse.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Byzantine Productions

Born in London on September 30, 1950, the fair and exceedingly lovely Victoria Tennant is the daughter of high-profile talent agent Cecil Tennant (her godfather was none other than Laurence Olivier, one of Cecil's clients at the time). Her mother was noted prima ballerina Irina Baronova, a Russian émigré. Victoria's parents were happily married until Cecil's sudden death in a car accident in 1967. Her brother and sister were severely injured in that same accident. Greatly influenced by her mother, Victoria trained in ballet before studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

Victoria entered films with a co-starring role in the "kitchen sink" drama The Ragman's Daughter (1972), but it wasn't until she arrived in Hollywood a decade later that she started to make noticeable strides in the medium. She was a divorcée when she married writer/director Matthew Chapman in 1978, appearing in his quirky little movie Strangers Kiss (1983), in which she played a 1950s "B" actress. That same year, she won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for her role as Robert Mitchum's vis-a-vis, "Pamela Tudsbury," in the epic TV miniseries The Winds of War (1983), repeating the role in the sequel War and Remembrance (1988).

After her marriage to Chapman broke up, Victoria met and wed comedy star comedian Steve Martin, whom she met while on the set of the comedy All of Me (1984). Thrust firmly into the limelight now with this highly visible partnership, Victoria forged ahead offering her trademark class and uninhibited sophistication in such modest film thrillers as The Holcroft Covenant (1985) starring Michael Caine, Best Seller (1987) with James Woods, Whispers (1990) with Chris Sarandon and Flowers in the Attic (1987) as Louise Fletcher's tormented daughter. She then reunited with her husband with the terrific comedy L.A. Story (1991). The Martins' marriage dissolved shorty after and Victoria continued with film roles in Edie & Pen (1996), in which she made her debut as a writer/co-producer, and Legend of the Mummy (1998).

Shifting more towards stage work in recent years, she has appeared throughout the U.S. in such productions as "Misalliance," "The Taming of the Shrew," "Doubt" and "Love Letters," among many others. Wed to Warner Bros. lawyer and producing partner Kirk Stambler in 1996, the couple have two children, Nikolai and Katya. She also appeared briefly in her husband's TV movie Sister Mary Explains It All (2001), and also served as its executive producer. Stambler provides the WB studio with legal counsel for special projects and for business and acquisitions.

Random TV guest appearances later included Diagnosis Murder (1993), JAG (1995), Providence (1999), Scrubs (2001), Monk (2002) and The Beast (2009).

Victoria's recent films have included featured parts in the romantic-oriented The Awakening of Spring (2008) and Irene in Time (2009), as well as the dramedy Cold Turkey (2013), the family drama Louder Than Words (2013) and the warm comedy Alex & The List (2017) . In 2014, she published a memoir about her mother entitled Irina Baronova and The Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net