One Of Battlestar Galactica's Biggest Stars Led This Immensely Popular '90s Western Series

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

For more than five decades, Jane Seymour has enjoyed a pretty impressive career as an actor. For starters, she broke out as one of the best "James Bond" girls ever in 1973's "Live and Let Die," playing Solitaire alongside Roger Moore's 007. But Seymour also made her mark on sci-fi history a handful of years later as part of the cast of "Battlestar Galactica."

Now, we're not talking about the beloved reboot series from the 2000s, but rather the original 1970s "Battlestar Galactica" TV show, which owes its existence to "Star Wars." Seymour played Serina in the series and was one of the show's biggest stars. However, her most recognizable role wouldn't come until the 1990s in a wildly popular Western TV series. It would then go on to become the defining part of her career (one that, bear in mind, includes over 150 acting credits).

The show in question is "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," which aired on CBS from 1993 to 1998. Across six seasons and 150 episodes (as well as two TV movies), Seymour headlined the series as Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn. The show centers on the character's adventures as a female physician who leaves Boston and settles in the frontier town of Colorado Springs, Colorado, circa the late 1860s. Once there, she sets up her own medical practice and becomes the guardian of three orphaned children.

Beth Sullivan created the series, and it proved to be immensely popular — not only in the U.S. but around the world.

"Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" featured notable guest stars like "Yellowstone" creator Taylor Sheridan. It came about during the era of network TV being king, long before streaming became the dominant force in Hollywood. Shows that had long, 100-episode-plus runs were highly valuable, as they could be sold into syndication. That made this a very fruitful venture for Jane Seymour, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

"Honestly, the minute I came on 'Dr. Quinn,' I was at the lowest ever of my life," as Seymour told People earlier this year. "I took the job because I was literally penniless and about to lose my home."

Seymour was essentially begging for work at the time. So, once the script came across her desk, she had very little time to decide. And it wasn't the obvious choice at the time. While there are plenty of forgotten Westerns from the '90s that hold up today, it wasn't exactly the peak time for the genre. All the same, once Seymour agreed, things moved quickly. As she explained in the same interview:

"The next morning at 10:00 A.M., I had to say yes or no. I said yes. At noon, I was on the set trying on costumes. And then the next thing I know, the next day I was filming, so that's how fast everything happened."

Quickly though it may have happened, it proved to be a good decision. Not only was this show tremendously popular, but Seymour has worked a whole lot in the decades since, appearing in popular movies such as "Wedding Crashers" and landing shorter stints on other TV shows, including "Smallville."

You can grab "Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman — The Complete Series" on DVD from Amazon.