Do me a favor? Click my “like” button and join our Facebook community.
A bought of insomnia in the wee hours of the morning led me to scanning my Facebook feed and among them I happened across this post.
Geeks like me who grew up in the 70s and early 80s were big fans of Battlestar Galactica, one of the first space operas in the post Star Trek days. Many of us had a healthy crush on Colonial Warrior Athena AKA Maren Jensen.
a Facebook Fan page by James Flagler, the president of the Maren Jensen Fan Club states:
-
Maren Jensen was born September 23rd 1956, in Glendale California, she attended Hebert Hoover High school, where she was an honors student (Maren was a straight ‘A’ student throughout high school) she went to UCLA on a scholarship. (where she majored in Law and Theatre-arts)
Bet everyone was too intimidated to ask her to prom
-
Maren’s stunning and exotic good looks (Danish and Hawaiian decent) soon landed her television commercials and a career in modeling. She was on the cover(s) of the most popular beauty, fashion and glamour magazines there are, in both the United states and Europe.
-
In the 1980s, Maren was engaged to Don Henley (lead singer for the musical group the Eagles) and she also developed Epstein-Barr syndrome (which cut her acting career short) Maren recovered, but she left show business behind for good.
-
Maren and Don broke off the engagement, but have remained very good friends over the years. Maren helped Don Henley with the Walden Woods project in the 1990s, it is dedicated to protecting the Walden Woods (in Massachusetts) from development.
-
Maren is married and has a family. She lives in the New York metro area. Family, friends and business have her returning to the Los Angeles metro area from time to time.
I contacted Mr Flagler and through a volley of emails learned some interesting things about her. On the Battlestar Galactica Fan Page, someone suggested the reason Jensen “disappeared” as the season went on was because she wouldn’t go the casting couch route.
“Maren’s time on Battlestar Galactica was reduced, because she was not an established actress and was in an adjustment period, going from model to actress, and at times, her acting was sub-par according to Glen A Larson, the producer of the show,” Flagler said. He went on to mention that Maren and Glen clashed out in the open at times because he thought she was lazy because she did not know her lines but it was the fact, that Maren was already feeling the early effects of Epstein Barr Syndrome (which drains a person of their energy) making daily activities difficult. Maren was taking acting lessons while shooting Battlestar Galactica and was paid $100,000 in advance to do BSG.
Flagler said he created the Maren Jensen fan page “because I really like the work that M.J. did….on Facebook, I saw numerous fan pages for Cheryl Ladd…and not one for M.J., so I thought, what the heck?”
this pic was taken (spur of the moment) by a fan, at a sci-fi media convention, many many years ago. (photo credit: James Flagler)
****************
Do me a favor? Click my “like” button and join our Facebook community.
You’ll find funny, informative links and interesting pictures. Don’t worry, your Facebook feed won’t get overwhelmed.
Happy Reading! Follow Mysteries of Life on Twitter (@MysteriesOLife), Facebook or subscribe via email.
therunninggod 