Maren Jensen is an American former model and actress, best known for portraying Lieutenant Athena in the 1978–79 television series Battlestar Galactica. Jensen also made guest appearances in several US television series, such as The Love Boat and Fantasy Island.

Biography

Maren Kawehilani Jensen was born in Arcadia, California, and raised in Glendale. Her father, Ralph Oscar Jensen, was a physician of Danish descent. Her mother, a native Hawaiian with distant English and French ancestry, worked as a secretary at the Los Angeles Zoo. She is a middle child, with an older brother, Dana, and a younger sister, Kathleen. Jensen attended Herbert Hoover High School from 1971 to 1974, and after graduating received a scholarship to attend UCLA, where she majored in Theater Arts and Law. She dropped out after her third year.

Jensen was a longtime companion of singer-songwriter Don Henley. In 1982, Henley released his first solo album, I Can't Stand Still, and dedicated it to her. She is credited for "Harmony Vocals" on the song "Johnny Can't Read," and is credited in the liner notes for having composed the piano intro and interlude on the song "A Month of Sundays" on Henley's 1984 album Building the Perfect Beast. She appeared in the video for Henley's song "Not Enough Love In the World" in 1985. Henley and Jensen were engaged, but they separated in 1986. Jensen helped Henley establish The Walden Woods Project in the early 1990s, an organization dedicated to protecting the Walden Woods area in Concord, Massachusetts from development.

In 2020, Jensen co-founded with Laura Shoemaker the company Glow Beauty Fuel, a maker of beauty protein bars. and has been visiting the Los Angeles metro area from time to time because of business, family, and friends. She has a daughter and a stepson.

Filmography

{|class="wikitable"

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! colspan=4 | Film and Television

|- style="text-align:center;"

! Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes

|-

| 1978 || The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries || Maryann Dalton / Teri Turner || Episode: "Death Surf"

|-

| 1978 || Battlestar Galactica || Lieutenant Athena || Feature film

|-

| 1978–79 || Battlestar Galactica || Lieutenant Athena || Main role (21 episodes)

|-

| 1979 || The Love Boat || Suzanna Wells || Episode: "Love Me, Love My Dog/Poor Little Rich Girl/The Decision"

|-

| 1980 || Fantasy Island || Valerie || Episode: "Jungle Man/Mary Ann and Miss Sophisticate"

|-

| 1980 || The Love Boat || Sharon Patrick || Episode: "The Mallory Quest/Julie, the Vamp/The Offer"

|-

| 1981 || Beyond the Reef || Diana || rowspan="2" | Feature film

|-

| 1981 || Deadly Blessing || Martha Schmidt

|}

References

  • Jensen on Super-Hair.net "Ultimate 50"