Tennant was born on 30 September 1950 in London, England, to Irina (née Baronova; 1919–2008) and Cecil Gordon Tennant (1910–1967).[3] Her father, from a junior branch of a family of minor Yorkshire gentry resident at Kilnsey,[4] was a producer and talent agent for MCA;[1] her mother was a Russianprima ballerina from Saint Petersburg who appeared with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Tennant's maternal grandfather, Mikhail Baronov, was a senior officer in the Imperial Russian Navy; his wife, the former Lydia Vishniakova, was a general's daughter. Tennant has a sister, Irina, and a brother, Robert, both of whom were seriously injured in a car crash in 1967 that killed their father. Tennant's godfather was the actor Laurence Olivier.[1]
In 1987, Tennant starred in the neo-noir crime thriller Best Seller and the psychological drama film Flowers in the Attic playing the leading role. In 1990 she appeared in the dystopian drama film The Handmaid's Tale and was lead actress in the horror film Whispers. In 1991, Tennant starred alongside Steve Martin in the romantic comedy film, L.A. Story.[7] She wrote the script for the 1996 romantic comedy film, Edie & Pen.[8] The following years, Tennant appeared mostly in the smaller-scale films and guest-starred in television series including Diagnosis: Murder, JAG, Scrubs and Monk.
Tennant's first marriage was to Peppo Vanini, a nightclub owner who owned the Xenon nightclub. They married in 1969 and divorced in 1976.[12]
She dated Matthew Chapman from 1978 until 1982, but ended their relationship upon meeting Steve Martin.[12] She married Martin in 1986, but they divorced in 1994.
Since 1996, Tennant has been married to Kirk Justin Stambler.
↑A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland, thirteenth edition, Sir Bernard Burke, ed. A. Winton Thorpe, The Burke's Publishing Co. Ltd, 1921, p. 1728
↑Staskiewicz, Keith (3 April 2013). "All of Me". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
