Maren Jensen

Short Biography

Maren Jensen was born in Glendale, California, USA on September 23, 1956. She attended Herbert Hoover High School from 1971- to 1974, and after graduating received a scholarship to attend UCLA. The actress majored in theatre arts during her three years at UCLA. She appeared in several college productions, but admits, "I did absolutely nothing professional, not even the California equivalent of off-off-off-Broadway". She did, however, begin a successful modeling career which included Cosmopolitan and Seventeen magazine covers. When a mutual friend introduced her to agent Barbara Gale, she was surprised by the agent's obvious enthusiasm. She was even more surprised when Ms. Gale started sending her on calls that resulted in two network commercials and a guest shot on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977). But even more startling, she recalls, was being signed for a stellar role in Battlestar Galactica (1978). Maren appeared in Wes Craven's 1981 horror film Deadly Blessing (1981) and in the movie Beyond the Reef (1979). Maren appeared with ABC teammates, Richard Hatch, Joyce DeWitt, Robin Wiliams, Debby Boone, Billy Crystal, Robert Urich and captain Gabe Kaplan on Battle of the Network Stars V (1978). alongside Sharon Stone. Ms. Jensen comes from a "totally non-theatrical" family. Her father is a physician and her mother is a membership secretary with the Los Angeles Zoo. She is a middle child, with a brother Dana, who is five years older, and a sister, Kathleen, who is seven years younger. Ms. Jensen is single -- and plans to keep it that way for at least a while -- as her career moves rapidly forward. Her hobbies are "almost all musical", including singing and playing piano. Her career was cut short by illness, after she got Epstein-Barr Syndrome. Maren was a longtime companion of singer-songwriter Don Henley and in 1982, Henley released his first solo album, Building the Perfect Beast. She appeared in the video for Henley's song "Not Enough Love In the World" in 1985. Henley and Maren Jensen were engaged, but separated in 1986. Jensen helped Henley found The Walden Woods Project in the early 1990s, an organization dedicated to protecting the Walden Woods in Massachusetwss from development. Maren Jensen (now Maren Kugelberg) is married to Johan Kugelberg. They have a daughter and live in New York City. Johan Kugelberg curates the Boo-Hooray art gallery in Manhattan.