Maren Jensen, born on September 23, 1956, in Glendale, California, USA, attended Herbert Hoover High School from 1971 to 1974. She then received a scholarship to attend the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA),where she majored in theatre arts for three years. During her time at UCLA, Jensen appeared in several college productions, but she admits that she did not pursue a professional acting career at the time. Instead, she began a successful modeling career, which included appearing on the covers of Cosmopolitan and Seventeen magazines.
After college, Jensen's agent, Barbara Gale, introduced her to various auditions, which led to her landing two network commercials and a guest role on the TV series "The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries" in 1977. Her breakthrough role came when she was cast in the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" in 1978. Jensen's early career also included appearances in the films "Beyond the Reef" (1979) and "Deadly Blessing" (1981),as well as a stint on the TV special "Battle of the Network Stars V" alongside Sharon Stone.
Born into a non-theatrical family, Jensen's parents were a physician and a membership secretary at the Los Angeles Zoo. She has a brother, Dana, who is five years older, and a sister, Kathleen, who is seven years younger. Jensen has always been private about her personal life, but it is known that she is single and has no children. Her hobbies include singing and playing the piano, which she enjoyed as a child.
Jensen's career was cut short due to illness, as she was diagnosed with Epstein-Barr Syndrome. During her recovery, she became a longtime companion of singer-songwriter Don Henley and appeared in the music video for his song "Not Enough Love In the World" in 1985. The couple became engaged in 1982 but separated in 1986. Jensen continued to support Henley's music career and even helped him found the Walden Woods Project in the early 1990s, an organization dedicated to preserving the Walden Woods in Massachusetts.
Today, Jensen is married to Johan Kugelberg, a curator of the Boo-Hooray art gallery in Manhattan. The couple has a daughter and resides in New York City.
