Victoria Tennant - Early Life

Early Life

Tennant was born in London, England. Her mother, Irina Baronova, was a Russian prima ballerina who appeared with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and her father, Cecil Tennant, was an English producer and talent agent who ran MCA's talent office and whose clients included Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh, John Gielgud and Michael Redgrave.

Her maternal grandfather, Misha Baronov, was a senior officer in the Russian Navy, and her maternal grandmother, the former Lydia Vishniakova, was a general's daughter. Laurence Olivier was Tennant's godfather.

She has a sister, Irina, and a brother, Robert, both of whom were badly injured in the car accident that killed their father in 1967.

Victoria Tennant herself trained in ballet like her mother, at the Elmhurst Ballet School and for two years at the Central School for Speech and Drama in London. She attended the Central School of Speech and Drama at the University of London.