Jean Spangler, part 1

In 1949, aspiring actress and dancer Jean Spangler left her home after telling her sister-in-law she was needed on set for a bit part. She never returned home.

Because her disappearance happened around the same time as some other high profile cases like the Black Dahlia, most of the conversation around Jean is in conjunction with these cases. We’re trying to provide a bit more information about her life before she went missing and that’s featured here in the first episode about Jean.

Jean Spangler: The Early Years

Jean Spangler was born on September 2, 1923 in Washington State. She was the youngest of four children and during her childhood her family relocated to California, specifically Los Angeles.

From a young age Jean knew she wanted to dance and act in film productions, but in 1942, the year after she graduated from high school, she married Dexter Benner.

The marriage between the two was tumultuous from the start and Jean filed for divorce six months after their wedding alleging unspecified cruelty charges as her reason. This divorce did not seem to be finalized and later that year, in 1943, the couple had their one and only child together, Christine.

Dexter alleges that while he was deployed in the South Pacific during World War II, Jean had an affair. He says when he returned home he found shirts owned by a man named Scott in his closet.

He also alleges that while still married, Jean went to Nevada and was married there. This marriage was annulled. We could not find documentation to support this.

In 1946, Jean and Dexter finally divorced but in an unusual move, Dexter was given custody of their daughter. Dexter had said that Jean “preferred partied to priorities,” hinting that she was not fit to provide a home for her daughter. 

Career Beginnings
Jean had already worked as a model, actress, and dancer, but she seemed to be pursuing this even more after her divorce. She worked at Florentine Gardens, a popular night club venue, as a dancer for various revues.

By 1948, though, Jean is back in the papers, this time for pursuing custody of Christine. This is likely prompted by the fact that Dexter denied her visitation on more than twenty occasions after the divorce. Though a court appointed investigator and Dexter’s lawyers painted her as a party girl who cared more for her career than anything else, the judge felt that Jean deserved custody of Christine.

This custody agreement came with a few rules: 1) Dexter would see Christine every other weekend 2) Christine could not be involved in public dance or film projects until she was at leats 12 years old 3) Jean would have to get approval from a lawyer before she took any jobs that would bring her out of state.

The lawyer, Hahn, said that Jean followed these rules from 1948 until her disappearance in 1949. During this time she was in several uncredited film roles primarily as a dancer or chorus girl.

Disappearance
In October 1949, Jean Spangler was living with her mother, Florence, and her sister-in-law, Sophie. In October, Florence had left for Lexington, Kentucky, so that she could be at the birth of her grandchild.

On October 6, Jean got a call from Allied Artistries who wanted her to take on a role in Big Bear, California. They said she seemed upbeat and happy. She called her lawyer, Hahn, to clear this with him and he also said she seemed happy. 

On October 7, she came down the stairs at her home to ask Sophie how her outfit looked while Sophie cared for her child and Christine. There are two versions of what happens next. In the first, Sophie says that when she asked Jean where Jean was going, Jean told her work. In the second, when Sophie asked Jean said work with an added wink. This slight difference changes the meaning of the exchange.

Jean left at around 5:30 and she called around 7pm to say that she would be at the studio all night.

On October 8, Saturday, Dexter arrived for Christine and took her back to his house. At this point, Jean still had not arrived home. Finally, that evening, Sophie called police to report her missing.

From there, Jean’s disappearance becomes one of the most talked about stories in Hollywood.

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People and Cases Mentioned in this Episode:
Jean Spangler (unsolved missing person case)