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Jean Engstrom

Jean Engstrom was an American actress active in regional theater, movies, and television in the 1950s and 1960s.

Jean Engstrom was born Flora Jean Bovie in Michigan on July 25,1920. She died March 30, 1997, in Riverside County, California. She began acting in regional theater in Southern California and moved to movies and television in the mid-1950s. She stopped acting in the late 1960s. She appeared in at least 38 television programs, 8 movies, and more than 50 theatrical productions during her acting career.

Career

Theatrical career (regional theater)

Jean Engstrom began acting in theater in 1951. She had appeared in 52 plays by the time she was interviewed for a syndicated newspaper article in January 1962. Her most notable stage appearance may have come in January 1961 when she appeared in the title role of George Bernard Shaw's Candida co-starring Jeff Morrow and directed by John Newland. The play was produced by the Los Angeles-based acting, writing and directing group Projects '58 and televised by KNXT television in Los Angeles and broadcast by television stations across the country.

Movie career

Most of Jean Engstrom's movie appearances were in bit parts beginning in 1954 with roles in Drive a Crooked Mile starring Mickey Rooney and A Star Is Born starring Judy Garland and James Mason. In 1956 she used the name Flora Jean Engstrom when she appeared in a small role in The Search for Bridey Murphy, the only time she did not use the name Jean Engstrom.

Her larger roles came in more modest production, receiving featured billing in the 1957 production Voodoo Island starring Boris Karloff and the 1958 production Space Children which are now cult classics. Her character Claire Winter in Voodoo Island is presented as a lesbian with a crush on the leading lady played by Beverly Adams.

Her final movie appearance was a starring role in the 1965 Billy Graham produced The Restless Ones in which she played Mrs. Harris, the mother of the girl April played by Kim Darby.

Television career

Her first television appears came in three 1955 productions of Medic starring Richard Boone.

Over the course of the next 11 years Jean Engstrom appeared in at least 38 television programs, mostly in featured roles. She appeared in westerns, crime dramas, comedies, and contemporary dramas. In addition to her three appearances on Medic she made multiple appearances on several shows including three appearances on Perry Mason starring Raymond Burr and two appearances each on Peter Gunn starring Craig Stevens, Have Gun, Will Travel starring Richard Boone, and Hazel starring Shirley Booth.

Mother and daughter

Jean Engstrom's daughter Jena Engstrom was also an actress who appeared in at least 37 television programs between 1960 and 1964. Jena appears to have left acting for health reasons. Mother and daughter appeared twice together in television dramas. The first time was in April 1961 when they appeared as mother and daughter in the "Incident of the Lost Idol" episode of CBS's Rawhide starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood. They had only one brief scene together as the story did not center on their relationship. The second program was the January 1962 episode "To Sell Another Human Being" episode of The New Breed starring Leslie Nielsen, in which mother Jean played a woman adopting through an adoption mill a baby who had been given up by a young woman played by daughter Jena.

Confused credits

The acting credits of mother Jean and daughter Jena were confused at the time they were active together in the business resulting in mixed credits in newspapers and problems with pay checks. Today they are still mixed in some Internet databases. Mother Jean is listed as playing the part of Frances in the March 2, 1962, episode of The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor called "Night Boat," but it is actually daughter Jena who appears as the teen-aged Frances in this episode. Daughter Jena is frequently credited with playing Kim Darby's mother in The Restless Ones, but it is mother Jean who played that role.