Biography

Jean was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1923. She graduated from Franklin High School in Los Angeles in 1941. Soon, Jean was working as a model for a local clothing firm. Later, she was a dancer with the Earl Carroll Theatre. Jean got married to Dexter Benner, and they had a daughter, Christine, in 1944. Two years later, in 1946, she had a bitter court battle with her ex-husband regarding the custody of their young daughter. In 1948, ruling a daughter's place is with her mother, a judge awarded full custody to Jean. Sultry and statuesque, Jean, a divorced mother and nightclub dancer, struggled to make it as an actress; she was a bit player and uncredited extra in movies and early television. In 1949, she met Kirk Douglas on the set of Young Man with a Horn (1950), which was released February 9, 1950. On October 7, 1949, when she was 3 months pregnant, she disappeared. A note was found in her purse that read: "Kirk, Can't wait any longer. Going to see Dr. Scott. It will work best this way while mother is away." All the police found was her purse and this cryptic note -- Jean had vanished without a trace. Her disappearance is still an unsolved mystery.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous

Disappeared without a trace on October 7, 1949; was the subject of a recent "Mysteries & Scandals".

Historian Jon Lewis in his book Hard-Boiled Hollywood: Crime and Punishment in Postwar Los Angeles, wrote that Spangler had worked for a time as a dancer at Florentine Gardens. Lewis claims that she made acquaintance with various mob affiliates, including Mickey Cohen and Davy Ogul, an associate of Cohen's. Ogul disappeared on October 9, 1949, two days after Spangler.

Her daughter, Christine Louise, was born on April 22, 1944, in Los Angeles. The child's father was her ex-husband, Dexter Benner.

The subject of an excellent recent "historical noir" novel, "The Song is You," by Megan Abbott.

The historical fiction novel "Always The Dead" by Stephen J. Golds was inspired by her disappearance.