Los Angeles, California
Blessed with a beautiful soprano voice, Jean Bartel had a burning desire to realize a girlhood dream of appearing on the Broadway stage. When she heard that Horace Schmidlapp - the financial backer of the hit show "Oklahoma" - was going to judge The Miss America Pageant, Jean decided to enter. In a whirlwind of events she became Miss California, and was off to Atlantic City. Singing Cole Porter's "Night and Day" in what the press described as a "forceful and dramatic style", this "gifted soprano" was named Miss America.
Jean upset tradition by refusing to pose in a swimsuit after she won the title. Taking the commitment of a "War-Time" Miss America to heart, she embarked on a Bond-selling tour that would result in her being honored by the United States Treasury Department as the individual who had sold the most Series E Bonds that year. Two and one half million dollars worth, and surprisingly most of these twenty-five dollar bonds were sold to women.
It was on this tour, at a "tea" sponsored by her college sorority sisters, that Jean's reasoning of a college scholarship to be awarded a Miss America was unveiled. "Opera singers get financial support from sponsors, so why not a college scholarship for Miss America?" Lenora Slaughter took this idea back to Atlantic City to discuss with the Board of Directors. And within two years, what we know of today as the world's largest single source of college scholarships for women was born.
That was only the beginning.
After she relinquished the title, Jean's remarkable talent enabled her to embark on a singing career, which included work on radio and television, two South American tours, the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and in every State of the Union but Maine. Ultimately, her dream became a reality when Jean became the first Miss America to star in a Broadway musical- "Of Thee I Sing"- opposite Jack Carson.
More stage work was to follow. Her American television work included "The Red Skelton Show", "The Danny Thomas Show", "Perry Mason", "Robert Montgomery Theatre", "The Ed Wynn Show", "Stop the Music", "The Milton Berle Show", and
"Broadway TV Theatre". She's done additional television work in Paris, Cannes, London, Beirut, Athens, Rio de Janeiro, San Paulo, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Scandinavia. "It's a Woman's World", in which Jean was the hostess and star, received a special showing at the Montreux International Television Festival in Switzerland, with another special showing in Paris.
Recent television and feature film work included "The Rockford Files" with James Garner and "The Debtors" starring Michael Caine. Married to William ("Bill") Hogue for 31 years until his passing in 2001, Jean also operates her own successful international travel company "Jean Bartel and Associates", and resides with her beloved dog "Teddy" in Los Angeles, California.
|
