She was born Wilma Jean Horn on February 18, 1918 in Joplin, Missouri. Her father, Wilbur Horn, was a miner, and her mother, Iva Horn, was a housewife. Jean had an older brother named Clifford. When she was a teenager the family lived in Des Moines, Iowa. After her parents divorced she moved with her father to Los Angeles, California. She was offered a contract at Hal Roach studios in 1938 (she was sometimes billed as Gene Foley). The lovely blonde appeared as an extra in several films including Topper Takes A Trip. Then Jean was hired to be Carole's stand-in on the film One Million B.C.
Carole and Jean on the set of One Million B.C.
In 1941 she appeared in The Hollywood Revue at the Club Chase. Unfortunately her career never took off and she quit show business. By the early 1950s she was divorced and working as an ice-cream packer in Los Angeles. Her second husband, Oswald Seifart, was a dairy worker who was twenty-three years older than her. Sadly on December 5, 1966 she died at the young age of forty-eight. Jean's cause of death was not made public. She is buried in an unmarked grave at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California.
