Jena Engstrom Illness: The Mystery Behind Her Disappearance From TV

Jena Engstrom was a promising young actress who appeared in more than three dozen episodes of various television series between 1960 and 1964. She was especially known for her roles in westerns, such as Have Gun, Will Travel, Wagon Train, and The Virginian. However, after her final performance in 1964, she vanished from the screen and never acted again. What happened to Jena Engstrom? Was it due to an illness that forced her to quit acting? This article will explore the possible reasons behind her disappearance from TV.

Early Life and Career

Jena Engstrom was born on June 30, 1942, in Los Angeles, California, as Liana Jeanne Moon. She was the daughter of actress Jean Engstrom, who also had a successful television career in the 1950s and 1960s. Jena Engstrom began acting after graduating from high school and first appeared on television in the 1960 episode “Adopted” of the ABC crime drama, The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor. She quickly gained popularity and appeared in 37 television programs before making her final appearance opposite guest star Robert Culp in the 1964 episode, “The Stallion”, of NBC’s The Virginian. She played a variety of characters, from innocent girls to rebellious teenagers, and often co-starred with famous actors, such as Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Clint Eastwood.

Mother and Daughter

Jena Engstrom had a close relationship with her mother, Jean Engstrom, who supported her acting career and sometimes appeared with her on screen. They played mother and daughter in three television shows: the April 1961 episode of the CBS program Rawhide titled “Incident of the Lost Idol”, the January 1962 episode “To Sell Another Human Being” of ABC’s The New Breed, starring Leslie Nielsen, and an unidentified 30-minute religious program presented in 1961. In the latter, they played a mother and daughter who had trouble relating to each other until a session with teenagers at a church helped them understand each other better.

Illness

One of the possible reasons why Jena Engstrom left acting in 1964 was because of health considerations. In 1963, she was cast in what was to have been a recurring role of Jennie in the series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, starring Kurt Russell, but had to give up the role because of illness and was replaced by Donna Anderson. According to Wikipedia, she suffered from a rare blood disease that required frequent transfusions and made her unable to work. However, this information is not verified by any reliable source and could be inaccurate or false.

Another possible illness that could have affected Jena Engstrom was breast cancer, which her mother, Jean Engstrom, developed in the mid-1980s and died of in 1997. According to doms2cents.com, Jean Engstrom had a mastectomy in July 1985 and continued to fight the disease for more than a decade, but it eventually claimed her life. She died on March 20, 1997, in a convalescent hospital in Hemet, California. It is not known if Jena Engstrom inherited the same condition or if she was tested for it.

Current Status

The current status of Jena Engstrom is unknown. She has not appeared in any public records or media since the 1960s and has not given any interviews or statements about her life or career. She was married briefly to Daniel M. Jacobs in 1968, but they divorced soon after. She has no children or grandchildren. She is presumed to be alive and living in California, but there is no confirmation of this. She is 81 years old as of 2023.

Conclusion

Jena Engstrom was a talented and beautiful actress who had a bright future in television, but she mysteriously disappeared from the screen in 1964 and never returned. The reason behind her disappearance is unclear, but it could have been related to an illness that prevented her from working or pursuing her passion. She has remained out of the public eye for almost six decades and has not revealed anything about her life or career. She is one of the most enigmatic figures in Hollywood history and a mystery that remains unsolved.