Jennifer Gan was a sixties pop culture actress who appeared in fourteen movie and television show titles starting in 1964. Prior to this she performed on the stage in musicals such as "Li'l Abner" in 1958, "The Pink Jungle" in 1959 starring Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....

 and Agnes Moorehead

Agnes Moorehead

Agnes Robertson Moorehead was an American actress. Although she began with the Mercury Theatre, appeared in more than seventy films beginning with Citizen Kane and on dozens of television shows during a career that spanned more than thirty years, Moorehead is most widely known to modern audiences...

 and "No Strings" in 1962 as Ginny Gan. She made her first TV appearance as Ginny Gan in a popular Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode. Then in 1969, she changed her acting name to Jennifer Gan and continued performing until late 1972.

Acting Overview

After appearing in the Alfred Hitchcock TV show in late 1964 she appeared on stage in the musical "Guys and Dolls" in 1965 with actress Sheila MacRae

Sheila MacRae

Sheila MacRae is an English actress and author. She was born Sheila Margaret Stephens. She appeared in such films as Pretty Baby , Caged , Backfire , and Sex and the Single Girl ....

. Jennifer was then seen again in the spring of 1967 when she made three more film & TV appearances as Ginny Gan. She got a big break and appeared in the James Coburn

James Coburn

James Harrison Coburn III was an American film and television actor. Coburn appeared in nearly 70 films and made over 100 television appearances during his 45-year career, and played a wide range of roles and won an Academy Award for his supporting role as Glen Whitehouse in Affliction.A capable,...

 tongue in cheek spy spoof sequel “In Like Flint”. She then appeared in an episode in the last season of the hit TV show “The Monkees”. She also had an uncredited role in the hit film “Valley of the Dolls”. She also appeared in the stage play "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" starting in 1967.

In 1968, she continued to appear as Ginny Gan in an episode in the last season of the hit TV show “Batman”. She then was cast in the hit family comedy film “Yours, Mine and Ours”. She had a speaking role with Henry Fonda

Henry Fonda

Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...

 in the coffee house scenes when he was on his big first date with Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball

Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...

 in the popular film.

In 1969, she changed the name that she appeared as to Jennifer Gan. She made appearances in an episode of the popular long running western “The Virginian” and the popular crime drama “Ironside” TV shows. She then began a professional association with Roger Corman

Roger Corman

Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...

 that lasted through two "B" films. The first was “Naked Angels” where she played a biker chick, clad in leather and lace. The film featured a soundtrack co-written by fuzz guitarist Jeff Simmons

Jeff Simmons (musician)

Jeff Simmons, born May 1949 in Seattle, Washington, is a rock musician and former member of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. Simmons provided bass, guitar, and backing vocals for the group between 1970 and 1971. He left The Mothers just prior to the filming of 200 Motels in mid 1971...

.

In 1970, she appeared in a first season episode of the popular TV shows “Love, American Style” and “Marcus Welby, M.D.”.

In 1971, she appeared in her second Roger Corman film, “Women in Cages”. This prison film also featured Pam Grier

Pam Grier

Pamela Suzette "Pam" Grier is an American actress. She became famous in the early 1970s, after starring in a string of moderately successful women in prison and blaxploitation films such as 1974's Foxy Brown. Her career was revitalized in 1997 after her appearance in Quentin Tarantino's film...

 in an early role. Jennifer’s role as Carol “Jeff” Jeffries was a central character in this "B" film.

In 1972 in her final year of acting, she appeared in an episode of the short lived James Garner

James Garner

James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...

 TV show called “Nichols” featuring Margot Kidder

Margot Kidder

Margaret Ruth "Margot" Kidder is a Canadian-born American actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Lois Lane in the four Superman movies opposite Christopher Reeve, a role that brought her to widespread recognition....

 and returned to mainstream movie making with her uncredited appearance in "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid" starring Cliff Robertson

Cliff Robertson

Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly...

 and Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall

Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....

. She then made a second appearance in a fourth season episode of “Marcus Welby, M.D.”

Stage Credits

Jennifer Gan Stage Credits
Date	Production Name	Appeared As	Part Played
1958	Li'l Abner Li'l Abner (musical) Li'l Abner is a musical with a book by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank, music by Gene De Paul, and lyrics by Johnny Mercer.Based on the comic strip Li'l Abner by Al Capp, the show is, on the surface, a broad spoof of hillbillies but is also a pointed satire taking on any number of topics, ranging...	Ginny Gan	Stupefyin' Jones
1959	The Pink Jungle	Ginny Gan	Dancer
1962	No Strings No Strings No Strings is a musical drama with a book by Samuel A. Taylor and words and music by Richard Rodgers, his only Broadway score written without a collaborator. The musical opened on Broadway in 1962 and ran for 580 performances...	Ginny Gan	Dancer
1965	Guys and Dolls	Ginny Gan	Dancer
1967	The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1590 or 1591. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and tropes with which he would later deal in more...	Ginny Gan	Dancer

Filmography

Jennifer Gan Filmography
Date	Name	Episode #	Character
December 28, 1964	Alfred Hitchcock Hour	#3.11	First Worker
March 15, 1967	In Like Flint In Like Flint In Like Flint is a 1967 film directed by Gordon Douglas, the sequel to the parody spy film Our Man Flint . It posits an international feminist conspiracy to depose the ruling American patriarchy with a feminist matriarchy. To achieve and establish it, they kidnap and replace the U.S. President,...	Film	Amazon #2
November 15, 1967	The Monkees The Monkees (TV series) The Monkees is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from September 1966 to March 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series...	#2.10	Ann
December 15, 1967	Valley of the Dolls Valley of the Dolls (film) The soundtrack was released in 1967. Dionne Warwick sang the title track; however, her version is not on the soundtrack. Warwick was signed to Scepter Records at the time and could not contractually appear...	Film	Show Girl Actress (uncredited)
January 18, 1968	Batman Batman (TV series) Batman is an American television series, based on the DC comic book character of the same name. It stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin — two crime-fighting heroes who defend Gotham City. It aired on the American Broadcasting Company network for three seasons from January 12, 1966 to...	#3.19	First Policewoman
April 24, 1968	Yours, Mine and Ours Yours, Mine and Ours (1968 film) For the remake of this film starring Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo see Yours, Mine and Ours Yours, Mine and Ours is a 1968 film, directed by Melville Shavelson and starring Lucille Ball, Henry Fonda and Van Johnson...	Film	First Young Lady
February 19, 1969	The Virginian The Virginian (TV series) The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...	#7.19	Minnie
March 13, 1969	Ironside Ironside (TV series) Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...	#2.23	Chickie
September 19, 1969	Naked Angels Naked Angels Naked Angels is a 1969 outlaw biker film, directed by Bruce D. Clark. Starring Michael Greene as Mother, Jennifer Gan as Marlene and Richard Rust as Fingers. Later documentary director Penelope Spheeris is a cast member in her first appearance as an actress...	Film	Marlene
February 6, 1970	Love, American Style Love, American Style Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...	#1.18	Gorgeous Redhead
February 17, 1970	Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...	#1.20	Raylene Kohl
October 20, 1971	Women in Cages Women in Cages Women in Cages is a 1971 film in the women in prison sexploitation sub-genre, co-produced by Roger Corman and directed by Gerardo de León. It was prominently featured in the Planet Terror portion of the 2007 film Grindhouse....	Film	Carol “Jeff” Jeffries
January 18, 1972	Nichols	#1.16	Gloria
June 14, 1972	The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid is a 1972 Technicolor Western film about the James-Younger Gang distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Philip Kaufman in a cinéma vérité style and starred Cliff Robertson as Cole Younger, Robert Duvall as Jesse James, Luke Askew as Jim Younger, R....	Film	Abbie (uncredited)
September 26, 1972	Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...	#4.3	Marcia Denny

Legacy

Jennifer also appeared in Las Vegas as a showgirl. Her physical presence on the stage and screen was enhanced by her tall, fit and trim stature, flaming red hair and general beauty. She spoke with a unique accent in her voice. Although her time as a Hollywood actress was short, she managed to be a part of the Hollywood depiction of many popular culture activities that came to light in the turbulent sixties.

External links