- Though nominated three times (twice in one year) for an Emmy Award as Danny Thomas' first TV wife on his popular comedy series, The Danny Thomas Show (1953), Jean became disenchanted with the rather colorless wife-and-mother role and left the series after four seasons. Marjorie Lord replaced her as Danny's perky second wife.
- A prolonged illness necessitated her early retirement in the mid-60s with her entering a convalescent home for the rest of her life. A desire to act one more time happened in 1977 when she appeared briefly as a landlady in the TV-movie Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn (1977). She died shortly after of throat cancer.
- Best remembered as Lina Lamont, the silent-film star in Singin' in the Rain (1952), who could not manage the transition to talkies. That is, not without Debbie Reynolds's help, albeit ironically the voice she gets dubbed with is in real life her own voice and not Debbie Reynolds'.
- Shared an apartment with Patricia Neal in New York City while working on Broadway.
- She has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Adam's Rib (1949), The Asphalt Jungle (1950) and Singin' in the Rain (1952).
- In Singin' in the Rain (1952), Debbie Reynolds character lip-synced to Jean's spoken voice for the film-within-the-film, "The Dancing Cavalier" . For the singing, it was Reynolds lip-syncing to Betty Noyes in the dubbing scene, in which Noyes had earlier dubbed Hagen.
- Was 2 months pregnant with her son Aric when she completed filming Singin' in the Rain (1952).
- Friend of Robert Osborne.
- Gave birth to her 1st child at age 27, a daughter Christine Patricia Seidel on August 26, 1950. Child's father was her [later ex] husband, Tom Seidel.
- Began her career on 1940s radio serials 'Light of the World' and 'Hollywood Story'. Became acquainted with writers Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur who cast her in their play 'Swan Song'. Had further notable roles on Broadway in 'Another Part of the Forest' (1946-1947) and 'The Traitor' (1949) and was consequently signed to a contract by MGM.
- Her son Aric died on September 9, 2012 at age 60 in Nuevo, California.
- Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 29, a son Aric Phillip Seidel on August 19, 1952. Child's father was her [later ex] husband, Tom Seidel.
- Profiled in "Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames" by Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner (McFarland, 2004).
- She was a lifelong Democrat.
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