Jena Engstrom

Jena Engstrom is an American former television actress. She appeared in more than three dozen episodes of various television series from 1960 to 1964.

Career Jena Engstrom began acting after graduating from high school Most online databases and this article have listed only two of the three TV shows in which they appeared together.

The first of the two shows listed is the April 1961 episode of the CBS program Rawhide titled "Incident of the Lost Idol" in which they appeared as mother and daughter. They had only one brief scene together as the story was not about their relationship.

The second show listed is the January 1962 episode "To Sell Another Human Being" of ABC's The New Breed, starring Leslie Nielsen,

Western series

Twenty-one of Engstrom's thirty-seven roles were in television westerns. She appeared three times each on Have Gun, Will Travel, and Wagon Train, as well as Rawhide, twice each on Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and Laramie, and once each on The Tall Man, Death Valley Days, Frontier Circus, and Outlaws, as well as her final performance as an actress in The Virginian.

In "The Education of Sarah Jane" episode of Have Gun, Will Travel, Engstrom appeared as Sarah Jane. In the "Milly" episode of Gunsmoke, she played Milly Glover. In the episode "Chester’s Indian", Engstrom plays Callie Dill. In 1962, in one of her three appearances on Rawhide, she had the title role of "The Child-Woman" in an episode. In 1961, she portrayed Laurie Manson in "The Incident of the Lost Idol". She retired from acting in 1964, not long after appearing on Wagon Train and in an episode of Perry Mason in which she plays Vera Janel in "The Case of the Illicit Illusion". Her final television appearance was on The Virginian in an episode broadcast in September 1964, "The Black Stallion".

Illness

Engstrom left acting in 1964, possibly 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.

In June 1964, she was replaced again because of ill health by Davey Davison in the episode "Children of Calamity" of Richard Crenna's CBS drama series, Slattery's People.

Confused credits

The acting credits of mother Jean and daughter Jena were confused at the time they were active in the business resulting in mixed credits in newspapers and problems with pay checks. For a long time the credits were confused on many Internet databases, and while some errors still exist, many have been corrected.

DVDs

Several of the television series listed below have been released by their studios on DVDs that are available for sale or for rent.

Television Roles

Note: "Episode" column: 2.9 indicates Season 2, Episode 9, etc.

AIR DATE SHOW EPISODE EPISODE TITLE CHARACTER NOTES DVD Nov. 25, 1960 The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor 2.9 "Adopted" Ann Martin 1st of 2 appearances on this show. Feb. 5, 1961 Shirley Temple Theatre 2.19 "The Fawn" Kathy Feb. 25, 1961 Have Gun, Will Travel 4.23 "Fatal Flaw"

Cassandra Langford 1st of 3 appearances on this show. Yes Mar. 14, 1961 The Red Skelton Hour 10.17 "Freddy and the Baby" Young Woman (Baby's Mother) Yes Apr. 19, 1961 The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet 9.30 "Selling Rick's Drums" Betty Hamilton Yes Apr. 28, 1961 Rawhide 3.24 "Incident of the Lost Idol" Laurie Manson 1st of 3 appearances on this show. Mother Jean Engstrom also appears in this episode. Yes Jun. 11, 1961 The Asphalt Jungle 1.11 "The Kidnapping" Karen Meriden Sep. 23, 1961 Have Gun, Will Travel 5.2 "The Education of Sarah Jane" Sarah Jane Darrow 2nd of 3 appearances on this show. Yes Oct. 1, 1961 Bonanza 3.2 "Springtime" Ann 1st of 2 appearances on this show. Yes Oct. 12, 1961 My Three Sons 2.3 "The Crush" Mary Beth Jackson Yes Oct. 14, 1961 The Tall Man 2.6 "An Item for Auction" Mary Susan Naylack Yes Oct. 23, 1961 Death Valley Days 10.7 "Storm Over Truckee" Maggie Woolf Billed as Jenna Engstrom. Oct. 30, 1961 The Everglades 1.4 "Primer for Pioneers" Memory Jacks The series is listed as "Everglades!" in the opening credits. Nov. 1, 1961 Wagon Train 5.6 "The Jenna Douglas Story" Sue Thompson Yes Nov. 2, 1961 Outlaws 2.5 "The Night Riders" Louise Nichols Nov. 25, 1961 Gunsmoke 7.9 "Milly" Milly Glover 1st of 2 appearances on this show. Yes Dec. 26, 1961 Laramie 3.13 "The Lawless Seven" Ginny Hawks 1st of 2 appearances on this show. Yes Jan. 16, 1962 The New Breed 1.16 "To Sell Another Human Being" Frances 2nd of 2 appearances on this show. Mar. 14, 1962 Wagon Train 5.24 "The Amos Billings Story" Loan 2nd of 2 appearances on this show. Yes Mar. 17, 1962 Have Gun, Will Travel 5.26 "Alice" Maya Ferguson 3rd of 3 appearances on this show. Yes Mar. 23, 1962 Rawhide 4.24 "The Child-Woman" Posie Mushgrove 2nd of 3 appearances on this show. Yes Apr. 5, 1962 Frontier Circus 1.20 "Mighty Like Rogues" Betsy Ross Jukes Yes May 12, 1962 Gunsmoke 7.32 "Chester's Indian" Callie Dill 2nd of 2 appearances on this show. Yes Oct. 26, 1962 Rawhide 5.5 "Incident of the Four Horsemen" Amy Galt 3rd of 3 appearances on this show. Yes Nov. 5,1962 Stoney Burke 1.6 "A Matter of Pride" Meryle Hill Yes Nov. 13, 1962 Laramie 4.7 "The Sunday Shoot" Nancy Tilford 2nd of 2 appearances on this show. Yes Dec. 2, 1962 Bonanza 4.10 "The Deadly Ones" Molly Reed 2nd of 2 appearances on this show. Yes Jan. 11, 1963 Route 66 3.16 "You Can't Pick Cotton in Tahiti" Elva Dupree Yes Feb. 7, 1963 Dr. Kildare 2.18 "Good Luck Charm" Marcia Laverly Yes Apr. 17, 1963 The Eleventh Hour 1.27 "Try to Keep Alive Until Next Tuesday" Marian Snyder Yes May 23, 1963 The Doctors and the Nurses 1.30 "Bitter Pill" Jean Wheeler The show was called The Nurses during the first season. Sep 15, 1963 The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters 1.1 "The Day of Leaving" Jennie Jena Engstrom was replaced after this pilot episode because of illness Feb. 7, 1964 77 Sunset Strip 6.20 "Queen of the Cats" Marian Armstrong Final episode of this series.77 Sunset Strip Mar. 30, 1964 Wagon Train 7.20 "The Santiago Quesada Story" Kim Case 3rd of 3 appearances on this show. Yes Apr. 9, 1964 Perry Mason 7.25 "The Case of the Ilicit Illusion" Vera Janel Yes Sep. 30, 1964 The Virginian 3.3 "The Black Stallion" Jodie Wingate Episode also called "The Stallion" Yes