TMS Muse of the Week: Jan Freeman
(NBC / ScreenGems)
I’ve mentioned in this newsletter how I’m fascinated by people who are right in the heart of entertainment, but not directly in the spotlight. Whether as a relative, close friend, significant other or other affiliation behind the scenes. One of the most interesting figures in this obscure realm I’ve discovered in recent years is a woman named Jan Freeman, or Jan Steele more these days. Ordinary names most people probably wouldn’t think twice about if heard, and entirely on purpose by Jan. For the past couple of decades, she’s been living on a ranch near Monterey, CA, but she was originally born and raised in Los Angeles County, and discreetly a part of many aspects of pop culture history. She initially planned on becoming an actress, until her first audition at 17, where she learned she has some minor stage fright and trouble delivering lines. Rather than take classes to work on these problems, Jan opted for the less popular option of finding work as a background extra, body double and stand-in on film & TV sets.
From 1966 to roughly the mid-1980s, Jan could be spotted peripherally on many popular shows and movies, including dancing behind Elvis Presley in Norman Taurog’s Spinout (1966); bit parts on episodes of CBS’ “Mannix” (1967) and NBC’s “The Rockford Files” (1980); doubling for Kim Darby in Henry Hathaway’s True Grit (1969), Natalie Wood in Paul Mazursky’s Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969) and Jane Fonda in Alan Myerson’s Steelyard Blues (1973). The brunette’s biggest claims to fame are as one of the ‘Monkee girls’ seen throughout the first season of NBC’s hit musical sitcom “The Monkees” (1966-67), and as David Cassidy’s body double for the first three seasons of ABC’s “The Partridge Family” (1970-73); during which she was also David’s girlfriend off set. Jan was first considered for a much bigger part on the pilot for “The Monkees” since the casting director loved how she looked, but ended up with a memorable non-speaking role in the last scene of the episode instead. This led to her, along with a group of other girls, being hired for background work on most of episodes of season one. During a very rare interview on The Texas Prairie Chicken Podcast back in 2020, Jan revealed she was actually engaged to her high school sweetheart before the show, and quickly called it off after she met Monkee Mike Nesmith. Though she only vaguely refers to him as a work friend and ‘a big crush,’ Jan credits the married Monkee for apparently making a big enough impression on her 18-year-old self to completely change the course of her adult life.
(NBC / ScreenGems)
Jan’s stint on “The Partridge Family” was an amusing case of one of the producers noticing she had a similar height, build and hairdo at the time to the series’ heartthrob, David Cassidy; and offered her the job of being his double while she was visiting a friend working on the very first episode. Maybe not too surprising, Jan and David wound up dating in real life, though not completely open at first, so he would still seem desirable to the singer/actor’s very young female fans. Still, the former stand-in says she had a blast working on “Partridge” and attending A-list parties, events and tours with David near the end of their run together. Afterwards, film/TV took the backseat for Jan a bit while she experimented with various odd jobs like rodeo performer, airline stewardess, and even recording and releasing her own country-pop LP called ‘You Made It Right’ in 1976. She had flings with popstar Bobby Sherman and screen icon Steve McQueen, and a brief marriage to actor Gary Lockwood, before settling down outside of LA by the late 1980s. Her more common surname, Steele, comes from her second husband, Don Steele, but not to be confused with the famous Hollywood radio DJ with the same name.
Of course, Jan had many friendships throughout her years in Hollywood, especially with the other Monkee girls. The only reason I even know about Jan is because her friend and fellow set extra, Roxanne Albee, is on social media and regularly does interviews where she has mentioned Jan and shared photos featuring her. Save for a couple of vintage teen mag articles from the 1970s and the 2020 podcast interview, Jan has been completely incognito despite her fascinating past. But if you dig deep enough, like I have, you’ll find many cool little tidbits involving the pretty scene extra. She’s practically a real-life Leonard Zelig or Forrest Gump. While I would love for her to take advantage of a tell-all memoir, I can also respect her choosing to move on and live her life freely. It’s what I would do if I had been fated with this kind of luck.