Jean Bartel

Who was Jean Bartel?

Jean Bartel was Miss California and Miss America 1943. She won the talent and swimsuit awards at the national pageant. At 5 feet 8 inches tall, Bartel was the tallest pageant winner at the time. There had been comparisons between Bartel and popular blond actress Carole Lombard.

Bartel initially entered the pageant after learning one of the judges was Broadway actor and producer W. Horace Schmidlapp. As talent counted for 50% of the score, she thought it was a way to launch her career on Broadway. This tactic worked. Not only was she chosen as Miss America after a vocal performance the press hailed as a "forceful and dramatic style," but she landed a career on Broadway and an agent that booked her on tours in South America, the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and in every State of the Union except Maine. In 1946 she appeared on stage in "The Desert Song" at the New York City Center for Music and Drama.

Bartel was the first Miss America to refuse to pose in her swimsuit after the pageant, a choice that eventually led to Catalina Swimwear dropping their sponsorship and starting the Miss USA Pageant.