Jan Ashley, born Janice Lynn Glass, was an American beauty pageant titleholder and executive secretary. Most people search for her name because of her short marriage to attorney Robert Kardashian Sr. in 1998. Her life was much wider than that one chapter, though. She grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, won the Miss Tulsa title in 1966, worked for one of the state’s biggest oil companies, and spent nearly twenty years married to Hollywood actor and producer John Ashley. This article brings together what is reliably known about her, and it also points out where online sources disagree so you can tell fact from repeated error.
Jan Ashley at a Glance
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Janice Lynn Glass Ashley |
| Born | August 1948, Amarillo, Texas (see the note on the exact date below) |
| Raised in | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| School | Will Rogers High School |
| Pageant title | Miss Tulsa, 1966 |
| Work | Executive secretary to K. “Boots” Adams at Phillips Petroleum |
| First husband | John Ashley (married 1978, until his death in 1997) |
| Second husband | Robert Kardashian Sr. (married November 25, 1998) |
| Died | October 1, 2015, aged 67 |
| Burial | Planned beside John Ashley at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, California |
Early Life and Education
Jan Ashley was born in Amarillo, Texas, and her family moved to Tulsa when she was seven years old. According to the obituary her family published, she graduated from Will Rogers High School in Tulsa. The same obituary names her parents as James Douglas Glass and Monnie M. Glass, and it lists her brother, Jerry D. Glass, among the relatives who survived her.
Her exact birth date is a small puzzle. The funeral home’s heading gives August 3, 1948, while the obituary text says August 1. Many biography websites repeat August 3, but because the family’s own record contradicts itself, August 1948 is the safest way to state it.
Miss Tulsa 1966 and Her Career
In 1966, Jan became Miss Tulsa, a local pageant title that appears in her family obituary. Some websites suggest she won larger titles such as Miss Oklahoma or Miss America, but no reliable record supports that, so the Miss Tulsa title should be treated as the full extent of her pageant history.
Beyond pageants, she worked as the executive secretary to K. “Boots” Adams at Phillips Petroleum, a major oil company based in Oklahoma. The obituary does not say when she held the job or how long it lasted, so any specific dates or salary figures you may see online are guesses.
Marriage to John Ashley
After returning to Tulsa, Jan met and married John Ashley in 1978, and the couple moved to California. John was born John Atchley in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1934. He became known as an actor in American International Pictures films, including the Beach Party series, and later as a producer of television shows such as The A-Team. He also made horror films in the Philippines. Jan was his third wife, following Deborah Walley and Nancy Moore.
John died of a heart attack on October 3, 1997, in New York City, after leaving the set of the film Scar City, which he was producing. Jan was 49, and the marriage had lasted about nineteen years. John’s career belonged to him, and nothing in the public record shows that Jan worked in film or television herself.
How Jan Ashley Met Robert Kardashian
Robert Kardashian was a Los Angeles attorney best known for his role on the defense team of O.J. Simpson. He and Kris Jenner divorced in 1991, and they had four children: Kourtney, Kim, Khloé and Rob. In a 2014 interview, Jan said Robert saw her photograph while she was selling her home and asked an actor who had worked with John to introduce them. She also said they dated for about seven months and that he proposed during a trip to Hawaii. These details come from her own memory many years later, so they should be read as her account rather than as court-verified facts.
The Wedding and the Annulment
According to a declaration Robert signed in May 1999, he and Jan married on November 25, 1998. Jan said in her 2014 interview that the wedding took place in Vail, Colorado, with Robert’s four children traveling with them.
The marriage lasted only about a month, which is why it is so often called the “30-day marriage.” The legal end of the marriage took longer, and annulment proceedings were underway in 1999. Some websites claim the annulment was finished on December 25, 1998, but that date does not match the 1999 declaration, so it is best treated with caution.
The two sides gave different reasons for the split. In his declaration, Robert said the couple had talked about having a child before the wedding, but that he changed his mind afterward because he already had four children. Jan later disagreed with that version and pointed instead to tension involving his family. Neither explanation can be confirmed independently, so both should be presented as individual statements.
The 2012 Khloé Kardashian Claim
Jan Ashley returned to the headlines in January 2012, when she told Star magazine that Robert had once suggested to her that Khloé might not be his biological daughter. Ellen Pierson, who married Robert in 2003, made related comments in the same article. Khloé publicly rejected the claim, and the Kardashian family denied it. In addition, Robert’s own 1999 declaration referred to having four biological children.
The claim has never been proven, and no verified paternity test has been made public. It is most accurately described as an allegation that the family disputed. Repeating it as fact would be unfair to the people involved and would give readers a false picture.
Later Life and Death
Jan returned to California after her marriages and eventually moved back to Oklahoma in 2012, according to her obituary. She lived quietly and kept away from the media after the interviews of 2012 and 2014. She died on October 1, 2015, at the age of 67. Her obituary remembers her as a loving sister and aunt, and it says she would be buried beside John Ashley at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California.
Her family has not publicly shared a cause of death, and it would be wrong to guess. Several websites say she died in Tulsa, but her obituary does not name a place of death, so that detail should be treated as reported rather than confirmed.
Common Myths About Jan Ashley
A few points are repeated across the internet without good support. There is no verified record that she had children, and her net worth has never been documented by any reliable source, so figures you see online are estimates at best. She was not a Kardashian by profession or by long-term family ties, since her connection came through one short marriage. Finally, her life is better understood through her family obituary and Robert’s court declaration than through celebrity gossip pages, which often copy each other.
Timeline of Key Events
- 1948: Born in Amarillo, Texas.
- 1966: Crowned Miss Tulsa.
- 1978: Marries John Ashley and moves to California.
- 1997: John Ashley dies on October 3.
- 1998: Marries Robert Kardashian on November 25.
- 1999: Annulment proceedings take place, and Robert signs his declaration in May.
- 2012: Gives the Star magazine interview and returns to Oklahoma.
- 2014: Gives an interview about the marriage.
- 2015: Dies on October 1, aged 67.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Jan Ashley?
She was an American former Miss Tulsa and executive secretary, known as the widow of producer John Ashley and the second wife of Robert Kardashian Sr.
How long was Jan Ashley married to Robert Kardashian?
About one month by her own description, with annulment proceedings following in 1999.
Who was Jan Ashley’s first husband?
John Ashley, an actor and producer, married her in 1978 and remained her husband until his death in 1997.
When did Jan Ashley die?
She died on October 1, 2015, at age 67.
Did Jan Ashley have children?
No reliable public record shows that she did.
Is the Khloé Kardashian claim true?
It has not been proven, and the Kardashian family has denied it.
Conclusion
Jan Ashley is remembered mostly through one brief marriage, but the record shows a fuller life: a Tulsa upbringing, a pageant title, a professional career, and a long marriage to a working Hollywood producer. Treating her story carefully means separating documented facts from later claims and from repeated internet errors. When you read about her elsewhere, check dates, titles and quotes against primary records such as her family obituary and court documents.
Disclaimer: This article is for general information only. It is based on publicly available information as of October 2026. Some details, such as exact dates and places, differ between sources, and where that happens the article says so. Claims about private matters are attributed to the people who made them and are not confirmed facts. If you need legal or official verification, please consult primary records. You can also explore our detailed entertainment archive for more background stories, including features on performers like the versatile actor Steve Bacic.
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Written by Hassan, founder and editor of NTX Magazine — an independent news and biography publication. Every article is researched and cross-checked against multiple public sources before publishing; see our Sourcing Standards page for details.
