Jan Ashley is best remembered as Robert Kardashian Sr.’s second wife, but that description hides both a longer life before the Kardashians and an important problem with the story repeated about her online. Ashley was a former Miss Tulsa, worked for Phillips Petroleum and spent nearly two decades married to actor and television producer John Ashley. Her marriage to Robert Kardashian began in November 1998 and ended in an annulment in 1999 — but the often-repeated claim that they were married for exactly 30 days does not fit the surviving court record.
| Fact | Documented information |
|---|---|
| Full name | Janice Lynn Glass Ashley |
| Born | August 1948, Amarillo, Texas |
| Died | October 1, 2015, aged 67 |
| Raised in | Tulsa, Oklahoma |
| Education | Will Rogers High School |
| Early distinction | Miss Tulsa 1966 |
| Profession | Executive secretary at Phillips Petroleum |
| First husband | Actor and producer John Ashley, married 1978 until his death in 1997 |
| Second husband | Robert Kardashian Sr., married November 25, 1998; later annulled |
| Children | Robert Kardashian stated in a 1999 court declaration that Ashley had no children when they married |
Who was Jan Ashley before Robert Kardashian?
Jan Ashley was born Janice Lynn Glass in Amarillo, Texas, in 1948. Her family later moved to Tulsa when she was seven, and she graduated from Will Rogers High School. In 1966 she represented Tulsa in the Miss Oklahoma competition as Miss Tulsa — a detail confirmed both by her family obituary and surviving Miss Oklahoma contestant records.
Her obituary also records a professional life rarely mentioned in Kardashian-focused profiles: Ashley worked as executive secretary to K. S. “Boots” Adams at Phillips Petroleum. That puts her biography on firmer ground than descriptions such as “socialite,” which are frequently repeated online without comparable documentation.
There is even a small discrepancy in the most authoritative surviving biographical record. Floral Haven Funeral Home’s page lists her birth date as August 3, 1948, while the obituary text on the same page says August 1. The safe conclusion is therefore that Ashley was born in August 1948 rather than presenting either day as indisputably established.
Her first marriage lasted far longer than her Kardashian chapter
Long before Robert Kardashian entered her life, Ashley was married to actor and producer John Ashley. Her obituary says they married in 1978 and moved to California because of his entertainment career.
John Ashley had appeared in films including Hud and several 1960s beach movies before becoming a television producer. The Los Angeles Times noted his work on series including The A-Team and Walker, Texas Ranger. He died in New York on October 3, 1997, while working on a film production.
Jan and John had therefore been married for roughly 19 years. That relationship occupied a far larger portion of her adult life than the Kardashian marriage for which she is now most frequently searched.
Jan Ashley and Robert Kardashian: what the court record actually says
Ashley married Robert Kardashian on November 25, 1998. Robert was already nationally recognizable because of his friendship with O.J. Simpson and his involvement with Simpson’s defense team during the 1995 murder trial.
Online profiles routinely describe the Ashley-Kardashian marriage as a “30-day marriage,” sometimes even claiming it was formally annulled on December 25, 1998. The surviving legal document makes that timeline difficult to sustain.
In a declaration signed under penalty of perjury on May 13, 1999, Robert Kardashian said that he and Ashley had agreed before their wedding that they would have a child together. He then stated that approximately two months after the marriage he changed his mind because he already had four biological children and did not want another. The declaration was submitted in support of his request for a nullity of marriage.
That does not establish exactly when the couple separated, but it does show that the legal annulment was not completed after exactly 30 days. Reliable summaries simply place the marriage in 1998 and the annulment in 1999.
The document is also significant for another reason: Robert explicitly wrote that he was the person who changed his mind about having another child.
Why Jan Ashley became part of the Khloé Kardashian paternity controversy
Ashley returned to headlines in January 2012, years after Robert Kardashian’s death. In an interview reported by Star magazine, she claimed Robert had told her after their marriage that Khloé Kardashian was not his biological daughter. Robert’s later wife Ellen Pierson made a similar allegation. ABC News, CBS and the Los Angeles Times all reported the resulting dispute.
The allegation should not be presented as established fact. Kris Jenner publicly rejected it, while Khloé Kardashian strongly condemned the claims. More importantly, Robert Kardashian’s own 1999 sworn declaration directly complicates Ashley’s account: while explaining why he no longer wanted another child, he stated that he already had four biological children.
There is no publicly established evidence in these records proving Ashley’s allegation. The responsible description is therefore that she claimed Robert had privately questioned Khloé’s paternity, while Robert’s own sworn statement from 1999 points in the opposite direction.
What is known about Jan Ashley’s family and children?
Robert Kardashian’s court declaration says Ashley had no children when they married. Her 2015 obituary likewise mentions her brother Jerry D. Glass, his wife and their sons, but does not identify children of Ashley herself.
Her parents are identified in the obituary as James Douglas Glass and Monnie M. Glass. Beyond those documented family relationships, there is little reason to fill the gaps with the unsourced family details common on celebrity-biography sites.
What happened to Jan Ashley?
Ashley eventually moved away from California. According to her obituary, she returned to Oklahoma in 2012. She died on October 1, 2015, aged 67, and was to be interred beside John Ashley at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in California.
The funeral-home notice does not give a cause of death. Consequently, claims online assigning her a specific illness or medical cause should not be treated as verified.
Her death also means pages discussing “Jan Ashley today,” her current age or a supposed present-day career are outdated when they describe her as living. What is publicly documented is a comparatively private final chapter in Oklahoma, not an ongoing celebrity or business career.
The more accurate Jan Ashley story
Jan Ashley’s Kardashian connection lasted a short time, but it has come to dominate how she is remembered. The available records tell a broader story: Miss Tulsa in 1966, a job at Phillips Petroleum, a long marriage to television producer John Ashley, and then a brief and legally complicated marriage to Robert Kardashian.
They also expose why her biography requires unusual care. Even basic claims — from her precise birthday to the supposedly famous “30-day marriage” — become less certain once primary documents are checked. And the allegation that later made her name headline material remains just that: an allegation contradicted by Robert Kardashian’s own sworn description of his four biological children.
Quellen
- Floral Haven Funeral Home, Janice Lynn Ashley obituary — biographical details, family, career, Miss Tulsa title and 2015 death. View the obituary
- Declaration of Robert Kardashian, May 13, 1999 — primary court document concerning the Ashley marriage and his statement that he had four biological children. View the court declaration PDF
- ABC News, Khloe Kardashian’s Mom on Paternity Rumors: “I Was There”, January 12, 2012. Read the ABC News report
- Los Angeles Times, John Ashley; TV Actor, Producer of ‘A-Team’, October 10, 1997. Read the Los Angeles Times obituary
- Miss Oklahoma historical contestant records, 1966 contestants — lists Janice Lynn Glass as Miss Tulsa. View the 1966 contestant record
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