Jens was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Salomea (née Szujewski) and Arnold John Jens, a farmer and builder.[citation needed] In July 1969, she remarked that "the only time I can imagine contemplating suicide would be if I was told that I had to go back and live in Milwaukee forever" a comment for which she later apologized.
Jens majored in drama at Northwestern University, and she became a dance student of Martha Graham. In New York, she studied acting at HB Studio.
Jens appeared in the role of the thief in the New York premiere production of Jean Genet's The Balcony. She earned excellent reviews playing Josie in A Moon for the Misbegotten at New York's Circle in the Square Theatre in the late 1960s, and she appeared in Antony and Cleopatra with the American Shakespeare Theatre company in 1972.

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