Jeetendra was born in Amritsar, Punjab, to Amarnath and Krishna Kapoor. His father had business of imitation jewellery, supplied to film industry. He attended St. Sebastian's Goan High School in Girgaum, Mumbai with his friend Rajesh Khanna. While supplying jewellery to V. Shantaram, he was cast as Sandhya's character's double in the 1959 movie "Navrang".