Julie Adams

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_Adams

Before she died, Julie Adams (born Betty May Adams; October 17, 1926) was an American film and television actress, sometimes credited as Julia Adams or Betty Adams.

Contents [show] Life and career[edit] Julie Adams was born as Betty May Adams on October 17, 1926, in Waterloo, Iowa, to alcoholic parents. Her family moved a great deal; the longest was when she lived in one town was eight years in Blytheville, Arkansas, who in turn worked as a part-time secretary, Adams began her film career in B-movie westerns, years after she went to the movies, growing up. In 1946, at only 19, not only was she reigned as "Miss Little Rock," she moved to Hollywood, California, to pursue her acting career.[1]

She used her real name, until 1949 when she began working for Universal Pictures. She then became Julia and eventually Julie Adams. Her first movie role was a minor part in Red, Hot and Blue (1949), followed by a leading role in the Lippert western The Dalton Gang (1949). Adams was featured as the bathing beauty Kay Lawrence in 1954's Creature from the Black Lagoon.

In 1955, Adams co-starred with Rory Calhoun, subsequently of the CBS western television series, The Texan, in the film The Looters, the story of a plane crash in the Rocky Mountains. Part of the picture was filmed about Tarryall Creek at what is now Eleven Mile State Park in Park County in central Colorado. The advertising poster reads: "Five desperate men ... and a girl who didn't care ... trapped on a mountain of gale-lashed rock!"[2]

In 1962, Adams portrayed Mary Simpson, a county nurse and romantic interest of Sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show. She also made four guest appearances on Perry Mason; the most memorable was the 1963 episode, "The Case of the Deadly Verdict," when she played Janice Barton, Perry's only convicted client during the show's nine-year run on CBS. In 1965 she played the role of defendant Pat Kean in "The Case of the Fatal Fortune." She also appeared on "The Rifleman" as a dubious vixen and romantic interest of lead character Chuck Connors. Later in her career she played television guest-starring roles, including Maverick (1960 episode: "The White Widow" with Jack Kelly) and The Man and the Challenge. She also appeared in a 1975 episode of The Streets of San Francisco.

She appeared in the musical comedy Tickle Me starring Elvis Presley in 1965. She thought highly of her co-star, noting: "Despite his status as a superstar singer and stage performer, Elvis took his acting very seriously. He was always prepared, and did a good job in the roles he was given. When he did his musical numbers in Tickle Me, sometimes walking from table to table in a nightclub set, he did them perfectly in one take."[3]

She was cast as real estate agent "Eve Simpson" in ten episodes of CBS's Murder, She Wrote.[2]

Adams played Paula Denning, the evil, conniving wife of Senator Mark Denning (Ed Nelson) on Capitol, a soap opera which ran on CBS from 1982 to 1987. While she claimed to have agoraphobia and to never leave her luxurious home in the fictional Washington, D.C. suburb of Jeffersonia, she was able to slip out unnoticed from time-to-time and even used her supposed affliction to cover a murder. After Paula recovered from a brain tumor, she continued to remain a trouble-maker, even writing a tell-all expose of the older generations of the soap's core families and even kidnapped ex-husband Mark in order to keep him from marrying Clarissa McCandless, the woman she had earlier shot in cold blood.

Adams (along with her son, Mitchell) has authored a book on her life and career, The Lucky Southern Star: Reflections From The Black Lagoon, which was published in 2011 and is currently available via her website. The autobiography has received both public and critical acclaim, with noted movie critic Leonard Maltin praising it on his indiewire.com Blog as, "A charming memoir by longtime leading lady Julie Adams." On the Amazon.com website, the book is currently rated 4.5 out of 5 stars. A limited test print run (100 copies) - with a bonus interview DVD - of the audiobook version has now been completed. Future sales and distribution are pending through her son Mitch, who also serves as producer.

Appearances[edit]

Julie Adams and Jack Kelly in Maverick Julie Adams also continues to be very busy via making special guest appearances and meeting her fans: In August 2012, she was a guest of honor at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention (www.comicbookscifi.com) held at the Shrine Auditorium (she had attended the same convention back in May 2012). Julie also appeared at the CineCon Classic Film Festival on August 31, 2012 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. Traveling east, Julie was a scheduled guest at The Hollywood Show: Chicago (Rosemont, Illinois), September 7–9, 2012. An additional book signing was held at Century Books in Pasadena, California, on September 20, 2012. On October 13, 2012, Julie was back in Illinois (Berwyn) for a book signing party.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences selected Creature from the Black Lagoon as one of 13 classic horror films to screen during October, 2012, in order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Universal Pictures. The film was shown (in 3D format) on Tuesday, October 16 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills starting at 7:30pm.[4] After the screening, Julie appeared on stage for a Q&A session where she shared personal memories of her role in the film, as well as several other projects she had worked on over her long career.

Awards[edit] In 1999, Julie received a Golden Boot Award for her work in Westerns. She was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame in 2000. At CineCon in 2011, Julie was honored with a Film Career Achievement Award. In 2012, she won the Rondo Award for the Monster Kid Hall of Fame at the annual Wonderfest in Louisville, Kentucky.

Personal life[edit] Julie Adams was married to screenwriter Leonard B. Stern from 1951 to 1953.[5] She then married actor/director Ray Danton from 1954 until 1981; they had two sons: Steven Danton, an assistant director, and Mitchell Danton, an editor.[6][7]

Filmography[edit] Television and film roles[edit]

Julie Adams, famously pursued in the 1954 horror classic, “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” portrayed an FDA chemist who helped break up a trucking industry amphetamine ring in “330 Independence S. W.,” a 1962 episode of NBC’s Dick Powell Show Your Show Time (1949) (as Betty Adams) Marshal of Heldorado (1950) (as Betty Adams) Hostile Country (1950) (as Betty Adams) Fast on the Draw (1950) (as Betty Adams) Crooked River (1950) (as Betty Adams) Colorado Ranger (1950) (as Betty Adams) Bright Victory (1951) Hollywood Story (1951) Horizons West (1952) (as Betty Adams) Bend of the River (1952) (as Julia Adams) ... Laura The Lawless Breed (1953) (as Julia Adams) ... Rosie The Mississippi Gambler (1953) (as Julia Adams) ... Ann Conant The Man from the Alamo (1953) (as Julia Adams) ... Beth Anders The Stand at Apache River (1953) (as Julia Adams) ... Valerie Kendrick Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) (credited as Julia Adams) ... Kay Lawrence The Private War of Major Benson (1956) ... Dr. Kay Lambert Studio One (1956) ... Anne Away All Boats (1956) ... Nadine MacDougall Lux Video Theatre (1955, 1957) Climax! (1957) ... Coleen Playhouse 90 (1958) ... Janice Ohringer Yancy Derringer (1958–1959) ... Amanda Eaton Zane Grey Theater (1958) ... Nora Jepson (1958) ... Julie Brand Goodyear Theatre (1958) ... Marion Ewell Letter to Loretta (1958) ... Milly (1958) (as Julia Adams) ... Paula McGill The Man and the Challenge (1959) ... Linda Webb Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (1959) ... Helen Archer The Gunfight at Dodge City with Joel McCrea (1959) Frontier Justice (1959) ... Julie Brand The Alaskans (1959) ... Clara Cheyenne (1960) (2 episodes) ... Irene Travers Maverick (1960) ... Wilma White (1959) ... Belle Morgan Alcoa Theatre (1960) ... Betty Fordham The Rifleman (1960) ... Nora Sanford Tate (1960) ... Mary Hardin Markham (1960) Wrangler (1960) ... Eve Browning Michael Shayne (1960) ... Bea Bonanza (1961) "The Courtship" ... Helen Layton Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) ... Phyllis Kendall (1959) ... Peg Valence (1958) ... Carol Longsworth Hawaiian Eye (1961) ... Gloria Matthews (1960) ... Sarah Crane Outlaws (1961) ... Juill Ramsur Surfside 6 (1961) ... Julie Owens (1961) ... Merilee Williams The Underwater City (1962) ... Monica Powers The Andy Griffith Show (1962) ... Mary Simpson The Dick Powell Show (1962) ... Robin Dr. Kildare (1962) ... Ginny Nelson Checkmate (1962) ... Jean Damion (1960) ... Janet Evans The Gallant Men (1963) ... Capt. Meg Thorpe Arrest and Trial (1963) ... Eleanor 77 Sunset Strip (1964) ... Anne Kenzie (1961) ... Norma Kellogg (1960) ... Miriam Galbraith (1959) ... Marie La Shelle (1959) Margo Wendice Kraft Suspense Theatre (1965) ... Joanne Clay (1964) ... Ellen Yarnell Perry Mason (1965) ... Patricia L. Kean (1964) ... Janice Blake (1963) ... Janice Barton (1963) ... Valerie Comstock Twelve O'Clock High (1965) ... Lt. Betty Russo Burke's Law (1965) ... Carla Cabrial "Tickle Me" (1965) ...Vera Radford The Long, Hot Summer (1965) ... Leona Mills The Virginian (1966) ... Marian Clay The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. (1967) Valley of Mystery (1967) ... Joan Simon The Big Valley (1967) ... Janet Masters (1966) ... Edna Wesley Ironside (1968) ... Norma Howard The Outsider (1968) ... Laura Carlvic General Hospital (1968) ... Denise Wilton My Friend Tony (1969) The F.B.I. (1969) ... Denise Kriton Dan August (1970) ... Patricia Fairley The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1970–1971) (Season 2) ... Lynn Craig The Young Lawyers (1971) ... Alice Graham) The Jimmy Stewart Show (1971–1972) ... Martha Howard The Trackers (1971) ... Dora Paxton Night Gallery (1972) ... Gay Melcor The Doris Day Show (1972), (1969) Go Ask Alice (1973) ... Dorothy The Mod Squad (1973), (1968) ... Samantha Semple Search (1973) ... Jeanette Lewis Mannix (1973) ... Edie Reynolds (1967) Lucas Tanner (1974) ... Mrs. Walker Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1975) ... Mrs. Avery Walker Caribe (1975) ... Mrs. Bladell The Streets of San Francisco (1975) ... Judith Mobile One (1975) The McCullochs (1975) ... Hannah McCulloch Marcus Welby, M.D. (1975) ... Lee Morgan (1969) ... Claire Ellery Queen (1975) ... Jennifer Packard Cannon (1975) ... Sylvia Killian (1972) ... Mrs. Lucas Medical Center (1976) ... Ellie Wilke Six Characters in Search of an Author (1976) ... The Mother McMillan & Wife (1977) ... Dorothy Wininger This Is the Life (1977) Police Woman (1978) ... Eleanor Simpson The Runaways (1978) ... Mother The Incredible Hulk (1978) ... Ellen Greatest Heroes of the Bible (1978) (mini-series) ... Queen Trapper John, M.D. (1980) ... Lorrie Malcolm Vega$ (1981) ... Margaret Sorenson Code Red (1981–1982) ... Ann Rorchek Cagney & Lacey (1982) ... Helen Granger Quincy, M.E. (1982) ... Dr. Chris Winston (1980) ... Sharon Ross (1977) ... Mrs. Daniels Capitol (1983–1987) ... Paula Denning Too Close for Comfort (1981-1984) (2 episodes) ... Sylvia Walker Murder, She Wrote (1987–1993) (10 episodes) ... Eve Simpson Black Roses (1988) ...Mrs. Miller Beverly Hills, 90210 (1993) (2 episodes) ... Grandma Beevis The Conviction of Kitty Dodds (1993) ... Margaret Diagnosis: Murder (1997) ... Edie Fallon Melrose Place (1999) ... Mrs. Damarr Sliders (1999) ... Old Maggie Beckett Family Law (2000) ... Bonnie Cold Case (TV Series) (2006) ... Dottie Mills Lost (2006) ... Amelia, "A Tale of Two Cities" CSI New York (2010) Carnage (2011) ... Secretary (voice only) As herself[edit] Back to the Black Lagoon: A Creature Chronicle (2000) Creature Feature: 50 Years of the Gill-Man (2004) E! True Hollywood Story (2004) (TV Episode)