Julie Adams (Actor)

A portrait of Julie Adams, circa 1950. (Photo: Bruce Baile / Hulton Archives / Getty Images)

An attractive leading lady of numerous B-films and Westerns in the 1950s and 60s, Adams is perhaps best-recalled for her work in the cult classic, "The Creature From the Black Lagoon" (1954). Born Betty Mae Adams, she made her film debut billed as Betty Adams in "Red, Hot and Blue" (1949) and then was alternately billed as Julia or Julie. For much of the 50s she was a contract player at Universal and then moved to television where she frequently appeared in such "Golden Age" programs as "Playhouse 90" and "Alcoa/Goodyear Theatre". Adams also had regular roles on the daytime soaps "General Hospital" (ABC, in the 60s) and "Capitol" (CBS, in the 80s). She was the loyal, supportive wife to Jimmy Stewart on "The Jimmy Stewart Show" (NBC, 1971-72) and Lorne Greene in "Code Red" (ABC, 1981-82). From 1987-93, she had a recurring role on the CBS series "Murder, She Wrote" (appropriately filmed at Universal).

Adams continued to appear in occasional films into the 80s, including the nearly unwatchable "The Last Movie" (1971), "Psychic Killer" (1975), directed by her then-husband Ray Danton, and "Champions" (1984). Since 1984, however, she has carved a secondary career as a dialogue coach working on such films as Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple" (1985), the Coen brothers' "Raising Arizona" (1987) and the Jodie Foster vehicles "Sommersby" (1993) and "Nell" (1994).