Svengoolie aired Jack Arnold’s 1954 monster-horror movie, Creature from the Black Lagoon, on MeTV last night. Julia Adams (later Julie Adams) played Kay Lawrence.
Creature from the Black Lagoon follows a scientific expedition on the Amazon River by Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson), Dr. Carl Mia (Antonio Moreno), and Dr. Mark Williams (Richard Denning). David is accompanied by his beautiful girlfriend Kay Lawrence.
They encounter a humanoid creature called the Gill-Man that lives in the Amazon River. Mark tries to capture the Gill-Man but gets killed. The creature abducts Kay and takes her to his den. David and Carl track the Gill-Man to his lair. They kill the Gill-Man and rescue Kay.
If you watched the movie on MeTV last night, you might have wondered who the actress Julia Adams was. Here is everything you need to know about her.
A Universal gem! Enjoyed #Svengoolie's big broadcast of Jack Arnold's "Creature From the Black Lagoon" (1954) on @MeTV with all my fellow SvenPals tonight! Happy early #Thanksgiving/Turkey Day to the entire crowd of fellow SvenPals everywhere! Goodnight, peace & "Hi-Keeba!" pic.twitter.com/rCJQ28iAqE
— Christopher Hamby (@chrishambyfilms) November 24, 2019
Who was Julia Adams?
Julia Adams was born in October 1926 and died in February 2019. She was born as Betty May Adams in Waterloo, Iowa, and her parents were Esther Gertrude and Ralph Adams.
She started her acting career in the late 1940s when she appeared in several B-westerns. She was credited as Betty Adams (her birth name) in her early B-westerns, such as Marshall of Heldorado (1950), Crooked River, and Colorado Ranger (1950).
She was first credited as Julia Adams in Bright Victory (1951) in which she played Chris Paterson. She later changed her name to “Julie.”
When asked why she changed to “Julie,” she explained that it was “the studio” (Universal-International) that picked “Julia,” but she was never comfortable with it.
She is known for her role as Laura Baile, alongside James Stewart as Glyn McLyntock, in Bend of the River (1952).
She co-starred in several movies with many other 1950s movie stars, such as Rock Hudson, Tyrone Power, Rory Calhoun, Glenn Ford, and Charlton Heston.
She also appeared in several TV shows. She portrayed Mary Simpson on The Andy Griffith Show and appeared as Janice Barton in an episode of the CBS legal drama Perry Mason, titled The Case of the Deadly Verdict (1963).
Recent TV credits include Grandma Beevis in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1993).
Julie Adams was married to screenwriter Leonard B. Stern (1951-1953) and director Ray Danton (1954-1981). She had two sons Steven Danton and Mitchell Danton.
She died in Los Angeles in February 2019 at the age of 92.