Edie Adams

Edie Adams, born as Edith Elizabeth Enke, was born on April 16th, 1927 in Kingston Pennsylvania, to Sheldon Alonso Enke and Ada Dorothy Enke. She finished her High School in Tenafly, New Jersey. Adams had an inclination toward music and her mother catered to her interest and taught her piano and how to sing. She graduated from Julliard School of Music and then studied in New York Click to look into! >> Read More... at Actors Studio and later at Traphagen School of Fashion Design. With such versatility, she also launched her own clothing line later in life and she was also a pro at sewing. But she chose to devote herself to the entertainment industry, pursuing acting and singing but mostly acting though her initial ambition was to become an opera singer.

Apart from carving a niche in the world of comedy with Kovacs, she was associated with Murial Cigars and her television commercial for those cigars made her immensely famous. She was part of this ad campaign for about two decades and made the tagline Why Don’t You Pick One Up and Smoke It Sometimes familiar to a wider audience. She was not the sweet girl playing a love interest for a nobleman, instead, she was that woman who was bold and confident about herself and her body and missed no opportunity to grab attention through her svelte figure with deep cut blouses and minimalist dresses.

She was the nation’s favorite woman for her alluring screen presence and she had her talent to back up her beauty. Adams was recognized in the talent show on TV called Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts and that is where she first met her soon to be husband Earnie Kovacs. Her talent was instantly recognized and she was asked to give an audition and thus her career began working alongside Kovacs. She began her work on television with Kovacs’ show ‘Kovacsland’. Though Adams is well versed in opera, it is said that she only knew three pop songs during the audition. The series had her and Kovacs and it earned a lot of appreciation and it was later renamed The Earnie Kovacs Show and was telecasted on CBS in 1952.

Winner of Miss U.S. Television beauty pageant in 1950, Adams’ rendition of the song Love is Where You Find It was very popular and widely appreciated as she sang the song in the talent competition. This opened her to a whole new opportunity and she got to appear with Milton Berle before appearing on Kovecsland Show. Adams, being a classically trained singer could not deny an opportunity at the Broadway. In 1953, she debuted as Eileen in a musical inspired by the play My Sister Eileen. The role of Eileen was well suited for Adams and she was applauded for her work. This Leonard Bernstein-Adolph Green Musical had Adams sing a ballad, A Little Bit In Love and Ohio with Russel in the show.

Finally deciding on spending the rest of their lives together, Adams and Kovacs eloped to Mexico in 1954 and Adams made a comeback only after two years. Her comeback musical, Li’l Abner, had her play the character of Daisy Mae. The show, which was a satirical comic strip, had Peter Palmer in the lead playing Abner. Adams was awarded Best Supporting Actor for her performance in the play. Along with this, Kovacs’ show was also being aired in different regions in the country. Adams also earned a nomination at the Emmys for her comic performance with Kovacs in 1957.

Both husband and wife moved to Hollywood and engaged themselves in acting. Adams was best remembered for her role in the 1960 movie The Apartment where she plays Miss Olsen. This was Adams’ debut on the big screen and she hit the jackpot with it. Though she played the role of a secretary, she proved her acting ability in the movie. She was seen in other films like Call Me Bwana, Love Come Back with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, and all time famous comedy with big actors, It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World, playing Ceaser’s Wife. She later appeared in some other movies like Honey Pot, The Best Man, and Under the Yum Yum Tree.

A tragic event, which changed the life of Adams, was when Adams and Kovacs left Milton Berle’s party. Kovacs’ car skidded off the road and it was said that he lost his life in the accident. This not only hurt Adams emotionally but also financially. It was said that Kovacs had half a million in debt and the custody battle of his two daughters from his first marriage. Adams worked day and night and repaid the taxes and cleared the debts in five years. She took up every part that came her way and cleared the debt and also won the custody of Kovacs’ daughters. She refused to take help from her peers and good friends Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin and Jack Lemmon Jack Lemmon or John Uhler Lemmon was a reputable A >> Read More... who proposed to keep a fundraiser for her debts.

Her acting stint never stopped. Adams appeared in Love With The Proper Stranger in 1963, and in The Best Man in 1964, playing the wife of Presidential candidate played by Cliff Robertson Veteran actor Cliff was a serious and talented Ame >> Read More... and appeared in Las Vegas Serial Story Coming Soon... >> Read More... . Adams’ last feature film was Honey Pot which released in 1966. She had the role of an actor who used to be an actor trying to inherit money. She also appeared in Joseph Mankiewicz’s theater adaptation of ‘Volpone’ (by Ben Johnson). Adams’ journey to the small screen did not last long but remained effective; she was seen with Duke Ellington in 1962.

Later, she had her own show Here’s Edie which was of the comedy genre. However, the show did not run for a long period but it was successful in receiving five Emmy nominations. Again in later years of her career, probably the 1970s and 80s, she appeared on the series namely, The Love Boat, Fantasy Land, Murder, She Wrote, and Designing Women. Adams’ legacy in the comedy field will always be remembered and cherished and her cigar commercial with her smoldering presence will be forever famous.

But her life was full of tragedies as she also lost her daughter Mia Kovacs in an accident when she was just 22. Adams was said to have had two marriages with Mr. Mills and Jazz Trumpeter Pete Candoli. She was said to have performed in night clubs, musicals and acted on television and also in movies. She passed away due to pneumonia and cancer on 15th October 2008, when she was 81 and had only her son by her side.