Cindy Adams facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Cindy Adams
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Adams in 2007
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| Born |
Cynthia I. First
April 24, 1930 Manhattan, New York
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| Nationality | American |
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| Spouse(s) |
Joey Adams
(m. 1952; died 1999) |
Cindy Adams (born Cynthia I. First on April 24, 1930) is a well-known American writer and gossip columnist. She is famous for sharing stories about celebrities and important people in entertainment and politics. For many years, her articles have appeared in the New York Post newspaper. Cindy Adams has lived in New York City her whole life. She was married to the comedian and writer Joey Adams.
Contents
Cindy Adams's Career
Writing for Newspapers and Books
Since 1979, Cindy Adams has written a very popular column for the New York Post. This New York City newspaper has featured about 500 of her stories on its front page! By 1981, her column was so popular that it was shared with many other newspapers across the country. She is known for knowing many famous people. Her columns are often witty and full of opinions. She often ends them with her famous saying: "Only in New York, kids, only in New York."
Cindy Adams and her husband, Joey, both wrote for newspapers. Joey wrote a humor column for the Long Island Press and later for the New York Post. In 1961, Cindy and Joey traveled through Asia. They met many important leaders while representing the United States. In 1965, Cindy Adams helped write a book about Indonesian President Sukarno. She wrote another book about him in 1967.
In 1970, she interviewed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was the leader of Iran. Adams also became friends with Imelda Marcos, the wife of former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. In 1975, Cindy Adams helped write a book about Jolie Gabor. Jolie was the mother of the famous Gabor sisters. Later, Adams wrote books about actor Lee Strasberg (in 1980) and political figure Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy (in 1995).
Adams is known for being friendly with many famous people. She even hosted a birthday party for her husband where many well-known figures attended. Her husband famously joked, "If you're invited, you're invited!"
In 2003, Cindy Adams wrote a book called The Gift of Jazzy. It was a loving story about her pet dog, Jazzy. She wrote a second book in 2006 called Living a Dog's Life: Jazzy, Juicy, and Me. In the introduction, she humorously wrote that her dogs did not help her write the book.
Working in Television
Starting in 1986, Cindy Adams was a regular guest on the TV show A Current Affair. From 1990 to 1991, she was a panelist on many episodes of the game show To Tell the Truth on NBC. In the late 1990s, she often appeared on Good Morning America on ABC.
Adams also promoted fancy dog products on the QVC shopping channel. Her good friend Joan Rivers also sold jewelry there. Cindy Adams also shared news twice a week on the Live at Five newscast on WNBC television. Later, she appeared on the station's Sunday Today in New York newscast. Her life and career were featured in a TV show called Gossip in 2021.
Helping Animals
After her husband, Joey Adams, passed away in 1999, a friend gave Cindy a new dog named Jazzy. Jazzy was a Yorkshire Terrier and became a loving friend. Jazzy often went everywhere with Cindy and became a bit famous himself. Cindy Adams and Jazzy would even eat together at some of New York's best restaurants. Cindy loves to dress her dogs in fancy clothes and jewelry.
In 2003, Cindy Adams left Jazzy at a dog kennel outside the city. When she returned, Jazzy had died. A check showed that Jazzy had E. coli bacteria. Cindy Adams was very sad and confused. She said, "This was a dog that I hand-fed. We would go to Le Cirque and eat off of fancy plates. Where would he get E. coli?"
Because of what happened to Jazzy, Cindy Adams became a strong supporter for better rules for dog kennels. In 2004, she got help from famous people like Barbara Walters and Ivana Trump. They worked with her to pass a law called the Boarding Kennel and Regulation Act, also known as "Jazzy's Law." Cindy Adams explained that this law would help prevent other pets from suffering. It would make kennels get licenses, check them regularly, and fine those that break rules. It also requires kennels to keep records and make sure pets have their shots. Cindy Adams continues to bring her dogs to New York restaurants, showing her deep bond with them.
Cindy Adams's Life Story
Early Life and School
Cindy Heller Adams was born as Cynthia I. First in Manhattan on April 24, 1930. Her parents divorced when she was two years old. Her mother later married Harry Heller when Cindy was three. Cindy went to Andrew Jackson High School in Queens, New York. She didn't graduate in 1946 because she didn't finish a sewing project. However, she received an honorary diploma in 2024!
Marriage to Joey Adams
When Cindy Heller was 15, she started working as a model in Manhattan. Soon after, she met her future husband, Joey Adams. He was a comedian and writer. They met when they were both guests on the same radio show. They got married on Valentine's Day in 1952. They did not have any children. Joey passed away in 1999 after being sick for a long time. Cindy shared her feelings after he died:
- "My career came because I married Joey."
- "This man gave me everything. Everything I have, I got from him. He introduced me to the world."
Her Home on Park Avenue
Adams lives and works in a large apartment in Manhattan. It has nine rooms and a big outdoor space. She and her husband bought it in 1997 from the family of a very rich woman named Doris Duke. Because of this connection, Adams hosted a party for the TV movie Bernard and Doris (2008), which was about Doris Duke's later life.
Getting Well in 2010
In May 2010, Cindy Adams stopped writing her column for the New York Post without telling anyone why. People only heard that she was "unwell." Later, another writer, Liz Smith, shared that Adams was very sick with a stomach problem. Cindy Adams had not sought medical help at first. But her friends Barbara Walters and Judith Sheindlin convinced her to get treatment.
Judith Sheindlin was in charge of Adams's healthcare decisions because Cindy had no close family left. By late June, Liz Smith reported that Cindy Adams was getting better. Cindy's column returned to the New York Post on September 20, 2010. She explained that she had been in intensive care for serious health issues. She joked about her experience, saying she was so close to death that she "would have been interviewing Walter Cronkite" (a famous news anchor who had recently passed away).
Books by Cindy Adams
- Sukarno; Adams, Cindy (1965). Sukarno: An Autobiography.
- Adams, Cindy (1967). My Friend the Dictator.
- Gabor, Jolie; Adams, Cindy (1975). Jolie Gabor.
- Adams, Cindy (1980). Lee Strasberg: The Imperfect Genius of the Actors Studio.
- Adams, Cindy; Crimp, Susan (1995). Iron Rose: The Story of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and Her Dynasty.
- Adams, Cindy (2003). The Gift of Jazzy.
- Adams, Cindy (2006). Living a Dog's Life: Jazzy, Juicy, and Me.
See also
In Spanish: Cindy Adams para niños
- List of animal rights advocates
- List of biographers
- List of people from New York City
