Edie Adams facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Edie Adams
Adams in 1958
Born	Edith Elizabeth Enke (1927-04-16)April 16, 1927 Kingston, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	October 15, 2008(2008-10-15) (aged 81) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
Other names	Edythe Adams Edith Adams Edith Candoli
Alma mater	Juilliard School Columbia University Actors Studio
Occupation	Comedian, actress, singer, businesswoman
Years active	1951–2004
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ernie Kovacs ​ ​ (m. 1954; died 1962)​ Martin Mills ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1971)​ Pete Candoli ​ ​ (m. 1972; div. 1988)​
Children	2

Edie Adams (born Edith Elizabeth Enke; April 16, 1927 – October 15, 2008) was a talented American comedian, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She won a Tony Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award for her amazing work.

Edie was famous for imitating other stars on stage and TV, especially Marilyn Monroe. She often worked with her husband, Ernie Kovacs, on television shows. Edie Adams also started two successful beauty businesses: Edie Adams Cosmetics and Edie Adams Cut 'n' Curl.

Early Life and Education

Edie Adams was born in Kingston, Pennsylvania. Her parents were Sheldon Alonzo Enke and Ada Dorothy Adams. She had an older brother named Sheldon. Her family moved around a bit, including to Shavertown, Trucksville, and New York City, before settling in Tenafly, New Jersey. There, she went to Tenafly High School.

Edie's mother taught her how to sing and play the piano. They both sang in their church choir. Edie's grandmother, who was a seamstress, taught her how to sew. Edie started making her own clothes when she was in sixth grade. Later in life, she even had her own clothing line called Bonham, Inc.

Edie studied singing at the Juilliard School and then drama at Columbia University. She also learned acting at the Actors Studio in New York and fashion design at the Traphagen School of Fashion. Edie couldn't decide between a career in fashion or music. She flipped a coin, and music won!

Kovacs as "Leena, Queen of the Jungle" with Adams in 1956

With Ernie Kovacs in Take a Good Look, 1960

In 1949 and 1950, Edie appeared on an early live TV show called Bonnie Maid's Versatile Varieties. She was one of the original "Bonnie Maids" who did live commercials.

In 1950, she won the "Miss U.S. Television" beauty contest. This led to her appearing on Milton Berle's TV show, Texaco Star Theatre. At first, she was known as Edith Adams. She also appeared on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. A producer for Ernie Kovacs' show Three to Get Ready saw her and invited her to audition. Edie knew very few popular songs, but she got the job in July 1951. Edie's father was surprised when he saw her on the show, as her role involved getting pies thrown in her face!

Career Highlights

Adams and Kovacs, 1956

Edie Adams started working regularly on TV with Ernie Kovacs and talk show host Jack Paar. Edie and Ernie fell in love and got married on September 12, 1954, in Mexico City. Edie wasn't sure about marrying Ernie at first. She went on a six-week trip to Europe to think about it. But after just three days, she returned home and said yes! It was Ernie's second marriage, and it lasted until he sadly died in a car accident in 1962.

Edie and Ernie were both nominated for Emmy Awards in 1957 for their comedy performances. In 1960, they played themselves in the final episode of The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour. Edie sang the song "That's All" in that episode. Edie also appeared on the game show What's My Line? several times.

Adams as Daisy Mae in Li'l Abner, 1956

Edie starred on Broadway in Wonderful Town (1953) and won the Theatre World Award. She also played Daisy Mae in Li'l Abner (1956), which earned her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She played the Fairy Godmother in Rodgers and Hammerstein's original TV musical Cinderella in 1957.

After Ernie Kovacs passed away, the ABC network gave Edie her own show called Here's Edie. It received five Emmy nominations but only ran for one season in 1963. Ernie was known for smoking cigars, and Edie became famous for her TV commercials for Muriel Cigars. She continued to be their spokesperson for many years, often saying in a Mae West style, "Why don't you pick one up and smoke it sometime?" Another commercial for Muriel Cigars, which cost 10 cents, showed Edie singing, "Hey, big spender, spend a little dime with me." Her cigar commercials made her one of the most recognized TV celebrities. Later, Edie made guest appearances on shows like Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, McMillan & Wife, Murder, She Wrote, and Designing Women.

Edie also played supporting roles in several movies in the 1960s. She was in the Oscar-winning film The Apartment (1960). She played the wife of a presidential candidate in The Best Man (1964). In 2003, she joined other stars from the classic comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) for a 40th-anniversary celebration of the film. She was also a very successful nightclub performer.

After her husband's death, Edie faced some difficult legal challenges. She worked hard to take care of her stepdaughters and manage her late husband's finances. She spent years working to pay off his tax debt. Edie refused help from celebrity friends who wanted to organize a TV special to raise money for her. She said, "I can take care of my own children." She worked almost non-stop for the next year.

Starting New Businesses

Adams in a Muriel Cigars commercial, 1965–1966

Edie Adams started her own businesses. She created Edie Adams Cosmetics, which sold products door-to-door. In 1967, she opened Edie Adams Cut 'n' Curl beauty salons. She even owned a large almond farm in California and was the spokesperson for Sun Giant nuts. Thanks to her 20 years of commercials for Muriel Cigars (she stopped in 1976) and her successful businesses, Edie went from being in debt after Ernie's accident to becoming a millionaire by 1989.

Personal Life

After Ernie Kovacs' death, Edie married two more times. In 1964, she married photographer Martin Mills. In 1972, she married trumpeter Pete Candoli. She even performed with him in a touring show of the musical Anything Goes. Besides raising her stepdaughters Bette and Kippie from her marriage to Ernie, Edie had a daughter named Mia Susan Kovacs (who died in a car accident in 1982) and a son named Joshua Mills.

Edie Adams was a member of the Republican Party. She supported Dwight Eisenhower in his re-election campaign during the 1956 presidential election.

Edie was also an early supporter of civil rights. She often helped the movement at celebrity events and on her own TV show in the early 1960s. She made sure that when she sang a duet with Sammy Davis Jr. on her variety show Here's Edie, they sat next to each other as equals. Before this, entertainers of different races and genders were often not allowed to perform side-by-side on television.

Death

Adams' grave, Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills

Edie Adams passed away in Los Angeles, California, on October 15, 2008, at the age of 81. She died from cancer and pneumonia. She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, next to her first husband Ernie, and between her daughter Mia and her stepdaughter Kippie.

Preserving Ernie Kovacs' Work

Edie Adams worked hard to save her husband Ernie Kovacs' television work. She talked about this in a 1999 interview with the Archive of American Television. She also shared how little value was given to old TV shows back then. She said that a whole collection of shows from the short-lived DuMont Television Network, where she and Ernie worked, was once loaded into three trucks and dumped into Upper New York Bay.

When Edie realized that Ernie's work was being thrown away or recorded over, she used money from his insurance policy and her own earnings to buy the rights to as much of his footage as she could. She wanted to make sure his creative work would not be lost forever.

Filmography

Television

See also

In Spanish: Edie Adams para niños