Friday, October 17, 2008

Edie Adams [1927-2008]

Artist: Edie Adams
LP: Edie Adams
Song: "He Don't Wanna' Be Kissed"
[ listen ]

I posted an Edie Adams track from a different LP a few weeks ago (along with a YouTube link for one of her wonderful Muriel Cigar TV ads from the early 1960s), but since Ms. Adams passed away this last Wednesday, I decided to post one of my favorite songs from this other album today. Here are some biographical notes from the back of the record sleeve:


EDIE ADAMS, the honey-voiced lass with the golden hair and a sparkling
personality to match, is one of the most versatile young stars in show
business today. A proficient actress, singer, satirist and comedienne, Edie's
credits list like a European holiday menu. Nightclubs, Broadway and TV have
all been graced with the appearance of the charming Miss Adams.

Though Kingston, PA claims Edie as its native born, Grove City, PA was
her home from the time she was six until her second year in high school
when the family again moved to New York. One year later the final
move was made and the family settled in Tenafly, New Jersey, during
which time Edith Enke (as she was known then) completed high school
at Julia Richmond. A bundle of energy and vitality, Edie didn't let the
complications of moving interfere with her extracurricular activities
which included singing in the church choir, leads in the school operettas

and marching at the head of all parades twirling a baton.

Intending to be a music teacher like her mother, Edie enrolled at
New York's Juilliard School of Music studying voice during her four years
there and acquired a solid classical background. Then came a year at
Columbia's School of the Drama, while at the same time attending voice
training classes with Met star Helen Jepson, and Edie was ready for the
bright future which was to be her well-deserved fate. She was already a
"pro" when she made one of the most important decisions of her career.
Convinced her soprano voice was "not too commercial" and that she was
a frustrated "pop" singer, Edie made the difficult transition to popular music
and in a matter of months worked successfully in bringing her voice

down more than two octaves.

After a number of TV and nightclub appearances, Edie auditioned and was
signed as a regular on the "Ernie Kovacs Show" on WCBS-TV where she
developed her great potential for comedy. Though Edie claims not to
be a comedienne, TV audiences will always remember the glib Miss
Adams running through a variety of crazy sketches or acting the dumb
blonde salesgirl commenting on the conveniences of a breakaway

vacuum cleaner. While still cavorting daily on the Kovacs show, she
was selected to play Eileen in the Broadway musical comedy "Wonderful
Town" based on "My Sister Eileen." Beating some 300 competitors
for the part, Edie made her Broadway debut with such theatrical
luminaries as Rosalind Russell land won not only unanimous critical
praise but two Donaldson Awards in one theatre season, one for the
Best Debut Performance and the other for Best Supporting Actress.

In addition, she was also awarded the Daniel Blum Theatre World
Award and the New York Post Stardust Citation.

Edie's nightclub appearances at such fashionable spots as the Plaza's Persian
Room and Sherman Billingsley's Stork Club doing her famous Marilyn Monroe
characterization as well as her impressions of Grace Kelly doing Rock 'n' Roll
and Marlene Dietrich slouched in a raincoat, won her even more accolades.
Another laurel was added to the Adams wreath of success when she was
chosen for the covetous part of Daisy Mae in the Broadway hit "Li'l Abner"
based on the famous Al Capp comic strip.

Yet another role in her already busy life is that of wife to another performing
favorite, Ernie Kovacs.

Supplying the musical background for Edie is Joe Leahy and his orchestra. Joe,
composer, orchestra leader and musician was one of the first who predicted
stardom for Edie at the outset of her career when she was unknown to the
"Who's Who" of the theatrical trade. Joe Leahy's compositions won immediate
approval from Edie and it is only fitting that two of these, "Swiss Holiday" and
his "Theme From Studio X" be included in this album, EDIE ADAMS, which

RKO RECORDS is proud to present.

Edie Adams
[April 16, 1927 - October 15, 2008]
We will miss you, Edie.

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