Fewer dames were tougher on the 40s and 50s screen than leggy died of cancer in 1991 and their only child, 48-year-old Tracy, who had become a film technician, died in 2001 of a brain tumor, which devastated the actress. Her health declined quickly after her son's death; she died the following year of pneumonia on November 22, 2002, just days before her 85th birthday.
Played Marilyn Monroe s mother in Ladies of the Chorus despite the fact they were only nine years apart. This was Marilyns first co-starring role.
Bottle-blonde bombshell of 1940s and 1950s "B" films who gained entry into Hollywood via the modeling and chorus girl venues. She typically played hardcore floozies, burlesque dancers, and the like. Went on to TV and played sexy foils to Red Skelton , Bud Abbott and Lou Costello , among others.
In 1939, she was named the Fairest of the Fair at the New York Worlds Fair.
In the early 1940s, she worked as a Rockette, and was named the Number One Showgirl in New York City.
She was dubbed "The Eyeful" by a publicist at Columbia Studios.
She was dubbed "the girl with the million dollar legs" by one of her dancing instructors.
Got her first break into the big time understudying Gypsy Rose Lee as a burlesque strip artist in the Broadway show "Star and Garter" in 1942. Gypsy fell ill for two weeks during the shows run. A talent scout for Columbia Pictures caught Adeles performance and signed her to a contract.
Predeceased by her only child, her son Tracy Langan.
Daughter of Marie Adele Jergens
Her role as "Cameo" McQueen in Show Boat , a role not in the stage version or in any other film version, is referred to in the dialogue by Kathryn Grayson and Howard Keel as if it were a fairly significant bit part. But in the final release print, it was trimmed to literally a cameo, with absolutely no dialogue.
Her singing voice was dubbed by Kay Starr in Down to Earth .
Profiled in "Killer Tomatoes: Fifteen Tough Film Dames" bu Ray Hagen and Laura Wagner (McFarland, 2004).
According to Laura Wagners incisive article on Adele in the Spring 2009 issue of "Films of the Golden Age," the actress abandoned her career in 1956 for many possible reasons. Either she lost interest, had a marriage and child to focus on, or realized her chances were getting slim as a 40-year-old to get decent or fulfilling work. She never returned.
Appeared with her husband, Glenn Langan in the "Poverty Row" films Treasure of Monte Cristo and The Big Chase , both Lippert Studio productions, and in Outlaw Treasure , released by Amerian Releasing Corporation.
Parents first names were Christian and Haren Jurgens.
Columbia was really a learning experience for me. I had been on the,stage but never acted in films before. I was learning with each movie I,made, even though many were B pictures. .
