Adele Jergens
| Adele Jergens | |
|---|---|
 Jergens and Glenn Langan in 1950 | |
| Born |
November 26, 1917 Brooklyn, New York. U.S. |
| Died |
November 22, 2002 (aged 84) Camarillo, California, U.S. |
| Years active | 1943–1956 |
| Spouse(s) | Glenn Langan (1949-1991) (his death) 1 child |
| Children | Tracy Langan |
Adele Jergens (November 26, 1917 – November 22, 2002) was an American actress.[1]
Early life and career
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Jergens' birth date is sometimes listed as 1922. Jergens first rose to prominence in the late 1930s, when she was named "Miss World's Fairest" at the 1939 New York World's Fair.[2] In the early 1940s, she briefly worked as a Rockette, and was named the Number One Showgirl in New York City.[3]
After a few years of working as a model and chorus girl, including being an understudy to Gypsy Rose Lee in the Broadway show Star and Garter in 1942, Jergens landed a movie contract with Columbia Pictures in 1944, with brunette Jergens becoming a blonde.[2] At the beginning of her career she had roles in movies where she was usually cast as blonde floozies and burlesque dancers as in Down to Earth starring Rita Hayworth (1947) and The Dark Past starring William Holden (1948).[4] She played Marilyn Monroe's mother in Ladies of the Chorus (1948) despite being only 9 years older than Monroe.[5] She played an exotic dancer in Armored Car Robbery (1950) and also appeared in the movie Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951).[3] She had a part in The Cobweb (1955) directed by Vincente Minnelli starring Richard Widmark and Lauren Bacall.
She also worked in the 1950s radio show "Stand By For Crime" as 'Glamourpuss' Carol Curtis with her real-life husband Glenn Langan as Chuck Morgan.
Personal life and death
In 1949, while filming Treasure of Monte Cristo, a film noir set in San Francisco, she met and married co-star Glenn Langan.[5] They had one child, a son named Tracy Langan, who eventually worked in Hollywood behind the scenes, as a film technician. Jergens and Langan remained married until his death from lymphoma, on January 26, 1991, at age 73. Tracy Langan died of a brain tumor in 2001.[6] Adele Jergens-Langan, who retired from the screen in 1956, died on November 22, 2002, from pneumonia, in her Camarillo, California home. Her death came just 4 days before her 85th birthday.[7]
She was buried beside her husband and son at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California, under the headstone marked 'Langan'.[8]
Selected filmography
- A Thousand and One Nights (1945)
- Down to Earth starring Rita Hayworth (1947)
- The Dark Past (1948)
- The Woman from Tangier (1948)
- Ladies of the Chorus (1948)
- Law of the Barbary Coast (1948)
- Slightly French (1949)
- The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949)
- Armored Car Robbery (1950)
- Beware of Blondie (1950)
- Blonde Dynamite (1950)
- Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
- The Miami Story (1954)
- The Cobweb (1955)
References
- ↑ "Adele Jergens". BFI.
- 1 2 Hal Erickson. "Adele Jergens - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie". AllMovie.
- 1 2 "Adele Jergens, 84; Blond Bombshell in Many Films". latimes.
- ↑ Ronald Bergan. "Obituary: Adele Jergens". the Guardian.
- 1 2 "Adele Jergens at Brian's Drive-In Theater". briansdriveintheater.com.
- ↑ "Adele Jergens - The Private Life and Times of Adele Jergens. Adele Jergens Pictures.". glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com.
- ↑ "Archives: Story". filmsofthegoldenage.com.
- ↑ "Adele Jergens (1917 - 2002) - Find A Grave Memorial". findagrave.com.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adele Jergens. |
- Adele Jergens at the Internet Movie Database
- Adele Jergens at the Internet Broadway Database
- Adele Jergens LA Times Obituaries
- Photos of Adele Jergens from 1940's films by Ned Scott