Adele Jergens

Adele Jergens (November 26, 1917 – November 22, 2002) was an American actress.

Early life

Adele Louisa Jurgens (some sources say Jurgenson) was born in Brooklyn, New York.

Career

Jergens rose to prominence in the late 1930s when she was named "Miss World's Fairest" at the 1939 New York World's Fair. In the early 1940s, she briefly worked as a Rockette and was named the number-one showgirl in New York City.

After a few years' work 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, and dyed her brown hair blonde.

At the beginning of her career, she was usually cast as a floozy or burlesque dancer, such as in '' Down to Earth'' starring Rita Hayworth (1947), '' The Dark Past'' starring William Holden (1948), and '' Armored Car Robbery'' (1950).

She played Marilyn Monroe's mother in '' Ladies of the Chorus'' (1948) despite being only nine years older than Monroe. She played a criminal's girl in '' Try and Get Me'' (1950), and appeared in the movie '' Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man'' (1951).

She had a part in '' The Cobweb'' (1955), directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Richard Widmark and Lauren Bacall. She worked in the 1950s radio show ''Stand By for Crime'' as Glamourpuss Carol Curtis alongside her real-life husband Glenn Langan as Chuck Morgan.

Personal life

In 1949, while filming ''Treasure of Monte Cristo'', a film noir set in San Francisco, she met and married co-star Glenn Langan. They remained married until his death from lymphoma on January 26, 1991, at age 73.

They had one child, a son, Tracy Langan, who eventually worked in Hollywood as a film technician. He died of a brain tumor in 2001.

Death

Jergens died from pneumonia on November 22, 2002, in her home in Camarillo, California, four days shy of 85.

She was buried beside her husband and son at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery in Chatsworth, California.

Selected filmography

* '' Hello Frisco, Hello'' (1943) – Chorine (uncredited)
* '' Sweet Rosie O'Grady'' (1943) – Diner at Delmonico's / Chorus Girl (uncredited)
* ''Jane Eyre'' (1943) – Woman at Party (uncredited)
* '' The Gang's All Here'' (1943) – Chorus Girl (uncredited)
* '' Pin Up Girl'' (1944) – Canteen Worker (uncredited)
* ''Black Arrow'' (1944) – Mary Brent
* '' Dancing in Manhattan'' (1944) – Darnelle (uncredited)
* '' Together Again'' (1944) – Gilda LaVerne (uncredited)
* ''Tonight and Every Night'' (1945) – Showgirl (uncredited)
* '' A Thousand and One Nights'' (1945) – Princess Armina
* ''State Fair'' (1945) – Girl on Rollercoaster (uncredited)
* ''Fallen Angel'' (1945) – Woman at Madley's Show (uncredited)
* '' She Wouldn't Say Yes'' (1945) – Allura
* '' The Corpse Came C.O.D.'' (1947) – Mona Harrison
* '' Down to Earth'' (1947) – Georgia Evans
* '' When a Girl's Beautiful'' (1947) – Adele Jordan
* '' Blondie's Anniversary'' (1947) – Gloria Stafford
* '' The Prince of Thieves'' (1948) – Lady Christabel
* '' I Love Trouble'' (1948) – Boots Nestor
* ''The Woman from Tangier'' (1948) – Nylon
* '' The Fuller Brush Man'' (1948) – Miss Sharmley
* '' The Dark Past'' (1948) – Laura Stevens
* '' Ladies of the Chorus'' (1948) – Mae Martin
* '' Slightly French'' (1949) – Yvonne La Tour
* '' Law of the Barbary Coast'' (1949) – Lita
* '' The Crime Doctor's Diary'' (1949) – Inez Gray
* '' Make Believe Ballroom'' (1949) – Adele Jergens
* '' The Mutineers'' (1949) – Norma Harrison
* '' Treasure of Monte Cristo'' (1949) – Jean Turner
* '' The Traveling Saleswoman'' (1950) – Lilly
* '' Radar Secret Service'' (1950) – Lila
* '' Blonde Dynamite'' (1950) – Joan Marshall
* ''Side Street'' (1950) – Lucille 'Lucky' Colner
* '' Everybody's Dancin''' (1950) – Adele Jergens
* ''Beware of Blondie'' (1950) – Toby Clifton
* '' Armored Car Robbery'' (1950) – Yvonne LeDoux
* '' Edge of Doom'' (1950) – Irene
* ''Blues Busters'' (1950) – Lola Stanton
* '' The Sound of Fury'' (1950) – Velma
* '' Sugarfoot'' (1951) – Reva Cairn
* '' Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man'' (1951) – Boots Marsden
* ''Show Boat'' (1951) – Cameo McQueen (uncredited)
* '' Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick'' (1952) – Gladys
* '' Somebody Loves Me'' (1952) – Nola Beach
* '' Overland Pacific'' (1954) – Jessie Loraine
* '' Fireman Save My Child'' (1954) – Harry's Wife
* '' The Miami Story'' (1954) – Gwen Abbott
* '' The Big Chase'' (1954) – Doris Grayson
* '' Strange Lady in Town'' (1955) – Bella Brown
* '' Outlaw Treasure'' (1955) – Rita Starr
* '' The Cobweb'' (1955) – Miss Cobb
* '' The Lonesome Trail'' (1955) – Mae
* '' Day the World Ended'' (1955) – Ruby
* '' Girls in Prison'' (1956) – Jenny
* '' Fighting Trouble'' (1956) – Mae Randle
* '' Runaway Daughters'' (1956) – Dixie Jackson

References

External links

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* Adele Jergen
''Los Angeles Times'' Obituaries
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jergens, Adele
American film actresses
Burials at Oakwood Memorial Park Cemetery
Musicians from Brooklyn
1917 births
2002 deaths
American female dancers
Dancers from New York (state)
Actresses from Brooklyn
20th-century American actresses
20th-century American musicians
American radio actresses
American television actresses
20th-century American dancers
Columbia Pictures contract players
Deaths from pneumonia in California