Adele Jergens | |
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Jergens and Glenn Langan in 1950
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Born |
Brooklyn, New York. U.S. |
November 26, 1917
Died | November 22, 2002 Camarillo, California, U.S. |
(aged 84)
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.
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. 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 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. 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). She played Marilyn Monroe's mother in Ladies of the Chorus (1948) despite being only 9 years older than Monroe. She played an exotic dancer in Armored Car Robbery (1950) and also appeared in the movie Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951). 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.