The first time I noticed Julie Adams, was when I saw a movie still from The Creature From The Black Lagoon, in a copy of my cousin’s Famous Monsters magazine. I was ten. The photo was the one where the monster is carrying her (see below). To me, she looked like a goddess in her white bathing suit, she was perfection. After seeing the photo, I bugged my dad endlessly to let me watch the movie. Eventually, he relented.

I know some of you are saying, ‘What father lets their child watch a horror movie!’ Well, mine did and often. There are way scarier movies than this, that I had viewed as a ten year old. None of them scared me, they still don’t. I guess I built up an immunity. Heck, there are way scarier things in the world and even as a kid, horror movies were an escape for me.

Over the years, I have watched this movie dozens and dozens of times. Along with Jaws, they tend to be the movies that kick off summer for me. But wait… this isn’t the only Julie Adams movie I’ve watched and it certainly, isn’t the only movie she ever made, not to mention the many television appearances. But first… let’s talk a little bit about who Julie Adams was.

Julie Adams was born as Betty May Adams on October 17, 1926 in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Arkansas-born parents Esther Gertrude (Beckett) and Ralph Adams, who was a cotton buyer. Her family moved a great deal; the longest she lived in one town was eight years in Blytheville, Arkansas. In 1946, at the age of 19, she was crowned “Miss Little Rock” and then moved to Hollywood, California to pursue her acting career. Adams worked as a part-time secretary and began her film career in B moviewesterns. {source Wikipedia}

In the beginning of her career, Julie tended to be type cast typecast as a western heroine. Personally, I don’t consider this a bad thing, since I love westerns, not to mention, during the 1950s she co-starred opposite some of Hollywood’s top leading men, including my movie crush James Stewart (Bend of the River – 1952), Rock Hudson (The Lawless Breed (1953) and One Desire (1955)),  Tyrone Power (The Mississippi Gambler – 1953), Glenn Ford (The Man from the Alamo – 1953), and many more!

Some of Julie’s notable television roles were The Incredible Hulk, Cannon, Quincy, M.E., Rockford and Wife and co-starring with James Stewart in The Jimmy Stewart Show. Julie also had a recurring role of real estate agent Eve Simpson for ten episodes of CBS’s Murder, She Wrote.

Oh and we can’t forget that she starred along side Elvis Presley in Tickle Me! in 1965.

Julie never stopped acting. As she grew older, her roles where not as often and much more selective, but she was still working up to her early nineties. She has also continued to be a goddess in my eyes!

Trivia:
*Crowned Little Miss Rock at the age of 19.
*Her name changed from Betty May (real name), to Julia, then to Julie.
*In Italy, all her films were dubbed by either Dhia Cristiani, Renata Marini or Lydia Simoneschi.
*Had to perform most of her own stunts in Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).
*Life long friends with Jimmy Stewart

Each month I run a b-movie night called Killer B Cinema. Join Lizzie Violet & Zoltan Du Lac for a monthly evening of b-moves from the 1950s to 1990s! There will also be trivia with prizes & much more! Please follow us on Instagram and Facebook!