Adelaide Klein

Adelaide Klein (1900–1983) was an actress who performed on radio, television, films, and the stage. She was best known for her dialects as a radio performer. Over the course of her thirty-year career, Klein performed in radio comedies and soap operas, appeared in eight shows on Broadway, four films, and on thirteen television series. She died at the age of 82 years old in 1983.

Early life

Klein was born in New York City on July 8, 1900.[1] Her parents were Morris Klein and Sophia Klein. She had two siblings: an older brother, Matthew, and a younger sister, Irene.

Career

Klein began her radio as a singer in the late 1920s. However, demand for her talents with dialect and as a character actress led her to acting full-time by 1933.[2]

Klein performed in a variety of radio programs, including roles in Terry and the Pirates, Meet Mr. Meek, We, The Abbotts, The House on Q Street, and Sometime Before Morning.[3] Klein was best known for her use of dialects in radio performances. Klein’s radio performances led to performances on stage. Klein had roles in eight Broadway productions, including Brooklyn, U.S.A. (1942) and Uncle Harry (1942), The Immoralist (1954), and Jane Eyre (1958). Her film credits included The Naked City (1948) and The Enforcer (1951). Her television roles included being featured as the landlady in Two Girls Named Smith (1951) on ABC.[4]

Blacklist

In the mid-1940s, Klein was active in the American Federation of Radio Artists (AFRA) and served as a delegate for New York at national conferences in 1943 and 1944.[5] Klein was one of 56 delegates for New York at national conferences in 1943 and 1944, where she worked with other progressives who would be blacklisted in 1950, including Donna Keath, Minerva Pious, Ann Shepherd, Selena Royle, and Hester Sondergaard.[5][6]

Klein continued to perform on stage while also appearing in films and a number of television programs in the late 1940s and early 1950s, until being listed in Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television in 1950.[7]

Personal life

Klein married Louis S. Wettels in Manhattan in the late 1920s. She later married Norman Annenberg. Klein died of a brain tumor on March 18, 1983. She was 82 years old.[8]

Filmography

  • The Naked City (1948)
  • C-Man (1949)
  • The Enforcer (1951)
  • The Troublemaker (1964)

Television appearances

  • Suspense (1949)
  • The Big Story (1949)
  • The Boris Karloff Mystery Playhouse (1949)
  • Studio One in Hollywood (1949)
  • The Ford Theatre Hour (1950)
  • The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse (1950)
  • Hands of Mystery (1950)
  • The Web (1950)
  • Two Girls Named Smith (1951)
  • The Clock (1949-1951)
  • Somerset Maugham TV Theatre (1951)
  • Lights Out (1951-1952)
  • Decoy (1958)

Broadway

  • Double Dummy (November 11, 1936 - December 1936)
  • Brooklyn, U.S.A. (December 21, 1941 - February 7, 1942)
  • Uncle Harry (May 20, 1942 - May 9, 1943)
  • Collector’s Item (February 8, 1952 - February 9, 1952)
  • The Immoralist (February 8, 1954 - May 1, 1954)
  • Once Upon A Tailor (May 23, 1955 - May 28, 1955)
  • Jane Eyre (May 1, 1958 - June 14, 1958)
  • Marathon ‘33 (December 22, 1963 - February 1, 1964)

References

  1. ↑ "Memorial Service Scheduled For Adelaide Klein, Actress". Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  2. ↑ "What Does the Listener Want In Programs?". Dayton Daily News. Ohio, Dayton. September 10, 1933. p. 13. Retrieved September 9, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas.
  4. ↑ Hyatt, Wesley (2003). Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops. McFarland. pp. 25–26. ISBN 9780786414208. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  5. 1 2 ""The Billboard AFRA Convention Pix"". The Billboard: 13. September 9, 1944 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Frohlich, Shirley (April 17, 1943). ""Air Fraternity Gathers Coin from Field Which Once Gave Mikes Cold Shoulder Routine"". The Billboard: 1 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ The American Business Consultants (1950). Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence on Radio and Television. New York City: Self-published.
  8. ↑ "Memorial Service Scheduled For Adelaide Klein, Actress". Retrieved 2018-09-14.


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