Neile Adams

Neile Adams
Neile Adams
Adams in 1960
Born Ruby Neilam Salvador Adams[1]
1932 (age 85–86)
Manila, Philippines
Occupation Actress
Years active 1952–present
Spouse(s)
Steve McQueen
(m. 1956; div. 1972)

Alvin Toffel
(m. 1980; d. 2005)
Children 2, including Chad McQueen
Relatives Steven R. McQueen (grandson)
Isabel Preysler (niece)

Ruby Neilam Salvador Adams (born 1932), known professionally as Neile Adams, is an American actress, singer, and dancer who made more than 20 appearances in films and television series between 1952 and 1991.

Early life and family

Adams was born in Manila in 1932. Her mother, Carmen Salvador, was a hula dancer.[1] Her father, José Arrista, was a maternal great-grandfather of Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias.[2] As a child, during the Japanese army's occupation of Manila during World War II, she became a spy for the Philippine resistance, carrying messages between guerilla groups. She was later wounded by shrapnel during the Allied liberation of the island. After the war, Adams attended Rosemary Hall, a private school in Connecticut, and went on to study acting and dance in New York's theater district.[1]

Personal life

Adams met and married the actor Steve McQueen in 1956.[1] The couple had two children together: a daughter, Terry Leslie McQueen (1959–1998), and a son, Chad McQueen, born in 1960. The marriage ended in divorce in 1972.

She later married Alvin Toffel, a political campaign manager and president of the Norton Simon Museum;[3] they were married until Toffel's death in 2005.[3]

She is the grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen.

Career

Dancer posing expressively in an ornate leotard and sheer fabric costume, one knee resting on an upholstered bench
Publicity photo (1960)

Adams' Broadway credits include: Featured dancer in Kismet, starred in Pajama Game opposite John Raitt and Julie Wilson, and Broadway-bound At The Grand opposite Paul Muni. She married then-struggling actor Steve McQueen four months after their meeting in 1956 while filming MGM’s This Could Be the Night (1957) where she was under contract. Adams opened the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas in 1958 with Dick Shawn and Vivian Blaine.

Her other screen credits include Women in Chains (1972), Fuzz (1972), So Long, Blue Boy (1973), Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981), and Buddy Buddy (1981). Her television credits include: The Perry Como Show, two Bob Hope Christmas specials, The Eddie Fisher Show, The Patrice Munsel Show, The Pat Boone Show and The Hollywood Palace. Her dramatic television roles include a 1960 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, titled "Man From the South", opposite her husband and Peter Lorre.

Two more Alfred Hitchcock episodes followed: a half-hour show directed by Arthur Hiller in which she starred, "One Grave Too Many", and an Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode entitled "Ten Minutes From Now". She also appeared on episodes of such television series as Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, Fantasy Island, and Vega$.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Eliot, Marc (2012). Steve McQueen: A Biography. Crown/Archetype. pp. 30–32. ISBN 978-0-30-745322-8.
  2. ↑ Gawecki, Marcia (4 June 2014). "Neile Adams Says Affairs Spelled End to Marriage to Steve McQueen". Palm Springs Life. Palm Springs, Calif.
  3. 1 2 "Alvin Toffel, 69; Led Museum, Ran McCloskey Political Races". Los Angeles Times. 10 March 2005. Retrieved 2016-04-03.

Further reading

  • Cosgrove, Ben (9 January 2014). "Lust and Marriage: Sweet, Sexy Portraits of Steve McQueen and Neile Adams". Time. New York.
  • Neile Adams on IMDb
  • Neile Adams at the Internet Broadway Database
  • Neile Adams at AllMovie
  • "Steve McQueen-Neile Adams Collection". Academy Film Archive.
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