Adele Jergens

Fewer dames were tougher on the 40s and 50s screen than leggy (5'9") "B" star 'Adele Jergens' (qv), the tough-talking, plump-cheeked peroxide blonde who gave her fair share of tawdry trouble in backstage dramas, film noir, crime potboilers, and adventure yarns. She was just as headstrong at trying to bust out of the chorus lines and cheesecake parts to become a topnotch "A" actress draw. She failed in the latter but nevertheless left a respectable Hollywood legacy for the host of hard-as-nails babes that did leave an impression.Born on November 26, 1917, in Brooklyn New York, the youngest of four to working class Norwegian parents, she was christened Adele Louisa Jurgens (some sources say Jurgenson) and started her youth as a sports-minded tomboy before setting her young teen sights on an entertainment career as a dancer. After years of study (she earned a scholarship) at a Manhattan dance studio and following her graduation from Grover Cleveland High School, the knockout-looking 18-year-old found her way into the Broadway chorus line (billed as Adele Jurgens, her real name) of the 'Moss Hart' (qv)/'Cole Porter' (qv) musical "Jubilee!", which introduced the classic Porter songs "Begin the Beguine" and "Just One of Those Things" and starred Melville Cooper and 'Mary Boland' (qv) as the King and Queen and a young 'Montgomery Clift' (qv) as Prince Peter.The John Robert Powers Agency saw in Adele top runway model potential and quickly signed up the gorgeous girl and her gams. She willingly played the starlet game by being squired around town by big Broadway stars and handsome male eligibles, and finding promotional titles to further attract pin-up attention -- "Miss World's Fairest" at the New York 1939 World's Fair, as well as "The Champagne Blonde" and "The Girl with the Million Dollar Legs". She was even dubbed "The Number One Showgirl in New York City" at one point. By this time she had revised the spelling of her last name for the stage (Jergens). In between modeling assignments, Adele found dance work in other in cabaret revues, nightclubs, in the Rockette chorus line, and in such Broadway shows as 'Cole Porter' (qv)'s "Leave It to Me!" (1938) again starring Gaxton and Moore and co-starring "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" singing star 'Mary Martin' (qv); 'Cole Porter' (qv)'s "DuBarry Was a Lady" (1939) with 'Ethel Merman' (qv) belting out "Well, Did You Evah?" and "Friendship"; "Louisiana Purchase" (in a replacement role) (1940), "Banjo Eyes" (1941) starring 'Eddie Cantor' (qv) and the burlesque revue "Star and Garter" (1942) in which Adele had a featured role while understudying one of its headliners, 'Gypsy Rose Lee' (qv). She went on for Ms. Lee, Hollywood took immediate notice with Twentieth Century-Fox signing her up.Adele started at the bottom rung at Fox with the usual decorative showgirl or good time girl parts in the musicals _Hello Frisco, Hello (1943)_ (qv), _Sweet Rosie O'Grady (1943)_ (qv), _The Gang's All Here (1943)_ (qv)and _Pin Up Girl (1944)_ (qv). When Fox dropped her option she was snatched up by Columbia in a seven-year contract. After minor parts again in the musicals _Dancing in Manhattan (1944)_ (qv), _Tonight and Every Night (1945)_ (qv) and _State Fair (1945)_ (qv), she was entrusted with the lead femme role as Princess Armina of Baghdad in the Eastern adventure _A Thousand and One Nights (1945)_ (qv) with 'Phil Silvers' (qv) and handsome 'Cornel Wilde' (qv) as Aladdin. She also displayed a brusque comic flair as the aptly-named Allura in the 'Rosalind Russell' (qv) comedy _She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945)_ (qv) as an hilariously-accented blonde briefly competing for Russell's man 'Lee Bowman' (qv). She top-lined her own musical albeit the quickly forgotten _When a Girl's Beautiful (1947)_ (qv) which co-starred 'Marc Platt' (qv) and 'Stephen Dunne' (qv).After a lull, the former WWII pin-up (once nick-named "The All-American Girl" by the men of the 504th parachute infantry) was now being billed by Columbia as "The Eyeful" and returned to the musical genre with the fantasy _Down to Earth (1947)_ (qv). 'Rita Hayworth' (qv) plays a heavenly muse who, disturbed by a Broadway musical below the clouds that is mocking Greek mythology. Turning mortal, she takes things in her own hands by turning mortal and (not easily) replacing the show's tough-talking original goddess 'Adele Jergens' (qv) in order to manipulate the proceedings. Adele gets to tap and sing (dubbed by 'Kay Starr' (qv)) before she is fired.Outside of musicals, the hard-looking blonde (especially when her hair was let down), Adele started making headway in crime dramas and film noir starting with a nifty featured role as a glamour girl in _The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947)_ (qv). She followed that with hard-boiled roles in _I Love Trouble (1948)_ (qv), _The Dark Past (1948)_ (qv), _Edge of Doom (1950)_ (qv), _Armored Car Robbery (1950)_ (qv) and _Side Street (1950)_ (qv). For the most part, however, it was the usual over-served hash that, while keeping her busy, also kept her locked in the "B" support ranks -- _The Prince of Thieves (1948)_ (qv), _Law of the Barbary Coast (1949)_ (qv), _Slightly French (1949)_ (qv), _Make Believe Ballroom (1949)_ (qv), _Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952)_ (qv), _Somebody Loves Me (1952)_ (qv) -- when not leading in inconsequential material such as _Ladies of the Chorus (1948)_ (qv) (as the mother of Marilyn's Monroe's character), _The Mutineers (1949)_ (qv), _The Woman from Tangier (1948)_ (qv), _The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949)_ (qv) and the serial _Radar Secret Service (1950)_ (qv)._Treasure of Monte Cristo (1949)_ (qv) was notable for the casting of Adele and future husband 'Glenn Langan' (qv). One might think that gorgeous Adele would end up a divorcée many times over, but she and Langan, who wed on October 6, 1951, stayed married until his death almost 40 years later. The 1950s, following good parts (_Sugarfoot (1951)_ (qv)) but far more routine ones (_Beware of Blondie (1950)_ (qv), _The Traveling Saleswoman (1950)_ (qv), _Blues Busters (1950)_ (qv)), Adele moved into TV work. After having son Tracy in 1953, Adele took a brief break from her career, then resumed it and found work on such programs as "Dangerous Assignment", "The Abbott & Costello Show", "Mr. and Mrs. North", "Make Room for Daddy", "The Public Defender", "I Married Joan", "My Favorite Husband", and "The Burns & Allen Show". Co-starring on film with husband Langan again in _The Big Chase (1954)_ (qv), Jergens worked for a couple more years then left the business as the quality of her movies diminished with tawdry roles in _Fireman Save My Child (1954)_ (qv), _The Miami Story (1954)_ (qv), _The Lonesome Trail (1955)_ (qv), _Girls in Prison (1956)_ (qv) and _Runaway Daughters (1956)_ (qv). She never returned but husband continued his career until the early 1970s; he also dabbled in real estate.'Glenn Langan' (qv) died of cancer in 1991 and their only child, 48-year-old Tracy, who had become a film technician, died in 2001 of a brain tumor, which devastated the actress. Her health declined quickly after her son's death; she died the following year of pneumonia on November 22, 2002, just days before her 85th birthday.::Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net