Neile Adams
{{Short description|Filipina-American actress, singer and dancer}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| image = 1960 Neile Adams.jpg
| caption = Adams in 1960
| alt = Neile Adams
| birth_name = Ruby Neilam Salvador Adams{{r|Eliot}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1932|7|10}}
| birth_place= Manila, Philippine Islands
| death_date =
| death_place =
| known_for = {{hlist|This Could Be the Night|Fuzz}}
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1952–1991
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Steve McQueen|1956|1972|end=div}}
- {{marriage|Alvin Toffel|1980|2005|end=died}}
}}
| children = 2, including Chad McQueen
| relatives = {{plainlist|
- Steven R. McQueen (grandson)
- Isabel Preysler (niece)
- Chabeli Iglesias (great-niece)
- Julio Iglesias Jr. (great-nephew)
- Enrique Iglesias (great-nephew)
- Tamara Falcó (great-niece)
}}
}}
Ruby Neilam Salvador {{nobold|"}}Neile{{nobold|"}} Adams (born July 10, 1932) is a Filipina American actress, singer, and dancer who made more than 20 appearances in films and television series from 1952 to 1991.
Early life and family
Adams was born in Manila on July 10, 1932, daughter of José Arrastia of Asian descent.{{cite web|title=About|website=neileadamsmcqueen.com|url=https://neileadamsmcqueen.com/about/}} Her half-sister was Maria Beatriz Arrastia y Reinares, mother of socialite Isabel Preysler, mother of Enrique Iglesias and Julio Iglesias Jr.{{cite web|date=2020-11-07|title=Neile Adams: "No ha habido nadie comparable a Steve McQueen"|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/gente/20201107/49268814046/steve-mcqueen-neile-adams.html|access-date=2021-07-04|website=La Vanguardia|language=es}}{{r|García Blesa}} She reportedly never met her father.{{r|Gawecki}} Her mother, Carmen "Miami" Salvador, was a hula dancer of Spanish and German descent.{{r|Eliot|Gawecki}}
In her early teens, during the Japanese army's occupation of Manila during World War II, Adams became a spy for the Philippine resistance, carrying messages between guerrilla groups. She later was wounded by shrapnel during the Allied liberation of the island.{{r|Eliot}} She moved to the United States in 1948 and attended Rosemary Hall, a private school in Connecticut. She then went to New York to study dancing where she got a scholarship at the Katherine Dunham School of Dance. To avoid typecasting because of her name, she became known as Neile Adams.{{r|Eliot}}
Career
In 1958, producer George Abbott offered Adams a role in the Broadway production of Damn Yankees. She was unable to accept because the Versailles Club would not release her from her contract as a dancer.{{r|What Neile Wants}} Her Broadway credits include performing in Kismet and The Pajama Game.{{r|IBDB}} She also performed in 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. She 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 particularly macabre 1960 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, titled "Man from the South", with McQueen 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 titled "Ten Minutes From Now". She also appeared on episodes of television series such as Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, Fantasy Island, and Vega$.
Filmography
Film
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1952
| |
| 1957
| Patsy St. Clair |
| 1972
| Fuzz | Teddy Carella |
| 1973
| So Long, Blue Boy | Julie Stevens (as Neile Adams McQueen) |
| rowspan="2" | 1981
| Chu Chu and the Philly Flash | Car Woman (as Neile McQueen) |
| Buddy Buddy
| Saleswoman (as Neile McQueen) | Farce comedy film |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1959
| Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse | Lupe | Episode: "Border Justice" (2.6) |
| rowspan="3" | 1960
| Woman | Episode: "Man from the South" (5.15) |
| Five Fingers
| Rita Juan | Episode: "A Shot in the Dark" (1.15) |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents
| Irene Helmer | Episode: "One Grave Too Many" (5.32) |
| 1972
| Peggy Fox (segment "Love and the Out-of-Town Client) (4.13) | Episode: "Love and the Ghost / Love and the Out-of-Town Client / Love and the Secret Habit" |
| 1976
| Denise (as Neile Adams-McQueen) | Episode: "Generation of Evil" (2.20) |
| 1977
| Valerie Breuer (as Neile Adams-McQueen) | Episode: "Max" (3.10) |
| rowspan="2" | 1978
| Mrs. Lawson (as Neile Adams-McQueen) | Episode: "The Best of Enemies" (1.16) |
| The Rockford Files
| Joyce Brauder (as Neile McQueen) | Episode: "The Competitive Edge" (4.19) |
| 1980
| Trish (as Neile McQueen) | Episode "The Invisible Woman / The Snowbird" (4.7) |
| 1981
| Vega$ | Monique Duvalier (as Neile McQueen) | Episode: "French Twist" (3.21) |
| 1985
| Hotel | Madelyn Rogers (as Neile McQueen) | Episode: "Saving Grace" (3.6) |
| 1990
| Saleswoman (as Neile McQueen) | tv movie |
| 1991
| Dead on the Money | | tv movie |
Personal life
File:Steve McQueen Neile Adams 1960.JPG in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1960]]
Adams met and married American film and television actor Steve McQueen in 1956.{{r|Eliot}} The couple had two children together: a daughter, Terry Leslie McQueen, and a son, Chad McQueen. The marriage ended in divorce in 1972. She is the grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. She later married Alvin Toffel, a political campaign manager and president of the Norton Simon Museum;{{r|LA Times}} they were married until Toffel's death in 2005.{{r|LA Times}}
Adams would outlive both of her children, with her daughter Terry dying March 19, 1998 and her son Chad dying on September 11, 2024.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-mar-21-mn-31156-story.html|title=Terry McQueen; Daughter of Actor Owned Production Company|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=March 21, 1998|accessdate=September 12, 2024}}{{cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/chad-mcqueen-dead-karate-kid-steve-mcqueen-1236000439/|title=Chad McQueen, ‘Karate Kid’ Actor and Son of Film Star Steve McQueen, Dies at 63|first=Mike|last=Barnes|publisher=The Hollywood Reporter|date=September 12, 2024|accessdate=September 12, 2024}}{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2024/film/obituaries-people-news/chad-mcqueen-dead-steve-mcqueen-the-karate-kid-dutch-1236142675/|title=Chad McQueen, ‘The Karate Kid’ Star and Steve McQueen’s Son, Dies at 63|first=Diego Ramos|last=Bechara|publisher=Variety|date=September 12, 2024|accessdate=September 12, 2024}}
Archive
The Academy Film Archive houses the Steve McQueen-Neile Adams Collection, which consists of personal prints and home movies.{{cite web|title=Steve McQueen-Neile Adams Collection|url=http://www.oscars.org/film-archive/collections/steve-mcqueen-neile-adams-collection|website=Academy Film Archive}}
Selected filmography
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 5 Episode 15: "Man from the South") as the Woman
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 5 Episode 32: "One Grave Too Many") as Irene Helmer
- The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) (Season 2 Episode 26: "Ten Minutes from Now") as Sergeant Louise Marklen
References
{{Reflist|refs=
}}
Further reading
- {{cite magazine|author=Cosgrove, Ben|date=January 9, 2014|location=New York|magazine=Time|title=Lust and Marriage: Sweet, Sexy Portraits of Steve McQueen and Neile Adams|url=https://time.com/3878646/steve-mcqueen-and-neile-adams-life-photos-by-john-dominis-1963/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526142646/http://time.com/3878646/steve-mcqueen-and-neile-adams-life-photos-by-john-dominis-1963/|url-status=live|archive-date=May 26, 2015}}
External links
{{Commons category|Neile Adams}}
- {{IMDb name|0011242}}
- {{IBDB name|101657}}
- {{cite web|title=Steve McQueen-Neile Adams Collection|url=http://www.oscars.org/film-archive/collections/steve-mcqueen-neile-adams-collection|website=Academy Film Archive}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Neile}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from Manila
Category:American actresses of Filipino descent
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses