Adele Jergens (1917-2002)

biography

Born in Brooklyn on November 26, 1917 (some sources cite 1919 and 1922), beautiful Adele Jergens first rose to prominence in the late 1930s, when she was named "Miss World's Fairest" at the 1939 World's Fair, held in New York. After a few years of working as a model and chorus girl, Jergens landed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1944. One of the first changes Columbia made was to bleach Jergens' brunette hair blond. After a few small roles, Jergens landed a starring role in the 1945 film A Thousand and One Nights opposite Cornel Wilde. The studio tended to cast her in comedies such as The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947; with George Brent and Joan Blondell); The Fuller Brush Man (1948; with Red Skelton); and Beware of Blondie (1950; with Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton). In 1949, Jergens married actor Glenn Langan, whom she met on the set of Treasure of Monte Cristo (1949; with Steve Brodie).

Jergens freelanced extensively after her contract with Columbia lapsed in 1950, doing fewer comedies and more film noir. Some of her best films from this period include Side Street (1950; with Farley Granger); Edge of Doom (1950; with Farley Granger); Fireman Save My Child (1954; with Hugh O'Brian), and The Day the World Ended (1956; with Lori Nelson and Mike Connors).

the films of adele jergens

A Thousand and One Nights (1945)

Down to Earth (1947)

Ladies of the Chorus (1948)

Armored Car Robbery (1950)

Sugarfoot (1951)

Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)

The Cobweb (1955)

The Day the World Ended (1956)

Runaway Daughters (1956)

later years

After the release of Runaway Daughters (1956; with Marla English and Lance Fuller), Adele Jergens retired from the screen to raise her son and pursue other interests. Her husband Glenn Langan also retired from the screen around this time, after the release of The Amazing Colossal Man (1957). Langan went into the construction business and passed away in 1991. Adele Jergens passed away on November 22, 2002, at the age of 84.

adele jergens films available from movies unlimited

The Public Defender, Vol. 4 [DVD] DVD
Includes the episodes "Brutality," "Lost Cause," "The Big Steal," and "Your Witness." 101 min. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English. Plays All Regions.
Icons Of Screwball Comedy, Vol. 1 [DVD] DVD
A chance park bench meeting between a wealthy but unhappy auto magnate (Herbert Marshall) and an unemployed chef (Jean Arthur) leads the two to pose as a married butler/cook team for a mobster (Leo Carrillo). Marshall shines thanks to tips from his own butler, but trouble arises when Arthur proves to be a disaster in the kitchen, in "If You Could Only Cook" (1935). Then, Arthur has "Too Many Husbands" (1940), playing a young woman who finds herself the object of affection of two men: her current hubby (Melvyn Douglas) and the man (Fred MacMurray) she believed was dead. Rosalind Russell and Janet Blair star as sisters who move from Ohio to New York City to succeed as a writer and stage actress, respectively, coming across a succession of wacky characters in the process, in "My Sister Eileen" (1942). Brian Aherne co-stars. And, Russell stars in the delightful "She Wouldn't Say Yes" (1945), about a fiercely independent psychiatrist with no time for romance until she's charmed by one of her patients, a shell-shocked combat artist (Lee Bowman). 5 � hrs. total. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English; bonus short "Ain't Love Cuckoo" (1946); theatrical trailers. Two-disc set.
They Live By Night (1949)/Side Street [DVD](1950) DVD
Director Nicholas Ray's first effort, "They Live by Night," is an expressionistic blend of melodrama and film noir, with Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell as two naive young lovers whose entanglement in a web of hardened criminals destines them for tragedy. Based on the novel "Thieves Like Us" by Edward Anderson; with Howard Da Silva, Jay C. Flippen. And, "Side Street" stars Granger as a down-and-out New York mailman with a pregnant wife who steals $30,000 from a pair of blackmailers in an act of impulsive desperation. After his conscience starts to get to him, Granger decides to give the money back but winds up knee deep in danger when the friend he asked to hold the cash disappears. O'Donnell, James Craig also star. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English (SDH), French.
Armored Car Robbery [DVD](1950) DVD
A masterful criminal (William Talman) pulls off the daring heist of an armored car at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field, only to be caught in a shootout that fells the partner of a hardened police lieutenant (Charles McGraw). Armed with a thirst for vengeance, the lawman pursues his quarry in a suspenseful game of cat and mouse. Adele Jergens, Douglas Fowley co-star. Standard; Soundtrack: English.
Abbott & Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection [DVD] DVD
Fifteen-disc set includes "One Night in the Tropics" (1940), "Buck Privates" (1941), "In the Navy" (1941), "Hold That Ghost!" (1941), "Keep 'Em Flying" (1941), "Ride 'Em Cowboy" (1942), "Pardon My Sarong" (1942), "Who Done It?" (1942), "It Ain't Hay" (1943), "Hit the Ice" (1943), "In Society" (1944), "Here Come the Co-Eds" (1945), "The Naughty Nineties" (1945), "Little Giant" (1946), "The Time of Their Lives" (1946), "Buck Privates Come Home" (1947), "The Wistful Widow of Wagon Gap" (1947), "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948), "Mexican Hayride" (1948), "Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff" (1949), "Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion" (1950), "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man" (1951), "Comin' Round the Mountain" (1951), "Lost in Alaska" (1952), "Abbott and Costello Go to Mars" (1953), "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1953), "Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops" (1955), and "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy" (1955), and a disc featuring the documentaries "The World of Abbott and Costello" (1964), "Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld" (1994), and "Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters" (2000); also includes a 44-page book. 38 hrs. total.
Show Boat [DVD](1951) DVD
Spectacular MGM rendition of the beloved Hammerstein-Kern tale of show folk, gamblers and steamboats along the old Mississippi. The cast includes Howard Keel, Ava Gardner, Kathryn Grayson and Joe E. Brown as Captain Andy, with songs like "Where's the Mate for Me?," "Can't Help Lovin' that Man," and "Ol' Man River." 108 min. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital mono, Spanish Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: English, Spanish, French; theatrical trailer; interactive menus; scene access.
The Lonesome Trail (1955)/The Silver Star [DVD](1955) DVD
First, Johnny Rush (John Agar) is made to walk "The Lonesome Trail" when he returns from the Indian Wars to find his home taken over by a cattle baron who also has designs on his beloved. Wayne Morris, Margia Dean also star. Next, a sheriff (Earle Lyon) must overcome his fears and live up to "The Silver Star" when three brutal outlaws demand he leave town. Marie Windsor, Lon Chaney, Jr. also star. 146 min. total. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital stereo.
Day The World Ended (1956)/The She-Creature [DVD](1956) DVD
First, Roger Corman's $65,000 apocalypse epic "Day the World Ended" centers on the seven survivors of a nuclear holocaust who seek refuge in a cave and find themselves battling each other and the mutant animals that lurk outside. Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, Touch (Mike) Connors star. Then, a hypnotist turns his assistant into "The She-Creature," a deadly prehistoric female he plans on using to kill his enemies. Chester Morris, Marla English, Tom Conway star. 159 min. total. Widescreen/Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono.

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filmography

FILM
The Day the World Ended (1956) with Richard Denning, Lori Nelson, and Mike Connors
Girls in Prison (1956) with Richard Denning, Lance Fuller, and Phyllis Coates
Runaway Daughters (1956) with Marla English, Lance Fuller, and Frank Gorshin
Fighting Trouble (1956) with Huntz Hall
The Lonesome Trail (1955) with John Agar, Edgar Buchanan, and Wayne Morris
The Cobweb (1955) with Richard Widmark, Lauren Bacall, Gloria Grahame, Charles Boyer, Lillian Gish, Susan Strasberg, Oscar Levant, and Tommy Rettig
Outlaw Treasure (1955) with Glenn Langan
Strange Lady in Town (1955) with Greer Garson, Dana Andrews, Cameron Mitchell, Russell Johnson, Gregory Walcott, and Nick Adams
The Big Chase (1954) with Glenn Langan, Jim Davis, and Lon Chaney Jr.
The Miami Story (1954) with Barry Sullivan and Beverly Garland
Overland Pacific (1954) with Jock Mahoney and Peggie Castle
Fireman Save My Child (1954) with Hugh O'Brian, Buddy Hackett, and Spike Jones
Somebody Loves Me (1952) with Betty Hutton and Ralph Meeker
Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952) with Alan Young, Dinah Shore, Minerva Urecal, Veda Ann Borg, and Chick Chandler
Sugarfoot (1951) with Randolph Scott and Raymond Massey
Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951) with Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Arthur Franz, Sheldon Leonard, and William Frawley
Show Boat (1951) with Kathryn Grayson, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Joe E. Brown, Marge Champion, Gower Champion, Robert Sterling, Agnes Moorehead, and Leif Erickson
Armored Car Robbery (1950) with Charles McGraw, William Talman, and Steve Brodie
Beware of Blondie (1950) with Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake; the final film in the long-running Blondie series
Radar Secret Service (1950) with John Howard, Tom Neal, and Ralph Byrd
The Sound of Fury (1950) with Richard Carlson, Frank Lovejoy, Kathleen Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, and Irene Vernon
Traveling Saleswoman (1950) with Joan Davis and Andy Devine
Blues Busters (1950) with Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Craig Stevens, and Phyllis Coates
Edge of Doom (1950) with Dana Andrews, Farley Granger, Joan Evans, and Mala Powers
Everybody's Dancin' (1950) with Lyle Talbot and Sid Melton
Side Street (1950) with Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, Jean Hagen, James Craig, Paul Kelly, Charles McGraw, and Whit Bissell
Blonde Dynamite (1950) with Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall
Make Believe Ballroom (1949) with Ruth Warrick, Kay Starr, and Nat 'King' Cole
Treasure of Monte Cristo (1949) with Glenn Langan and Steve Brodie
The Mutineers (1949) with Jon Hall, George Reeves, and Lyle Talbot
The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949) with Warner Baxter, Lois Maxwell, Robert Armstrong, and Whit Bissell
Law of the Barbary Coast (1949) with Gloria Henry and Robert Shayne
Slightly French (1949) with Dorothy Lamour and Don Ameche
The Woman from Tangier (1948) with Stephen Dunne
The Dark Past (1948) with William Holden, Lois Maxwell, Lee J. Cobb, and Nina Foch
Ladies of the Chorus (1948) with Marilyn Monroe
The Fuller Brush Man (1948) with Red Skelton and Hillary Brooke
The Prince of Thieves (1948) with Jon Hall and Patricia Morison
I Love Trouble (1948) with Franchot Tone, Raymond Burr, Janet Blair, Janis Carter, Glenda Farrell, and John Ireland
Blondie's Anniversary (1947) with Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake
When a Girl's Beautiful (1947) with Peggie Castle
Down to Earth (1947) with Rita Hayworth
The Corpse Came C.O.D. (1947) with George Brent and Joan Blondell
She Wouldn't Say Yes (1945) with Rosalind Russell
A Thousand and One Nights (1945) with Cornel Wilde and Evelyn Keyes
Black Arrow (1944) with Robert Scott and Charles Middleton

TELEVISION SERIES
Pantomime Quiz, 1947-1963 TV series airing on four different networks during different seasons (ABC, DuMont, NBC, and CBS). Jergens was a regular from 1950 through 1952.

TELEVISION GUEST APPEARANCES
Soldiers of Fortune, episode The Danger Sisters, originally aired December 2, 1956
Damon Runyon Theater, episode Judy the Jinx, originally aired December 31, 1955
My Favorite Husband, episode The Painting, originally aired November 29, 1955
Damon Runyon Theater, episode Teacher's Pet, originally aired July 2, 1955
I Married Joan, episode Clothes Budget, originally aired November 3, 1954
The Public Defender, episode Lost Cause, originally aired March 25, 1954
I Married Joan, episode Home of the Week, originally aired March 17, 1954
The Ford Television Theatre, episode The People Versus Johnston, originally aired June 25, 1953
Dangerous Assignment, episode The Lagoon Story, originally aired April 28, 1952
Dangerous Assignment, episode The Art Treasure Story, originally aired March 17, 1952
Racket Squad, episode The Case of the Hearse Chasers, originally aired February 28, 1952
Stars Over Hollywood, episode Yang Yin and Mrs. Wiswell, originally aired January 17, 1951

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Watch Adele Jergens guest-star on a 1954 episode of I Married Joan, starring Joan Davis