NOTABLE ARKANSAS

She was born in Iowa as Betty May Adams, but grew up in Little Rock where she caught the acting bug in elementary school. After attending Little Rock Junior College, she moved to California to live with an aunt. She started taking acting lessons. Her first motion picture part was an uncredited role in a film produced by Paramount Pictures called Red, Hot and Blue (1949).

She got a leading role in the Lippert Western The Dalton Gang (1949) and a series of six more B-westerns in five weeks. Universal Studio signed her to a contract, changed her name and claimed her legs were “the most perfectly symmetrical in the world” and that they were insured for $125,000. She was soon to star in a motion picture that would bring her stardom — The Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954). She also appeared in Tickle Me with Elvis Presley (1965) and began making numerous guest appearances on popular TV shows such as Perry Mason, The Virginian and The Big Valley.

As her television career continued to grow, she had major roles in popular series such as The Bold Ones,

The Jimmy Stewart Show and the long-running Murder, She Wrote. After a lifetime of success as a major Hollywood star she was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame.

Who was this actress from Little Rock?

Julie Adams