She was 81 when she succumbed to cancer and pneumonia.
-- "That's All" (I Love Lucy Series Finale)
Born as Edith Elizabeth Enke in Kingston, Pennsylvania, "Edie" grew up in Tenafly, New Jersey. She sang, and starred on Broadway and on television. She starred on Broadway in Wonderful Town in 1953 and in Li'l Abner in 1956; and played the Fairy Godmother in Rodgers & Hammerstein's original 1957 Cinderella broadcast. She also played "Miss Olsen" in the 1960 film The Apartment.
Adams began working regularly on television with future husband, comedian Ernie Kovacs and talk show pioneer Jack Paar. Kovacs was a noted cigar smoker, and Adams did a long-running series of TV commercials for Muriel Cigars.
She remained the pitch-lady for Muriel well after Kovacs' death, to pay off his massive back-taxes debt to the IRS. In one commercial she intoned, "Why don't you pick one up and smoke it sometime? "Another commercial for Muriel cigars, which cost ten cents, showed Adams singing, "Hey, big spender, spend a little dime with me" (based on the song, "Hey Big Spender" from the musical Sweet Charity.)
HIGHLY Recommended (Links to Amazon):
-- 1971 Muriel Cigars commercial with Edie Adams
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