All The Babes
Career
Active 1942 – 1948
Biography
About Abigail Adams
American actress Abigail Adams was born Margaret Thomas Adams on January 11, 1922, in Greenville, South Carolina. During her freshman year at the University of North Carolina, modeling agent Harry Conover discovered her. She dropped out of school and moved to New York City to model. She made her film debut in the 1942 comedy Moonlight Masquerade and briefly used the stage name Tommye Adams. In 1942 she married actor Lyle Talbot, 41, but the marriage was annulled eight months later. She had relationships with Tony Martin, Mickey Rooney, pianist Jose Iturbi, and a turbulent on-again, off-again romance with George Jessel, 23 years her senior. She appeared in bit parts in over a dozen films, including Bathing Beauty and Marriage Is A Private Affair. In March 1945 she was arrested for hit-and-run driving, but charges were dropped when Jessel testified for her.
Her apartment burned down in December 1947, and by then she was struggling with alcoholism and her career was fading. Her final film was The Fuller Brush Man in 1948. Jessel proposed with a heart-shaped diamond ring but never set a date. She sang in nightclubs, wrote a screenplay, and battled severe insomnia with sleeping pills. In 1950 she attempted suicide. In December 1954 she was arrested for public intoxication and soon ended that relationship. On February 13, 1955, at 33, she died of an overdose of sleeping pills, found in her bed wearing a blue nightgown. The death was ruled accidental, though many believed it was suicide. She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Record
Profile details
Frequently asked
What caused the end of Abigail Adams's acting career?
Her career declined due to a serious drinking problem and the destruction of her apartment in a December 1947 fire. Her last film was The Fuller Brush Man in 1948.
Was Abigail Adams married to George Jessel?
No. George Jessel proposed with a heart-shaped diamond ring but never set a wedding date. Their relationship remained on-again, off-again until she ended it in 1954.
How did Abigail Adams die?
She died at age 33 from an overdose of sleeping pills. Police ruled it accidental, but many suspected suicide.
Did you know
- She was born Margaret Thomas Adams but used the stage name Tommye Adams for a short time.
- Her marriage to Lyle Talbot lasted only eight months before being annulled.
- She was arrested for hit-and-run driving in 1945, but charges were dropped after George Jessel testified in her defense.
- Her final film, The Fuller Brush Man, was released in 1948, the same year her career effectively ended.
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