Julie Adams death: Star of Creature from the Black Lagoon dies, aged 92

Universal Studios famously declared her legs 'the most perfectly symmetrical in the world' and insured them for $125,000

(Rex)

Julie Adams, the star of the 1954 horror classic Creature From the Black Lagoon, has died aged 92.

The actor starred in the film as Kay Lawrence, the girlfriend of hero ichthyologist Dr. David Reed (Richard Carlson) and the target of the Creature’s obsessions.

The film has since become a cult classic. Guillermo del Toro has noted that the film inspired him to make The Shape of Water, which essentially imagines what would have happened if Kay returned the Creature’s advances.

She is also famous for being the subject of a publicity stunt by Universal Studios, who declared her legs ”the most perfectly symmetrical in the world” and insured them for $125,000.

Adams was born Betty May Adams on 17 October, 1926, in Waterloo, Iowa. Her father was a cotton buyer, meaning she moved frequently while growing up. Two years after graduating from Little Rock High School in Arkansas, she was crowned Miss Little Rock in 1946 and decided to move to Hollywood.

Working in the industry for more than six decades, Adams also starred across from Elvis Presley in Tickle Me (1965), Donald O’Connor in Francis Joins the WACS (1954), Dennis Hopper in The Last Movie (1971), and John Wayne in McQ (1974).

She also had several notable TV roles, starring in Murder, She Wrote, as realtor Eve Simpson; the sitcom The Jimmy Stewart Show, which aired from 1971 to 1972; and a 1963 episode of Perry Mason.

Adams died early Sunday morning, 3 February, in Los Angeles, her son Mitch Danton confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.

Julie is survived by sons Steve and Mitch from her marriage to actor/director Ray Danton, and by her daughter-in-laws Darragh and Louise, as well as four grandchildren.