Dawn Addams
Victoria Dawn Addams was a British actress, particularly in Hollywood motion pictures of the 1950s and on British television in the 1960s and 1970s. She became a princess in 1954.
Early years
Dawn was the daughter of James Ramage Addams and Ethel Mary Hickie, born in Suffolk on 21 September 1930. Her father was a Flight-Lieutenant in the RAF, and son of artists Clifford Isaac Addams and Inez Eleanor Bate, and after Ethel's death he married the actress Arline Judge. Dawn's mother was a native of Cork and was married to Arthur Thistlethwaite until they divorced in 1927; she died in April 1936 when Dawn was just five years old.Career
Addams' face and physique attracted the attention of talent agents. In December 1950, she signed a seven-year contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios. Her film career began with a role in Night into Morning, and her subsequent MGM films included Singin' in the Rain, Plymouth Adventure, Young Bess and the female lead opposite Peter Lawford in The Hour of 13. She played David Niven's daughter in The Moon Is Blue. She also embarked on a USO tour the same year to help entertain troops in Korea. She worked steadily in films during the remainder of the 1950s, including a heavily publicised role as Richard Carlson's model girlfriend in the science fiction film Riders to the Stars and the female lead opposite actor-director-filmmaker legend Charlie Chaplin in his final comedy to star himself, A King in New York. During the 1960s and 1970s, she appeared mainly in British TV shows and French films.She was a semi-regular on the instructional series En France and the leading lady in several episodes of The Saint, which starred Roger Moore as Simon Templar. In 1968 she guest starred in the episode Handicap Dead of the classic spy-fi series Department S.
Among her last film credits were two British horror films, The Vampire Lovers and The Vault of Horror, and she was also a regular in the British sitcom Father, Dear Father. One of her last television roles was in the science fiction serial Star Maidens. Addams retired in the early 1980s, dividing her remaining years between Europe and the United States.
On 1 May 2024 the book, Dawn Addams - My Life As Chaplin's Leading Lady - Filming Charles Chaplin's A King in New York - By John Francis Lane. Introduction and Afterword by James Pepper, was published by James Pepper Rare Books, Inc., Santa Barbara, California.