Dawn Addams

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Dawn Addams (21 September 1930 – 7 May 1985) was a British actress in motion pictures of the 1950s.

She was born Victoria Dawn Addams in Felixstowe, Suffolk, England, the daughter of Ethel Mary and Captain James Ramage Addams. Her mother died when she was young, and she spent her early life in Calcutta, India. Her heart shaped face and beautiful physique soon attracted the attention of talent agents. She resembled another British actress Elizabeth Taylor but only slightly. Addams unlike Taylor retained her British accent.

Her film career began in 1951, and a year later she co-starred with Peter Lawford in The Hour of 13. In 1953 she appeared in a small role in the ground-breaking film The Moon is Blue, the film which helped end the system of religious censorship of Hollywood films, which had been in place since 1934. She also embarked on a USO tour the same year to help entertain troops in Korea, followed by a small but heavily publicised role as Richard Carlson's model girlfriend in the science fiction film Riders to the Stars (1954). Another notable performance was as the female lead opposite actor-director-filmmaker legend Charlie Chaplin in his final comedy to star himself A King in New York (1957). During the 1960s and 1970s she appeared mainly in British TV shows and French movies.

She was a semi-regular on the instructional series En France (1962) and the campy sci-fi serial Star Maidens (1977), and she was a ubiquitous leading lady in several episodes of The Saint, which starred Roger Moore as Simon Templar (1962–1969).

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. Addams retired in the early 1980s, dividing her remaining years between Europe and the United States.

She died in 1985, aged 54, reportedly from cancer. Addams had been a heavy smoker. In one episode of The Saint entitled "The Queen's Ransom" from 1966, she is seen lighting a cigarette in several scenes of the hour long show.

Personal life

She was married to:

Jimmy White (September 1974 – ?)

Don Vittorio Emanuele Massimo, Prince of Roccasecca (1954–1971). One son, Prince Stefano Massimo, born 10 January 1955.

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