Neile Adams

Early life and family Adams was born in Manila, of Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian, Polynesian, Spanish Basque, English, and German descent, Her half-sister was Maria Beatriz Arrastia y Reinares, mother of socialite and television host Isabel Preysler, who in turn was the mother of Enrique Iglesias and Julio Iglesias Jr. She reportedly never met her father. Her mother, Carmen "Miami" Salvador, was a hula dancer of Spanish and German descent.

In her early teens, during the Japanese army's occupation of Manila during World War II, Adams became a spy for the Philippine resistance, carrying messages between guerrilla groups. She later was wounded by shrapnel during the Allied liberation of the island. She moved to the United States in 1948 and attended Rosemary Hall, a private school in Connecticut. She then went to New York to study dancing where she got a scholarship at the Katherine Dunham School of Dance. To avoid typecasting because of her name, she became known as Neile Adams.

Career

In 1958, producer George Abbott offered Adams a role in the Broadway production of Damn Yankees. She was unable to accept because the Versailles Club would not release her from her contract as a dancer. Her Broadway credits include performing in Kismet and The Pajama Game. She also performed in Broadway Bound at The Grand opposite Paul Muni. She married then-struggling actor Steve McQueen four months after their meeting in 1956 while filming MGM’s This Could Be the Night (1957) where she was under contract. She opened the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas in 1958 with Dick Shawn and Vivian Blaine.

Her other screen credits include Women in Chains (1972), Fuzz (1972), So Long, Blue Boy (1973), Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981), and Buddy Buddy (1981). Her television credits include: The Perry Como Show, two Bob Hope Christmas specials, The Eddie Fisher Show, The Patrice Munsel Show, The Pat Boone Show and The Hollywood Palace. Her dramatic television roles include a 1960 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, titled "Man from the South", with McQueen and Peter Lorre. Two more Alfred Hitchcock episodes followed: a half-hour show directed by Arthur Hiller in which she starred, "One Grave Too Many", and an Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode titled "Ten Minutes from Now". She also appeared on episodes of television series such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, Fantasy Island, and Vega$.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1952 Grubstake Western film 1957 This Could Be the Night Patsy St. Clair Comedy film 1972 Fuzz Teddy Carella Action film 1973 So Long, Blue Boy Julie Stevens (as Neile Adams McQueen) Horror film 1981 Chu Chu and the Philly Flash Car Woman (as Neile McQueen) Comedy film Buddy Buddy Saleswoman (as Neile McQueen) Farce comedy film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1959 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Lupe Episode: "Border Justice" (2.6) 1960 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Woman Episode: "Man from the South" (5.15) Five Fingers Rita Juan Episode: "A Shot in the Dark" (1.15) Alfred Hitchcock Presents Irene Helmer Episode: "One Grave Too Many" (5.32)1972 Women in Chains Connie tv movie Love, American Style Peggy Fox (segment "Love and the Out-of-Town Client) (4.13) Episode: "Love and the Ghost / Love and the Out-of-Town Client / Love and the Secret Habit" 1976 Police Woman Denise (as Neile Adams-McQueen) Episode: "Generation of Evil" (2.20) 1977 The Bionic Woman Valerie Breuer (as Neile Adams-McQueen) Episode: "Max" (3.10) 1978 Operation Petticoat Mrs. Lawson (as Neile Adams-McQueen) Episode: "The Best of Enemies" (1.16) The Rockford Files Joyce Brauder (as Neile McQueen) Episode: "The Competitive Edge" (4.19) 1980 Fantasy Island Trish (as Neile McQueen) Episode "The Invisible Woman / The Snowbird" (4.7) 1981 Vega$ Monique Duvalier (as Neile McQueen) Episode: "French Twist" (3.21) 1985 Hotel Madelyn Rogers (as Neile McQueen) Episode: "Saving Grace" (3.6) 1990 Nightmare on the 13th Floor Saleswoman (as Neile McQueen) tv movie 1991 Dead on the Money tv movie

Personal life

Adams met and married American film and television actor Steve McQueen in 1956. The couple had two children together: a daughter, Terry Leslie McQueen, and a son, Chad McQueen. The marriage ended in divorce in 1972. She is the grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. She later married Alvin Toffel, a political campaign manager and president of the Norton Simon Museum; they were married until Toffel's death in 2005.

Adams would outlive both of her children, with her daughter Terry dying March 19, 1998 and her son Chad dying on September 11, 2024.

Archive The Academy Film Archive houses the Steve McQueen-Neile Adams Collection, which consists of personal prints and home movies.

Selected filmography Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 5 Episode 15: "Man from the South") as the Woman Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 5 Episode 32: "One Grave Too Many") as Irene Helmer The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) (Season 2 Episode 26: "Ten Minutes from Now") as Sergeant Louise Marklen