Edie Adams

Edie Adams (1927-2008) was interviewed for four-and-a-half hours in Los Angeles, CA.  Ms. Adams chronicled her long and varied career as a singer and actress. She talked about her appearances as a featured singer with the late Ernie Kovacs, on Ernie in Kovacsland which led to her collaboration with him on his groundbreaking NBC shows (produced out of Philadelphia’s NBC affiliate WPTZ): 3 to Get Ready and Kovacs in the Corner as well as (New York shows) Kovacs Unlimited and the various incarnations of The Ernie Kovacs Show .  She talked about her Broadway roles in such shows as “Wonderful Town” and “L’il Abner” (for which she won a Tony Award) as well as her appearance as the fairy godmother in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s first musical for television, Cinderella.  She also discussed her work in such feature films as Billy Wilder’s The Apartment and Stanley Kramer’s It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World .  She recalled her many other television appearances such as those on Jack Paar’s morning show as well as commercials for Muriel cigars.  She spoke about Ernie Kovacs’ tragic death and her continued work in television and films, including her Emmy-nominated television show Here’s Edie .  She also described her work in preserving Kovacs’s legend -- archiving kinescopes and tapes of his programs for future generations. The interview was conducted by Henry Colman on March 11, 1999.