Dawn Addams

Known for ActingBorn 1930-09-21Died 1985-05-07Felixstowe, Suffolk, England, UK

Victoria Dawn Addams (21 September 1930 – 7 May 1985) 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 (until 1971). Addams was born in Felixstowe, Suffolk, England, the daughter of Ethel Mary (née Hickie) and Captain James Ramage Addams, of the Royal Air Force. Her mother died when she was young, and she spent her early life in Calcutta, India. 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 (1951), and her subsequent MGM films included Singin' in the Rain (1952), Plymouth Adventure (1952), Young Bess (1953) and the female lead opposite Peter Lawford in The Hour of 13 (1952). She played David Niven's daughter in The Moon Is Blue (1953), a film which helped loosen the system of censorship of Hollywood which had been in place since 1934. 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 (1954) and 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 films. She was a semi-regular on the instructional series En France (1962) and the leading lady in several episodes of The Saint (1962–69), which starred Roger Moore as Simon Templar. Among her last film credits were two British horror films, The Vampire Lovers (1970) and The Vault of Horror (1973), and she was also a regular in the British sitcom Father, Dear Father (1971–1973). One of her last television roles was in the science fiction serial Star Maidens (1977). Addams retired in the early 1980s, dividing her remaining years between Europe and the United States. She married Don Vittorio Emanuele Massimo, Prince of Roccasecca, in 1954; the wedding was the subject of a cover story in Life magazine. They separated four years later, though they did not formally divorce until 1971. Their son, Prince Stefano (b.1955), married Atalanta Foxwell, daughter of film producer Ivan Foxwell and Lady Edith (Lambart), granddaughter of the 9th Earl of Cavan. In 1974 she married retired businessman Jimmy White. Addams died in 1985 in a London hospital at age 54 from lung cancer.Read more

Movies & web series

A Room in Town

Four of the Thundering Jet

The £20,000 Kiss

Singin' in the Rain

The Angry Young Men

The Scarlet Baroness

Discorama

The House of Intrigue

Die 1000 Glotzböbbel vom Dr. Mabuse

The Saint

The Black Chapel

Khyber Patrol

The Third Man

Sherlock Holmes

Elementary, My Dear Watson

ITV Playhouse

Ballad in Blue

Chaplin Today: A King in New York

Follow That Man

Secret professionnel

The Woman Who Came from the Sea

The Robe

The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse

A King in New York

Sappho

Father, Dear Father

The Vampire Lovers

The Vault of Horror

The Treasure of San Teresa

Racket Squad

The Black Tulip

The Adventurer

The Moon Is Blue

The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll

Come Dance with Me!

Triangle

The Hour of 13

Armchair Theatre

The Count of Bragelonne

The Silent Enemy

Night Into Morning

Melodie und Rhythmus

Plymouth Adventure

Riders to the Stars

Young Bess

Where the Bullets Fly

Return to Treasure Island

House of Sin