Jane Adams
Betty Jane Bierce, better known by her stage name Jane "Poni" Adams was an American actress in radio, film, and television in the 1940s and 1950s. Adams was born in San Antonio, Texas, but her family moved to California when she was two. During her high school years, she studied violin and drama, and she was selected to be a concert mistress of the all-city high school orchestra of Los Angeles. She received a full scholarship to Juilliard, which she turned down to spend years studying at the Pasadena Playhouse.
After the Playhouse, she got her start on Lux Radio Theatre, and then with the Harry Conover Modeling Agency, where she was given her nickname "Poni". This was supposedly due to her love of horses, but in reality it was to provide her with a more memorable stage name.(In the book Westerns Women: Interviews with 50 Leading Ladies of Movie and Television Westerns from the 1930s to the 1960s, Adams said: "I was given that name at the Harry Conover Modeling Agency. Why, I don't know!" She returned to using her real name in 1945.
Military personnel played a role in her change of names from Poni Adams to Jane Adams. A photograph printed in newspapers in 1946 carried the caption: "GI JANE — Jane Adams — formerly Poni Adams — holds some of 32,851 letters her press agent said came from GIs after she appealed for aid in choosing a new name."
Adams' first screen appearance was in So You Want to Give Up Smoking, a short film in 1942. She may be best known for her role as Nina in House of Dracula, but she also has the distinction of acting in early adaptations of both major DC Comics franchises: Batman, where she played Vicki Vale in the second Batman serial, Batman and Robin, and also a character in the first Superman television series.
On May 21, 2014, Adams died in Bellingham, Washington, at the age of 95. She was buried (as Betty J. Turnage) beside her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 2.802 |
Birthday | 1918-08-07 |
Place of Birth | San Antonio, Texas, USA |
Also Known As | Poni Adams, |
1945
House of Dracula
5.481/132
A scientist working on cures for rare afflictions, such as a bone softening agent made from molds to allow him to correct the spinal deformity of his...
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House of Dracula
1949
He Walked by Night
6.7/91
Roy Morgan aka Roy Morgan (Richard Basehart) is a burglar and former war-time Radio & Electronics Engineer who listens in to radio police calls, allow...
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He Walked by Night
1946
The Brute Man
4.5/30
A facially disfigured and mentally unhinged man wreaks his revenge on those he blames for his condition.
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The Brute Man
1949
Batman and Robin
5.5/34
This 15-chapter serial pits Batman and Robin against The Wizard, who uses a device that allows him to control machinery to hold the city hostage.
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Batman and Robin
1946
Smooth as Silk
4.8/7
An attorney enraged over the prosecution of two innocent people goes on a killing spree.
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Smooth as Silk
1949
Gun Law Justice
0/0
Jimmy Wakely befriends Hank Carrdigan, a former outlaw who has served his sentence and wants to go straight. Jimmy, after clearing Hank of a wrongful...
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Gun Law Justice
1946
Lost City of the Jungle
6.2/3
A movie serial in 13 chapters, and Lionel Atwill's final film: Following the end of WWII, war-monger Sir Eric Hazarias sets the wheel in motion for W...
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Lost City of the Jungle
2014
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
7.5/4
Join foremost experts discussing true Horror Classics - Frankenstein, Dracula, The Black Cat, Wolfman, King Kong, Bride of Frankenstein, and more. Gra...
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Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
1946
Lawless Breed
0/0
Government agents Ted Everett and Tumbleweed are sent to Spearville, Texas, where the law agencies have failed to stop a series of bank robberies. Arr...
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Lawless Breed
1950
Outlaw Gold
0/0
Johnny Mack Brown dodges bullets while he tries to figure out who stole the Mexican gold and who killed the newspaper editor.
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Outlaw Gold
1946
Rustler's Round-up
0/0
A cowboy sets out to break up a gang of rustlers.
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Rustler's Round-up
1945
Salome, Where She Danced
3.7/6
During the Austrian-Prussian war, Anna Marie is a dancer who is forced to flee her country after she is accused of being a spy. She ends up in a lawle...
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Salome, Where She Danced
1949
Master Minds
5.8/6
When Sach eats too much sugar, he goes into a trance whereby he's able to predict the future. Slip tries to make some money off of Sach by using him a...
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Master Minds
1950
The Girl from San Lorenzo
0/0
Cisco and Pancho set out to clear their names in a series of stage robberies committed by two thugs who are impersonating them.
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The Girl from San Lorenzo
1950
Law of the Panhandle
0/0
Johnny Mack Brown follows his tried-and-true western formula in Law of the Panhandle. This time, U.S. Marshal Brown backs up Sheriff Tom Stocker (Rile...
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Law of the Panhandle
1953
Secret of Outlaw Flats
0/0
Two episodes from the "Wild Bill Hickok" TV series edited together and released as a feature.
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Secret of Outlaw Flats
1945
Code of the Lawless
0/0
In this western, the hero fights the bad guys by impersonating the son of a rancher. The outlaws have been making the good landowners pay fake taxes....
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Code of the Lawless
1945
Trail to Vengeance
0/0
A cowboy investigating his brother's murder finds himself going up against a banker who holds the deed to the cowboy's family ranch.
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Trail to Vengeance
1946
Gunman's Code
0/0
Wells Fargo agents Jack Douglas (Kirby Grant) and Bosco O'Toole (Fuzzy Knight) are sent after a gang of stage robbers. Danny Burton (Bernard Thomas, b...
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Gunman's Code
1949
Western Renegades
5/1
Brown's principal antagonist this time is the town boss, an outlaw who has killed the community's leading citizen. The dead man's grown children want...
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Western Renegades
1945
Lady on a Train
6.5/47
While watching from her train window, Nikki Collins witnesses a murder in a nearby building. When she alerts the police, they think she has read one t...
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Lady on a Train
1951
Street Bandits
0/0
A lawyer (Robert Clarke) defends a slot-machine king, and his bride (Penny Edwards) and partner (Ross Ford) don't like it.
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Street Bandits
1989
Batmania: From Comics to Screen
7.5/4
This is the fully documented story of Batman—his genesis, his development, and his overall entertainment career. Told with dramatic insight, this acti...
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Batmania: From Comics to Screen
1946
Night in Paradise
4/1
Aesop of fable fame poses as an old man and woos away a princess who wants a king for his gold.
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