Julie Adams was born as Betty May Adams on October 17, 1926, in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Arkansas-born parents Esther Gertrude (Beckett) and Ralph Adams, who was a cotton buyer. Her family moved a great deal; the longest she lived in one town was eight years in Blytheville, Arkansas. In 1946, at the age of 19, she was crowned "Miss Little Rock" and then moved to Hollywood, California to pursue her acting career. Adams worked as a part-time secretary and began her film career in B movie westerns.
She used her real name until 1949, when she began working for Universal-International, the same studio where she met future stars such as James Best, Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis. She then became "Julia" and eventually "Julie". In 1954, she explained the latter change, "The studio picked Julia, but I never have felt comfortable with it. I just like the name Julie better, and the studio has given me permission to make the change."
Her first movie role was a minor part in Red, Hot and Blue (1949), followed by a leading role in the Lippert western The Dalton Gang (1949). Adams was featured as the beautiful ichthyologist Kay Lawrence in the science-fiction film Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).

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