Neile Adams is a Filipino-American talented actress and dancer whose career of over 7 decades has contributed to the growth of Hollywood. She launched her career in the early 50s and rose to the top Broadway production of Kismet(1953-55) and The Pajama Game and screen roles in Alfred Hitchcock Presents(1960).
More to her life, Neile has a colorful love life that involves two marriages. Her first marriage with the actor Steve McQueen produced two children, Chad McQueen, and Leslie McQueen; it ended in divorce in 1972. Adams married her second husband, Alvin Toffel and it lasted till his death in 2005.
Neile Adams has ancestry Across Two Continents
She was born Maria Ruby Neilam Salvador Adams on July 10, 1932, in Manilla, Philippine Island. During her childhood, Adams never met her father, José Arrastia, even though her mother Carmen ‘Miami’ Salvador later claimed her father’s middle name was Adams. This explains her stage name Neile Adams, a shorter version of her name and her father’s middle name.
Neile’s background and ethnicity are quite a fascinating detail. DNA tests confirmed that she is of Eurasian descent on both sides of her family. She traces her bloodline to Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian, Polynesian, Spanish Basque, and English ancestors.
Considering her birth year, Adams is one of the survivors of the Second World War. In her case, she worked as a Filipino spy even though she was just a child.
In the years after, she moved on with her life and later moved to the US in 1948. Adams attended the Rosemary Hall, a high school which she graduated from in 1949.
Her Rise to Fame
Neile started pursuing her lifelong entertainment career at a young age. She is a trained dancer who attended the Katherine Dunham School of Dance in New York.
To avoid being cast in certain roles that had to do with her Spanish ancestry, she started using the name Neile Adams as mentioned earlier. Moving on, one of her earliest works was in Kismet(1953).
While in the show, she gave quite a stellar performance that soon made her one of the lead dancers on the show. After the show ended in 1955, she continued to pursue her career by dancing at the Versailles club. Like in previous years, her performance drew the attention of the Broadway writer and producer, George Abbot and Boob Fosse who soon influenced her performance in The Pajama Game.
Notably, she was under a contract with the Versaille club, and by extension, she had to manage working on Broadway and performing at the club till her contract with the latter ended.
Over the years, she put in all the hard work needed and made several appearances on Broadway productions.
Adams made her Screen Debut in 1952
Aside from her work as a dancer, Neile is also an actress whose credits date back to the 50s. According to IMDB, her first credited role was in the 1952 western Grubstake. She shared the screen with Jack Klugman and Stephen Wyman.
Since then, she made other appearances including;
- Dead on the Money(1991)
- Hotel(1985)
- The Alfred Hitchcock Hour(1964)
- The Eleventh Hour(1964)
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents(1960)
The Manila-born Entertainer Has Been Married Twice
Despite being a successful Broadway dancer and actress, the Manilla-born also managed to have a family life. Throughout her life, she has been married to two men, Steve McQueen and Alvin Toffel.
She was married to Steve McQueen for 16 Years
She met McQueen, an actor, and race car driver in 1956. At the time McQueen was a struggling actor but they did not allow this to affect them. In short, their attraction was so intense that they took the big decision to become a man and wife. They got married four months later on November 2, 1956.
For the next 16 years, they were able to manage their career while starting a family made up of two children, Terry Leslie McQueen, and Chad McQueen.
Like many celebrity marriages, their union also suffered its share of challenges. Aside from McQueen’s womanizing and cocaine addiction, he was allegedly abusive. At one point, he was said to have pointed a gun at Adams and demanded she tell him whether she was having an affair.
Shortly after, she discovered she was pregnant while Steve doubted the paternity of the child. He pushed her to have an abortion. In her autobiography, the dancer revealed she had an abortion in 1971 because she could not withstand the continuing physical, and mental abuse as well as a pregnancy. To have the procedure, she flew to London. They finally divorced in 1972.
Her Marriage with Alvin Toffel Lasted for 25 Years
Adams’s next marriage was with Alvin Toffel, a political manager, business, and government consultant.
He worked as a Whitehouse consultant during President Nixon’s tenure in office but left due to a loss of interest in some of Nixon’s policies. Following this, he worked for other highly influential people including. He worked as a national campaign manager during Rep Paul N. McCloskey’s presidential run for president in 1972. Other notable people he worked with include the industrialist, Norton Simon. He also worked as the president of Norton Simon Museum.
Focusing on Adams’ marriage with Toffel, the pair were able to manage a busy professional life and private life. Their marriage lasted for 25 years till Toffel’s death in 2005.
See Also: Natalee Linez: Everything About The Tell Me Lies Actress
What are Adams’ Children Up To?
Considering that Neile has been in the public eye for many decades, it has only added to our curiosity about what her children are up to. The first question is whether they took after their famous mother or not.
As it is, her children also took up acting careers. Her 64-year-old son, Chad is an actor and car racer. He took after the first from both parents and the latter from his father. Chad is notable for his role in The Karate Kid(1984) and The Karate Kid Part II(1986).
On the other hand, her daughter, Leslie lost her life at the age of 38 in 1998. Prior, she appeared in works like Hollywood Greats(1984) and Steve McQueen: The King of Cool(1998)
Apart from Chad, her grandchildren, Steven R. McQueen and Molly McQueen Flattery are also actors.
