LOS ANGELES, Oct 24: Actress Kathryn Adams, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “Saboteur”, has died at the age of 96.
Adams also appeared in the 1939 version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, and was married to actor Hugh Beaumont, who starred in ’50s TV series “Leave It to Beaver.”
She died at an assisted living facility on October 14 in Mankato, Minnesota, her daughter Kristan Beaumont told The Hollywood Reporter.
Adams appeared alongside Ginger Rogers in the 1939 movie “Fifth Avenue Girl”, and was originally signed on to play Esmeralda in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” later that year.
However, lead actor Charles Laughton insisted on having Maureen O’Hara play the part, so Adams was relegated to a much smaller role in the film.
She went on to star as Mrs Brown, a young mother and the daughter of Otto Kruger’s mysterious Charles Tobin in Hitchcock’s 1942 thriller “Saboteur.”
Adams had small parts in Universal movies during her illustrious career before she married Hugh in 1942. The couple appeared in the 1946 movie “Blonde for a Day”, which was her final on-screen role.
Hugh went on to portray father Ward Cleaver for six seasons on US show “Leave It to Beaver”, which aired from 1957 until 1963. He and Adams divorced in 1974, and he died in 1982 at the age of 73.
Adams left acting to raise a family, and eventually became a teacher in Hollywood, a psychologist and an author.
She married Dr Fred Doty in 1975, and he died in 2010. Adams is survived by her daughter Kristan, sons Hunter and Mark, six grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. (PTI)
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