A Creature's Queen: Countdown to Halloween (Day 17)

Didn't think I'd go a Halloween without doing a post about the Creature from the Black Lagoon, did you?

Just like every hero needs a compelling villain,

every horror movie needs a scream queen.

Every monster needs his maiden.

Every vampire needs his vamp.

Every creature needs his queen.

And if the Gill-Man is the King of the Black Lagoon, then  Julie Adams is surely the Queen.

October 17th is actress Julie Adams' birthday.  She's a spry 90 years old and still gets out to conventions now and again.  She's had a long career in acting, working regularly from 1949 until 2010 on everything from numerous westerns to thrillers, to mysteries on shows such as The Jimmy Stewart Show, The Andy Griffith Show, Mannix, The Mod Squad, The Virginian, The Girl From Uncle, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, etc.

Nonetheless, she will be forever known as beautiful researcher Kay Lawrence, the young lady who took a dip in the Black Lagoon and seduced the poor Gill-Man however inadvertently.

More on Julie can be found here:

Julie Adams

And now a nice article about the original film that you might find interesting and informative:

10 Facts about The Creature From the Black Lagoon

COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN (Day 31): GINGER STANLEY in the BLACK LAGOON

Under the deep, dark waters of the Black Lagoon lurked the Creature.  A primordial being half-man, half-fish who had no mate--he was the last of his line.  And so he took some risks and got closer to these surface dwellers in his search for a mate.  But he really took note of this one gal who dared enter his lair, his home, his waters.

And while Julie Adams portrayed "Kay Lawrence" above the water, it was underwater pro Ginger Stanley who was Kay's underwater stunt-double.

Having started as a beauty queen in Ocala, she was recruited by innovator of underwater entertainment at Wakulia Springs and Weeki Wachee, Newt Perry to be one of his mermaids.  She had met Rico Browning, the man who would portray the Creature when under water, there and so when they needed a stunt swimmer for Julie Adams, he recommended Ginger.

She also did the underwater sequences in "Revenge of the Creature".

Ginger also appeared as the underwater weather girl with Dick Van Dyke and did the underwater sequences for Esther Williams in "Jupiter's Darling".