Adrienne Ames was a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl who became a popular actress before her
untimely death
She was born Ruth Adrienne McClure on August 3, 1903 in Ft. Worth, Texas. Her father, Sam McClure, was an engineer and her mother, Flora McClure, was a housewife. Adrienne was the oldest of seven children. At the age of seventeen she married Derward Dumont Truax, a wealthy oil man. Their daughter Barbara was born in 1922. Soon after she divorced her husband and moved to New York City. She started her career performing with the Ziegfeld Follies using the name Adrienne Truax. During this time she took literature classes at Columbia University and posed for photographers like Alfred Cheney Johnston. Then she moved to Hollywood where she worked as a stand-in for Pola Negri. In 1929 she made her film debut in the musical Sally. That same year she married producer Stephen M. Ames. Her big break came when she was offered a contract at Paramount in 1931. Adrienne appeared in numerous films including Husband's Holiday, Sinners In The Sun, and Guilty As Hell. The beautiful brunette quickly found herself typecast as a glamorous society girl. Her marriage was unhappy and she started an affair with actor Bruce Cabot. She left her husband and married Bruce on October 31, 1933.
Tragically just one month after the wedding her younger sister, actress Gladys MacClure, died in a car accident. Adrienne costarred with W. C. Fields in You're Telling Me and with Rudy Vallee in George White's Scandal's. She loved designer clothes and became known as one of Hollywood's best dressed women. After several separations she and Bruce divorced in 1937. Adrienne claimed that he was a violent drunk. In 1939 she starred in the low budget dramas The Zero Hour and Panama Patrol. Unhappy with the roles she was getting she decided to quit acting. Her final film was the 1940 romance I Take This Woman. Unfortunately all of her scenes were cut. She moved to New York City and began hosting a popular radio show. During World War 2 she volunteered with Bundles For Bluejackets and appeared in ads for Chesterfield cigarettes. Then she landed a starring role in the 1945 Broadway show Beggars Are Coming To Town. Sadly on May 31, 1947 she died from lung cancer. Adrienne was just forty-three years old. Her daughter and mother were at her bedside when she passed away. She was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Ft. Worth, Texas.
