Marla Adams, who trod the boards on the Great White Way, graced the silver screen, and gained legions of fans during her tenures on various washboard weepers, has died. She was 85. No cause of death has been disclosed.
Marla Adams, Rest In Peace
A graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Adams had a run on Broadway (in The Veil opposite Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne), a featured part in Splendor in the Grass (which starred Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty in his film debut), and a bit part on General Hospital to her credit when she was cast as Belle Clemens, The Secret Storm‘s resident scheming seductress.
As Belle, Adams made principal heroine Amy Ames’ life a misery for six years — right up until the venerable soap’s cancellation. Reflecting on her role, the actress once chirped with much pride, “I was the bitch of daytime. I played a good bitch.”
Adams subsequently joined the cast of Capitol, briefly serving as harridan Myrna Clegg, a part she inherited from Carolyn Jones — who was forced to bow out for health reasons — and ceded to Marj Dusay, and would go on to appear in a succession of soaps including Generations (where she played bigoted and abused housewife Helen Mullin), The Bold and the Beautiful (Beth Logan #3), and Days of our Lives (as haughty Dr. Claire McIntyre).
But it is probably her turn as Dina Abbott Mergeron on The Young and the Restless for which Adams is best known. Dina appeared on the scene in 1983 intent on reestablishing bonds with the family she abandoned years earlier which really set the cat amongst the pigeons.
Adams maintained a front burner presence on Y&R until 1986 — during which time, amongst other plot points, her alter-ego admitted that daughter Ashley hadn’t been sired by John Abbott, but rather a man named Brent Davis — and she returned for subsequent visits in 1991, 1996, and 2007.
In 2017, then-headwriter/producer Sally Sussman Morina managed to talk her into reprising the part. Mused Adams: “I remember when [Sussman said], ‘I’m going to bring you back on The Young and the Restless, but you’ve got Alzheimer’s,’ and I said, ‘What!? You’re bringing me back so you can kill me off?’ And she said, ‘Oh no, it’ll be about a year.’ That dissolved into four years.”
Dina’s succumbing to her disease in October 2020 ultimately netted Adams the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
In addition to work on daytime sudsers, Adams appeared in several made-for-TV flicks and racked up over forty appearances on primetime hits of the day including Starsky and Hutch, Hill Street Blues, Hart to Hart, Matlock, and Walker, Texas Ranger.
A spokesperson for Y&R has said of Adams passing: “On behalf of the entire company of The Young and the Restless, we send our deepest sympathies to Marla’s family. We’re so grateful and in awe of Marla’s incredible performance as Dina Mergeron as both Marla and Dina made an unforgettable mark on Y&R.”
Adams is survived by her daughter, Pam Oates, son, Gunnar Garat, grandchildren, Gefjon and Stone, and her great-grandson, Remi.
Daily Drama extends our sincerest condolences to Marla Adams’ family, friends, fans, and industry family during this most trying time.
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