The Dope on Dawn Addams

We first became aware of (or took note of) actress Dawn Addams (Victoria Dawn Addams, 1930-1985) from her prominent role as “Ann, the TV specialist” in Charlie Chaplin’s A King in New York (1957). What’s not evident from the film itself, for she didn’t credit herself that way, that at the time the film was made, Addams was a literal princess. Her husband was Don Vittorio Emanuele Massimo, Prince of Roccasecca, a region in Italy. Addams had in fact become a princess even before Grace Kelly had. Unlike Princess Grace though, Addams did not retire from acting — the best of all possible worlds.

Addams had been born in East Suffolk, though she spent much of her childhood in Calcutta, India where her father, an RAF officer, was stationed. She attended schools in England and California (to which she’d been evacuated during WWII). At the age of 13 she auditioned for the role of the older sister in National Velvet, but didn’t get the part. She later attended RADA and began to get roles in English repertory theatre, and toured the continent. The fact that she also spoke French and Italian would assist her throughout her career.

Addams’ breakthrough year was 1950, when at age 20 she was cast a regular on The Alan Young Show and signed a contract with MGM. Some of her early films include Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Plymouth Adventure (1952), Young Bess (1953), The Moon is Blue (1953), The Robe (1953), and Return to Treasure Island (1954). She married her prince in 1954, and from that point she begins appearing in French, Italian, and German films as well.

Charlie Chaplin was in European exile when he made A King in New York (1957). It’s the subtext and theme of the entire movie, which becomes much more interesting in light of that knowledge. It was his last starring feature. Her part in the film was a smart, modern “tv specialist”, essentially an advertising professional. I don’t know if Chaplin stunt cast her on account of her title. What’s interesting to me is that, unlike nearly every other much-younger knockout gorgeous actress of his previous films, he didn’t get involved with her. By then he was happily married to Oona O’Neill and was the father of several children. He was also 68 years old when he made the film. But the old reprobate certainly hits on the actress plenty in the movie itself, to a borderline unseemly degree.

Shortly after this, she separated from Don Vittorio. Their divorce became final in 1971. Two years later, their son Prince Stefano Massimo married into the British nobility. His wife Atalanta was the daughter of Lady Edith Foxwell, wife of film producer Ivan Foxwell and granddaughter of the 9th Earl of Cavan.

In the late ’50s and ’60s, Addams was a frequent sight on British television, on shows like The Third Man with Michael Rennie, Danger Man a.k.a. Secret Agent with Patrick McGoohan, and The Saint with Roger Moore. Movies of her later period include Hammer’s The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll (1960); The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960, Fritz Lang’s last film); Follow That Man (1961, opposite Sydney Chaplin); Come Fly With Me (1963) with Karl Malden, Hugh O’Brian, Pamela Tiffin, and Lois Nettleton; The Vampire Lovers (1970) with Peter Cushing; and the all-star The Vault of Horror (1973). In 1974 she remarried and later settled in Malta, although she continued to act in theatre and British television until her early death of lung cancer at age of 54.

For more on on the films of Charlie Chaplin such as “A King in New York” please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube.