Julie Adams, whose real name is Betty May Adams, died on Sunday 3 February. Born in 1926, she was known particularly for his role in the film The Creature from the black lagoon (1954), where she played a woman taken hostage by a monster half-human half-amphibian.

A creature which is not without recalling that of The Shape of water , out in theaters in 2017. Guillermo del Toro is in fact largely inspired by the feature film directed by Jack Arnold to make his own film, a four-time oscar-winning . The mexican director has in particular picked up on the aesthetic of the scary amphibian… in the redesign slightly, his personality. From the creature’s murderous and hostile to The Creature from the black lagoon , he created a monster far more engaging, with a certain sex appeal, and capable of feelings. In sum, a creature almost human.

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Julie Adams brand the spirits with this role, to the point that the studio, Universal Pictures decides to make sure his legs for the modest sum of 125,000 dollars.

In “The Shape of water”, the creature imagined by Guillermo del Toro lives a love story with the heroine (Sally Hawkins). The Shape of the water

On Twitter, the mexican director has reacted after the death of the actress: “I mourn the death of Julie Adams. It hurts me deeply in my being, where the monsters swim.”

Westerns and television series

The Creature from the black lagoon marks a turning point of the great career of the actress, who had started in the cinema in many westerns of series B. In 1949, at the request of Universal Pictures, she abandons her birth name is Betty May Adams), and finally adopted that of Julia, and Julie Adams. It is thanks to the same production studio that she met her second husband, Ray Danton, also an actor and director. He will lead in the horror film Psychic Killer in 1975.

Julie Adams plays with James Stewart in “The Affameurs” – Anthony Mann (1952). Universal International Pictures/Rue des Archives/DILTZ

She rubbed shoulders with the biggest names in hollywood during his film career. In 1952, she played in The Affameurs with James Stewart ( Vertigo , L Life is beautiful ), a western that marks the beginning of a long friendship between the two actors. She also shared the poster of Tickle me with Elvis Presley in 1965.

from 2000 onwards, it is no more than a few rare appearances on the small screen, where the audience could see her in Lost , Cold Case , or Arabesque .