Contents
Who is Brooke Adams?
An actress with over 60 acting credits to her name, Brooke Adams is probably still known best for her role as Abby in the 1978 movie “Days of Heaven”, in which she starred opposite the award-winning movie legend, Richard Gere. In this romantic drama, Brooke and Richard play a couple named Abby and Bill who travel to the Texas Panhandle to work for a rich but dying farmer. The story takes place in 1916, when they suddenly get an idea to use Abby to trick a farmer into marrying her, so they could live off his wealth. This movie won an Oscar for Best Cinematography in 1979.
Let us tell you more about her career, her life, and how this renowned actress is doing today.
Early life, family, and education
Born under the zodiac sign of Aquarius on 8 February 1949, in New York City USA, she holds American nationality, and she comes from a family of English and German descent. Her ancestry is largely New England Colonial, mainly Massachusetts and Connecticut. Despite not being a direct descendant of the former US President John Adams, she’s reportedly linked to him.
Brooke was raised by her parents, Rosalind and Robert, alongside her sister Lynne who is a radio scriptwriter and also an actress. Her father, Robert K. Adams, was a former vice president of Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), an actor, and a producer, while her mother Rosalind Adams (nee Gould), was an actress.
Brooke had an interest in performing from an early age, and took dance classes at her aunt’s studio in Montague, Michigan, and made her stage debut aged six – her stage credits include “Key Exchange”, “Split”, and “The Cherry Orchard”, among many others. When it comes to her educational background, Brooke attended High School for the Performing Arts, and during which, Brooke also went to the School of American Ballet (SAB) in New York City. Upon matriculating in 1967, she didn’t go to college, but pursued her acting career.
Roles in series
At the age of 14, she made her television debut as Markey Morgan in the 1963 drama “East Side/ West Side”, which won one Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Drama. In the following year, she was cast to play Cynthia Crackerby in the ‘60’s comedy show “O.K. Crackerby”, and through 1966, Brooke was seen in 17 episodes of this hilarious drama about the Crackerby family, O.K. the richest man in the world, and his three children, who lack the ‘social graces’ so the father hires a tutor to improve their social skills.
After a short break, in 1976 Brooke made several appearances in series such as “Police Woman”, “The Bob Newhart Show”, “The Tony Randall Show”, and “Kojak”.
She was cast to play Lizzie for less than five episodes of the drama series “Family”, starring Sada Thompson, James Broderick and Gary Frank; the series won four Primetime Emmys. Brooke followed with her role in “Great Performances”, a televised version of theater productions (plays, operas, musicals, concerts, and ballets).
In 1984, she played Jennifer ‘Pagan’ Trelawney in two episodes of the TV mini-series “Lace”. Her next appearance was in the mystery drama “Moonlight”, which is about a small detective agency managed by an ex-model and a witty detective.
In the ‘90s Brooke had a few guest roles which all involved her being in for an episode, such as “Picture Windows”, “Touched by an Angel”, “Frasier”, and “Gun”.
In 2002, she was cast to play three different roles in the same comedy-drama, “Monk”, as Edith Capriani, then Leigh Harrison, and at the end as Sheriff Magie Butterfield. Her next role was in the 2016 horror comedy “BrainDead” as Senator Diane Vaynerchuk.
Most recently, Brooke was seen as Elizabeth James Hires for 22 episodes from 2015 – 2017 in the comedy “All Downhill from Here”, acting alongside her sister, Lynne Adams.
Roles in movies
Brooke made her big-screen debut playing a Nurse in the 1971 crime horror mystery “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, starring Jason Robards, Herbert Lom and Christine Kaufmann. Her next movie role came in the 1974 romantic drama “F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Last of the Belles”, followed later that year by roles in “The Great Gatsby” and “The Lords of Flatbush”.
In the following year, Brooke was cast to play Diane Fowler in the crime biography “Who Is the Black Dahlia?”, which tells a story about an uprising actress who was brutally murdered at the young age of 22, whose mysterious death is being solved by a detective who goes around investigating the people who knew Elizabeth.
Brooke was next seen as Jennifer in the Western comedy “Black Bart”, followed by her role as Beverly in the biographic drama “James Dean” in 1976. Later that year, she was seen in “Car Wash” and “Shock Waves”, then in 1978, Brooke played Elizabeth Driscoll in the horror science-fiction “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, about strange pods which start appearing after some seeds fall onto Earth from space, which slowly grow and start to invade San Francisco – for her performance, Brooke was nominated for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Film, USA/Saturn Award for Best Actress.
Brooke followed with roles in “Utilities” (1983), “Key Exchange” (1985), “The Lion of Africa” (1987), and “The Unborn” (1991), which brought Brooke a nomination for the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Actress.
In the early 2000s, she was seen as Elizabeth in “Made-Up”, then as Carol Singleton in “At Last”, and had the privilege of working beside Uma Thurman and Colin Firth in the comedy romance “The Accidental Husband”.
Her next notable role came in the 2018 drama “Snapshots”, which had 25 award nominations and 36 wins. Brooke starred opposite Piper Laurie and Emily Baldoni in this story which shows how the love of three generations, grandmother, daughter/mother and granddaughter can be stronger than the secrets they hide. Her role as Patty earned Brooke a nomination for Nice International Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Most recently, Brooke was seen as Gertrude in the 2019 drama “Hamlet 360: Thy Father’s Spirit”, also starring Scott Barrow and Jack Cutmore-Scott.
Love life and relationships
Brooke has been the subject of various rumors about her romantic life, however, it’s known that she’s in a marriage with actor Tony Shalhoub, perhaps still known best for his role as Adrian Monk in the hit series “Monk”.
The two met back in 1988 when they performed together on Broadway in the play “The Heidi Chronicles” by Wendy Wasserstein. They married on 27 April 1992, and together they have two daughters, both of whom were adopted; Josie Lynn was born in 1988, and was adopted by Brooke before she married Tony. Their other daughter, Sophie, was born in 1993; the couple adopted her after they married.
As of July 2023, the couple is still seemingly going strongly, living together in their residence in Chilmark, Massachusetts.
Tony Shalhoub reveals he and wife Brooke Adams had coronavirus https://t.co/qkdDqHTjLp pic.twitter.com/umhQrDHIy3
— Page Six (@PageSix) May 12, 2020
What is she doing now? Hobbies and other interests
Brooke recently did an interview with her husband in their living room, in which she spoke about her aspirations at the moment, such as writing and painting
In their new house by the sea, she has her painting studio which is full of candid portraits of members of the family, many with children, and she also has a few landscape pieces here and there. Brooke says that she kind of gave up on acting, and that painting is her new passion, which she enjoys doing every day, while having a glass of wine in her hand.
How rich is Brooke Adams?
Brooke Adams is today aged 74, and during her 60-year-long career, she showcased her extraordinary talent for acting. Besides fame, her skills brought her a hefty sum of money.
According to sources, as of July 2023, her net worth has been estimated at over $10 million.
