Avis Adair

Biography

Born in Illinois, Avis Adair's mother, Louise (1879-1967), worked as a costumer for various theatrical productions. Perhaps it was this early connection to show business that interested Adair in performing. She showed early talent as a dancer and was performing in amateur shows while still a child. By the age of 20, she was starring in a vaudeville act, The Avis Novelty Dancers. Comprised of Adair, two singers, and two musicians, she managed and designed the act herself. Also noted as a toe dancer of "exceptional ability" and a musician who played multiple instruments, it was only a matter of time before the talented young Adair landed in Hollywood. Her only known screen appearance came as a chorus girl in "Footlight Parade" (1933) (she was also active on radio and the Los Angeles stage), but I suspect she was likely in other films, as well. Having worked steadily in the entertainment industry for many years, by the late 1930s it appears she was burned out. Though the specific reasons are unknown, Adair was confined to a state mental hospital in 1940. The duration of her stay is unknown, but there is no evidence that she ever returned to performing - which perhaps for the sake of her mental health was what was best. She continued to live with her mother, whom she called her "best friend" until her mother's 1967 death. She then lived in a series of various apartments and worked as an "operator". Retiring in the 1970s, Avis Adair passed away in 1995 at the age of 89.