Nick Adams (born Nicholas Aloysius Adamshock, July 10, 1931 â€"
February 7, 1968) was an American film and television actor and
screenwriter. He was noted for his roles in several Hollywood films
during the 1950s and 1960s along with his starring role in the ABC
television series The Rebel (1959). Decades after Adams' death from a
prescription drug overdose at the age of 36, his widely publicized
friendships with James Dean and Elvis Presley would stir speculation
about both his private life and the circumstances of his death. In an
AllMovie synopsis for Adams' last film, reviewer Dan Pavlides wrote,
"Plagued by personal excesses, he will be remembered just as much for
what he could have done in cinema as what he left behind."Adams was
born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, to Catherine (Kutz) and Peter
Adamshock, an anthracite coal miner. His parents were both of
Ukrainian descent. In 1958, he told columnist Hedda Hopper, "We lived
in those little company houses â€" they were terrible. We had to buy
from the company store and were always in debt and could never
leave."The family did leave when he was five years old after Adams'
uncle was killed in a mining accident. "My father piled all our
belongings into an old jalopy, with our bedding on top", Adams
recalled. "We didn't know where we were going. He started driving, and
ran out of gas and money in Jersey City, New Jersey at Audubon Park. A
man came over and started talking to us, a Mr. Cohn. He said to my
father 'You look like you need a job,' and my father said 'I do'."
Adams' father was given a job as janitor of an apartment building
along with living quarters in the basement. Eventually, they moved to
Van Nostrand Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Rutgers Avenue. His
mother worked for Western Electric in Kearny, New Jersey.
February 7, 1968) was an American film and television actor and
screenwriter. He was noted for his roles in several Hollywood films
during the 1950s and 1960s along with his starring role in the ABC
television series The Rebel (1959). Decades after Adams' death from a
prescription drug overdose at the age of 36, his widely publicized
friendships with James Dean and Elvis Presley would stir speculation
about both his private life and the circumstances of his death. In an
AllMovie synopsis for Adams' last film, reviewer Dan Pavlides wrote,
"Plagued by personal excesses, he will be remembered just as much for
what he could have done in cinema as what he left behind."Adams was
born in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, to Catherine (Kutz) and Peter
Adamshock, an anthracite coal miner. His parents were both of
Ukrainian descent. In 1958, he told columnist Hedda Hopper, "We lived
in those little company houses â€" they were terrible. We had to buy
from the company store and were always in debt and could never
leave."The family did leave when he was five years old after Adams'
uncle was killed in a mining accident. "My father piled all our
belongings into an old jalopy, with our bedding on top", Adams
recalled. "We didn't know where we were going. He started driving, and
ran out of gas and money in Jersey City, New Jersey at Audubon Park. A
man came over and started talking to us, a Mr. Cohn. He said to my
father 'You look like you need a job,' and my father said 'I do'."
Adams' father was given a job as janitor of an apartment building
along with living quarters in the basement. Eventually, they moved to
Van Nostrand Avenue between Ocean Avenue and Rutgers Avenue. His
mother worked for Western Electric in Kearny, New Jersey.
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