# Jan Adele

Janeece Adele (14 April 1935 – 27 February 2000) better known as Jan Adele, was an Australian actress and entertainer with a career spanning over 50 years, active in many fields including circus, vaudeville, theatre, television and film . She was best known for her recurring comedy role of vaudevillian showgirl Trixie O'Toole in the 1970s television soap opera Number 96, usually sharing scenes with co-stars Wendy Blacklock and Mike Dorsey.

## Career
### Early career

Adele was a fourth-generation performer. Her grandfather Roy Kelroy had worked for Barnum and Bailey circus in America. She appeared in pantomime from the age of three at Mark Foy's. Her aunt Eilleen Pascoe Webb ran an elocution and dance school in Melbourne, and her mother, known professionally as Eris O'Dell, worked for the Tivoli circuit and J.C. Williamson, as a singer, actress and dancer and also played piano, and was an assistant producer to Jack Davey at the Macquarie theatre radio and to Wallace Parnell at the Tivoli, Adele did not know her father. Adele had two children. Jan enjoyed a long and varied entertainment career. As a teenager she performed in the circus as an acrobat on the high wire, and as a contortionist. At the age of 19 she began a three-year stint entertaining US troops in Korea and Japan. In 1971 she was part of the New South Wales Concert Party, entertaining Australian troops in Vietnam. After this she performed steadily in vaudeville theatre and as a show girl.

### Television

In the 1970s she moved into television with guest spots in the Crawford Productions police dramas Homicide and Division 4. Subsequent to this she was spotted by Number 96 producer Bill Harmon in a pantomime show and he devised the character of Trixie – a warm and funny stage and nightclub entertainer who has been treading the boards for years – for her.
Some of the humour of her Number 96 character was built around Adele's 15 stone figure. When joining the series Adele happily signed the nudity clause present in all cast member's contracts, reasoning that she would never be called upon to strip. She was later horrified to learn she would need to appear semi-nude for a comedy sequence in the show, but went ahead with the scenes. In the late 1970s she also was a frequent comedy performer on The Mike Walsh Show.
Adele was a frequent guest on Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton. Later television guest appearances included Bony (1992), Heartbreak High (1994), Home and Away and 42nd Street.

### Film

Adele subsequently acted in several Australian films. These included High Tide (1987), for which she won a Best Actress Award from the Australian Film Institute, Daisy and Simon (1988), ...Almost (1990), Greenkeeping (1992), Fatal Bond (1992) and The Sum of Us (1994).

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1976 | Caddie | Daisy | Feature film |
| 1981 | Winter of Our Dreams | Woman | Feature film |
| 1987 | High Tide | Bet | Feature film |
| 1988 | Daisy and Simon | Daisy | Feature film |
| 1990 | ...Almost | Role unknown | Short film |
| 1990 | Wendy Cracked a Walnut | Majorie | Feature film |
| 1991 | Fatal Bond | Mrs. Karvan | Feature film |
| 1992 | Greenkeeping | Doreen | Feature film |
| 1994 | The Sum of Us | Barmaid | Feature film |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Type |
| 1960 | The Bobby Limb Show | Guest - Herself/Performer | TV series |
| 1960 | The Joe Martin Show | Herself/Performer | TV series |
| 1969-1976; 1977-1985 | The Mike Walsh Show | Regular: Guest/Performer | TV series |
| 1969 | In Melbourne Tonight | Guest Performer, sings "I'll Remember April" | TV series, 6 episodes |
| 1971-1972 | The Bob Rogers Show | Guest/Performer | TV series |
| 1972 | King's Kitchen | Guest - Herself | TV series |
| 1973 | Homicide | Guest role | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1974 | Division 4 | Guest role | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1974-1975 | Number 96 | Regular role: Trixie O'Toole | TV series, 63 episodes |
| 1976 | Mummy and Me | Role unknown | TV Pilot |
| 1977-1985 | The Mike Walsh Show | Guest - Herself/Performer with Lucky Grills | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1977 | The Maggi Eckhardt Show | Guest - Herself/Performer | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1978 | Graham Kennedy's Blankety Blanks | Herself - Panelist | TV series |
| 1980 | Celebrity Tattletales | Herself & Paul Flanagan | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1981 | Personality Squares | Herself - Contestant | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1985 | Blankety Blanks | Guest - Contestant | TV series, 3 episodes |
| 1987 | Have a Go | Herself - Guest Judge | TV series, 6 episodes |
| 1987; 1988 | The Midday Show | Guest - Herself with Claudia Karvan | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1987 | The 1987 Australian Film Institute Awards | Herself - Winner Best Support Actress 'High Tide' | TV special |
| 1988 | The Midday Show | Guest - Herself & Sean Scully | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1988 | Rafferty's Rules | Guest role: Mrs. Gunning | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1989 | Couchman in Australia | Guest - Herself with Rosie Sturgess, Val Jellay & Wendy Harmer | ABC TV series, 1 episode |
| 1989 | In Melbourne Today | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1990 | Tonight Live with Steve Vizard | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1990 | Home and Away | Guest role: Helen Cody | TV series, 2 episodes |
| 1991 | A Country Practice | Guest role: Mrs. Howie | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1991 | The Miraculous Mellops | Guest role: Customer | TV miniseries, 2 episodes |
| 1991 | In Sydney Today | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1992 | Bony | Guest role: Mrs. Adele | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1992 | The Morning Show | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1994; 1995 | Good Morning Australia | Guest - Herself/Performer | TV series; 1 episode |
| 1994 | Heartbreak High | Regular role: Ruby | TV series, 26 episodes |
| 1994 | At Home | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1995; 1996 | Good Morning Australia | Guest - Herself/Performer | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1995 | Ernie and Denise | Guest - Herself | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1996; 1998 | Good Morning Australia | Guest - Herself/Performer | TV series, 1 episode |
| 1998 | Good Morning Australia | Guest - Herself & Lucky Grills | TV series, 1 episode |

## Personal life

She was married at 17. Her second husband, actor Rick Marshall, was a bisexual. Her third marriage was to musician David Anderson in 1962. Adele had two daughters, Mandy and Jody.

## Awards
### Mo Awards

The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Jan Adele won two awards in that time, and the encouragement award was named named him.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result (wins only) |
| 1977 | Jan Adele | Comedian / Comedianne of the Year | Won |
| 1982 | Jan Adele and Lucky Grills – Fun Follies | Variety Show of the Year | Won |