Juanita Adamina (born Juanita Maria-Johana Daussat; March 5, 1921 – January 17, 2016), known professionally as Jo de Winter, was an American actress most notable for her role in the short-lived television series Gloria.[1]

Jo de Winter
A white woman wearing a white turtleneck and a black jacket; her hair is dark and feathered in the style of the 1980s
Jo de Winter, while making a radio drama, "Hamilton & Burr"
Born
Juanita Maria-Johana Daussat

(1921-03-05)March 5, 1921
Sacramento, California
DiedJanuary 17, 2016(2016-01-17) (aged 94)
Other namesJuanita Adamina, Jo Adamina (married name)
OccupationActress
Children2

Early life and education

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De Winter studied at the Dominican Convent school in San Rafael.[2] Her first acting experience came at age 4, when she played an injured shepherd in a Christmas pageant at the school.[3] She attended the College of the Pacific.[4] She also took acting classes with Ben Bard.[5]

Career

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Stage

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De Winter appeared on Broadway as Mrs. Norman in Children of a Lesser God,[6] and in Europe onstage in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as Nurse Ratched, a role that she originated in the play's production in San Francisco.[7] She was praised for offering "intellectual humor... with a straight face" when she appeared in Wendy Wasserstein's Isn't it Romantic in Los Angeles in 1984.[8]

Film and television

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David O. Selznick scouted Juanita Daussat when she was in a college play;[1] she was one of the many actresses who auditioned for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind.[9] While her husband was stationed in Rome, she helped to translate English-language films for Italian audiences,[4] and provided vocal acting for some film dubbing; she also appeared in two films made in Italy, The Pirates of Capri and The Dark Road.[5] She later appeared in the films Dirty Harry[10] and Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo.

For three years, De Winter had a recurring role as an executive secretary in The Name of the Game.[3] She was in the regular cast of the sitcom Gloria, a short-lived spin-off of All in the Family.[1] Otherwise, she acted in mostly single-episode appearances on television between 1965 and 2002, including The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Brady Bunch, Soap, St. Elsewhere, Newhart, Murder She Wrote, Frasier, The Munsters Today, The John Larroquette Show, and the Gene Roddenberry pilot, Planet Earth.[11]

Radio

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In 1989, de Winter played Marie Antoinette in a six-hour radio drama, Bastille, produced by the University of Chicago on WFMT in Chicago, Illinois.[12] She also played Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton in a production of Hamilton & Burr, with the California Artists Radio Theatre.[13]

Personal life

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Juanita Daussat married Robert Eggers Adamina in December 1941, the morning before the attack on Pearl Harbor.[9] Her husband was an officer in the United States Air Force. He was a prisoner of war in Germany during World War II;[14] he later served as chief of protocol in Washington, D.C., and as a member of the NATO planning staff. They had one son, Robert Jr., and one daughter, Robyn. As a military wife, she was involved in embassy and officers' wives activities, and gave presentations to women's groups.[4] They lived in Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and in Italy, before they moved to Port Hueneme in 1965,[15] after Col. Adamina retired from the Air Force.[16] Their son and his wife were killed in an automobile accident in 1974.[3][17]

De Winter died in January 2016,[18] at the age of 94.[19]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1971 Dirty Harry Miss Willis
1972 Pete 'n' Tillie Party Guest Uncredited
1984 Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo Mrs. Bennett
1988 Bird Mildred Berg
1994 There Goes My Baby Miss Shine
2016 Monday Nights at Seven Nana (final film role)

References

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  1. ^ a b c Kleiner, Dick (1983-04-10). "Horse Helps Jo deWinter on her Way to Acting Career". Longview News-Journal. p. 141. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  2. ^ "Visit at Carmel". Oakland Tribune. August 2, 1934. p. 8. Retrieved July 10, 2021 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  3. ^ a b c Hilton, Pat (June 19, 1983). "DeWinter wants it all". The Spokesman-Review. Tribune Company Syndicate. p. 11. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b c "Wife of Roman Military Aide to be TCW Club Speaker". Daily Independent Journal. 1959-04-29. p. 27. Retrieved 2021-07-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Actress Speaker for Drama Group". Daily Independent Journal. 1960-02-09. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-07-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Jo De Winter". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  7. ^ Campbell, Genie (February 16, 1973). "'Cuckoo' star never bored when acting". The Wheeling Herald. Illinois, Wheeling. p. 13. Retrieved May 14, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.  
  8. ^ Hanson, Eugene Kenneth (November 10, 1984). "Comedy Sparks 'Isn't It Romantic'". Desert Sun. Retrieved July 10, 2021 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  9. ^ a b Samuelsen, Rube (1941-12-21). "Sports Volleys". The Pasadena Post. p. 21. Retrieved 2021-07-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Zmijewsky, Boris (1993). The films of Clint Eastwood. Internet Archive. New York, N.Y. : Carol Pub. Group. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-8065-1415-4 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ^ Crosby, Joan (1974-04-19). "It's a Woman' World and Men are 'Dinks!'". The World. p. 31. Retrieved 2021-07-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Terry, Clifford (July 9, 1989). "Revolutionary radio". Chicago Tribune. Illinois, Chicago. p. Page 8, Section 13. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  13. ^ "Hamilton and Burr". California Artists Radio Theatre. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  14. ^ "Yolo Army Pilot is Nazi Captive". The Sacramento Bee. 1943-05-29. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-07-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Hueneme Bay Fashion Show Set Next Week". Ventura County Star-Free Press. 1965-05-21. p. 14. Retrieved 2021-07-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Hueneme Bay Community 'Right' for Ex-Air Force Colonel, and Family". Valley News. 1965-04-25. p. 74. Retrieved 2021-07-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Obituary for Robert Adamina". San Antonio Express. 1974-12-03. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-07-10.
  18. ^ "Juanita Adamina Obituary (1921-2016)". Los Angeles Times. p. 27. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  19. ^ Leszczak, Bob (May 17, 2016). Single Season Sitcoms of the 1980s: A Complete Guide. McFarland. p. 56. ISBN 978-0786499588 – via Google Books.
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