Adelaide Klein

Adelaide Klein (1900–1983) was an actress who performed on radio, television, films, and the stage.

She was best known for her dialects as a radio performer. Over the course of her thirty-year career, Klein performed in radio comedies and soap operas, appeared in eight shows on Broadway, four films, and on thirteen television series. She died at the age of 82 in 1983.

Klein’s radio performances led to performances on stage. Klein had roles in eight Broadway productions, including Brooklyn, U.S.A. (1942), Uncle Harry (1942), The Immoralist (1954), and Jane Eyre (1958). Her film credits included The Naked City (1948) and The Enforcer (1951). She was signed to play the role of Martha in director Otto Preminger's Where the Sidewalk Ends and scenes were shot in New York City, but the role was ultimately played by another actress.

Klein had roles on numerous television shows, including The Boris Karloff Mystery Playhouse (1949), Studio One in Hollywood (1949), The Ford Theatre Hour (1950), and The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse (1950).

Along with Keath, Pious, Shepherd, Royle, Sondergaard, Klein was listed in the blacklisting publication, Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television in 1950. She continued to perform in theatre, but television roles dried up as a consequence of Klein being labelled a communist.