{"id":2741,"date":"2026-06-29T21:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2741"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:37:09","slug":"betty-kovacs-ernie-kovacs-daughter-at-the-center-of-a-high-profile-custody-battle-dies-at-79","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2741","title":{"rendered":"Betty Kovacs, Ernie Kovacs Daughter at the Center of a High-Profile Custody Battle, Dies at 79"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tBetty Kovacs, the eldest daughter of comedian Ernie Kovacs who with her sister Kippie and stepmother, actress-singer Edie Adams, was at the center of a nasty custody battle that kept Hollywood riveted in 1962, has died. She was 79.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Hershey\u2019 Biopic Trailer: Finn Wittrock, Alexandra Daddario Struggle to Make Affordable Chocolate<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tA former dancer and casting director, Kovacs died June 21 of pancreatic cancer at her home in Sun City, California, her wife and partner of 45 years, Elaine Guy, told The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tErnie Kovacs and his first wife, Bette Wilcox, were married in August 1945. Elizabeth Lee Kovacs was born on May 16, 1947, followed by her sister, Kip Raleigh Kovacs, on Jan. 4, 1949.<\/p>\n

\n\tSoon after their parents divorced in 1952, a court awarded Ernie full custody of the kids \u2014 it was unusual for a man to get custody back then \u2014 when it was determined that his ex-wife was mentally unstable. Meanwhile, Ernie and Adams had met on his Philadelphia TV show in 1951, and they would wed in Mexico City in September 1954.<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring a weekend visit in 1953, Betty and Kippie were kidnapped by their birth mother, and it took Ernie, with the help of private investigators, about two years before he finally found them living in a shack in Cassia, Florida, in June 1955.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe girls didn\u2019t know how to eat with a knife and fork and apparently had never brushed their teeth the whole time they were gone,\u201d Adams wrote in her 1990 memoir, Sing a Pretty Song<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe incident was portrayed in the 1984 ABC telefilm Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter<\/em>, which starred Jeff Goldblum as Ernie, Melody Anderson as Edie and Soleil Moon Frye as Betty.<\/p>\n

\n\tSeven months after Ernie, then 42, died on Jan. 13, 1962, when he crashed his Chevrolet Corvair into a power pole in West Los Angeles, his first wife sued for custody of Betty and Kip, claiming Adams was \u201cunfit\u201d to care for them.<\/p>\n

Read more Directors Guild Pension Plan Sues MGM Pictures for Alleged Self-Dealing<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tBetty, then 15, and Kip, 13, testified that they wanted to stay with their stepmother, and they were allowed to do so after a four-day court battle. \u201cThis is what Ernie would have wanted. Now I can smile,\u201d Adams said. Added Betty, \u201cI\u2019m so happy I can hardly express myself.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cElizabeth had to navigate through that kind of horror,\u201d Guy said. \u201cShe managed very well. She was very strong, very beautiful and kind and understanding. She was an artist deep in her heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t(Ernie and Edie would have a daughter of their own, Mia, born in June 1959.)<\/p>\n

\n\tKovacs graduated from Rexford High School in Beverly Hills, performed in a revival of No, No, Nanette<\/em> and studied dance in Los Angeles at the famed Roland Dupree Dance Academy, where Guy was a teacher.<\/p>\n

\n\tShe acted in summer stock opposite Linda Lavin and as a casting director found Betsy Lynn George to star in the 1991 music video for Billy Idol\u2019s Cradle of Love<\/em> that was directed by David Fincher. She also wrote editorials for the defunct Californian<\/em> newspaper.<\/p>\n

\n\tSurvivors include her stepbrother, Josh Mills, an author, manager and host of the Rarified Heir<\/em> podcast.<\/p>\n

\n\tHer sister Mia was killed in May 1982 at age 22 in a car accident on Mulholland Drive. Kippie, who was married to screenwriter Bill Lancaster, son of actor Burt Lancaster, died after a long illness in July 2001 at age 52.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Tony-winning Adams, who after Ernie\u2019s death was married to photographer Martin Mills and trumpeter Pete Candoli, died in October 2008 at age 81.<\/p>\n

Read more How Movie Theaters Can Increase Profits \u2014 and Win Back Reluctant Audiences<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Betty Kovacs, a daughter of Ernie Kovacs who with her sister and stepmother, Edie Adams, was at the center of a nasty custody battle, has died at 79.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-2741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-obituaries"],"yoast_head":"\nBetty Kovacs, Ernie Kovacs Daughter at the Center of a High-Profile Custody Battle, Dies at 79 - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=2741\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Betty Kovacs, Ernie Kovacs Daughter at the Center of a High-Profile Custody Battle, Dies at 79 - 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