Adams was born in Manila in 1932, daughter of José Arrastia, the maternal great-grandfather of Enrique Iglesias.^[3] She reportedly never met her father.^[4] Her mother, Carmen "Miami" Salvador, was a hula dancer of Spanish and German descent.^[1][4]

In her early teens, during the Japanese army's occupation of Manila during World War II, Adams became a spy for the Philippine resistance, carrying messages between guerrilla groups. She later was wounded by shrapnel during the Allied liberation of the island.^[1] She moved to the United States in 1948 and attended Rosemary Hall, a private school in Connecticut. She then went to New York to study dancing where she got a scholarship at the Katherine Dunham School of Dance. To avoid typecasting because of her name, she became known as Neile Adams.^[1]

Her half-sister was Maria Beatriz Arrastia y Reinares, mother of socialite Isabel Preysler, mother of Enrique Iglesias and Julio Iglesias Jr.^{[citation needed]}

In 1958, producer George Abbott offered Adams a role in the Broadway production of Damn Yankees. She was unable to accept because the Versailles Club would not release her from her contract as a dancer.^[5] Her Broadway credits include performing in Kismet and The Pajama Game.^[6] She also performed in Broadway Bound at The Grand opposite Paul Muni. She married then-struggling actor Steve McQueen four months after their meeting in 1956 while filming MGM’s This Could Be the Night (1957) where she was under contract. She opened the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas in 1958 with Dick Shawn and Vivian Blaine.

Her other screen credits include Women in Chains (1972), Fuzz (1972), So Long, Blue Boy (1973), Chu Chu and the Philly Flash (1981), and Buddy Buddy (1981). Her television credits include: The Perry Como Show, two Bob Hope Christmas specials, The Eddie Fisher Show, The Patrice Munsel Show, The Pat Boone Show and The Hollywood Palace. Her dramatic television roles include a particularly macabre 1960 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, titled "Man from the South", with McQueen and Peter Lorre. Two more Alfred Hitchcock episodes followed: a half-hour show directed by Arthur Hiller in which she starred, "One Grave Too Many", and an Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode titled "Ten Minutes From Now". She also appeared on episodes of television series such as Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, Fantasy Island, and Vega$.

Adams met and married American film and television actor Steve McQueen in 1956.^[1] The couple had two children together: a daughter, Terry Leslie McQueen, and a son, Chad McQueen. The marriage ended in divorce in 1972. She is the grandmother of actor Steven R. McQueen. She later married Alvin Toffel, a political campaign manager and president of the Norton Simon Museum;^[7] they were married until Toffel's death in 2005.^[7]

The "California Jewels" auction at Bonhams held on 13 February 2024 showcased pieces from Neile Adams McQueen.^{[citation needed]}

Highlighted among the sales was a platinum ring owned by McQueen featuring a 3.80-carat old European-cut diamond, marked by Monture Cartier to denote its creation for an exclusive clientele, according to Bonhams.

Originally considered by Steve McQueen for his own collection, he felt it wasn't the right fit. Neile, however, found it to be perfect, stated the auction house.

This particular ring fetched $83,050, soaring past its initial estimate of $25,000 to $35,000, doubling its anticipated value.^[8]

The Academy Film Archive houses the Steve McQueen-Neile Adams Collection, which consists of personal prints and home movies.^[9]

• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 5 Episode 15: "Man from the South") as the Woman
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 5 Episode 32: "One Grave Too Many") as Irene Helmer
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1964) (Season 2 Episode 26: "Ten Minutes from Now") as Sergeant Louise Marklen

• Cosgrove, Ben (January 9, 2014). "Lust and Marriage: Sweet, Sexy Portraits of Steve McQueen and Neile Adams". Time. New York. Archived from the original on May 26, 2015.

• Neile Adams at IMDb
• Neile Adams at the Internet Broadway Database
• Neile Adams at AllMovie
• "Steve McQueen-Neile Adams Collection". Academy Film Archive.