Originally from Manila, with Filipino, German and Spanish ancestry, Adams said she arrived in San Francisco at the age of 17 in 1951.

According to Vanity Fair, Madam Alex had about 150 women working for her at the peak[1] and was earning $100,000 a month taking a 40 percent cut.

[1] After law enforcement officers testified that Adams had provided information about homicide suspects, drug dealers and terrorists, plea-bargaining led prosecutors to agree that she should receive a probation order lasting 18 months when the case came to court in 1991.

[5] A theft of jewelry from Adams' home was reported in late 1992 and partially solved in March 1993; the Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.)

[7] Adams died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, (reputedly) at the age of 60, after open heart surgery and the ending of life support.