Adele Nielsen, a longtime Durango resident, former owner of Olde Tymers Café and a frequent participant in the Snowdown Follies, died earlier this week from injuries suffered in a fall. She was 68.
Nielsen was attending the final dress rehearsal for the Follies on Saturday at the Durango Arts Center when she apparently leaned against a curtain, not realizing it wasn’t solid, and fell about 4 feet off the stage and onto the floor, said La Plata County Coroner Jann Smith.
Nielsen was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center before being flown to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, where she died Tuesday from trauma and blood loss, Smith said.
She suffered fractures to her leg, pelvis and two bones in her left arm.
“She just kind of leaned against this curtain and went through it,” Smith said.
Nielsen appeared in 24 productions of the Follies, which is a live sketch-comedy performance with a 34-year history, said Janalee Hogan, producer of the show. She wasn’t in this year’s show but attended the final dress rehearsal to watch friends perform. She fell off the stage before the show started. Hogan wasn’t sure why she was on stage.
News of her death has been “sombering” for cast members, especially for those who have been with the show the longest, Hogan said.
“It’s a little fresh for people,” she said. “But the other comforting piece of it is, being with friends and family during sadness is one of the most uplifting things you can do, and she was a part of that family, so I think there’s some comfort in that.”
Nielsen often appeared solo on stage, portraying silly scenarios and delivering one-liners. One of her most memorable characters was “Rindercella,” a parody of Cinderella in 2012, and in 2015, she popped out of a Dell computer box, saying, “Does somebody need Adele?” – a testament to how many people knew her by name.
“Our hearts go out to all the friends and family that have known her over the years,” Hogan said. “She will be truly missed.”
Nielsen moved to Durango in 1968 after following friends here, said her brother, Eric Nielsen, 71, who lives in Bozeman, Montana. She married Sal Graziano, and together they helped start Olde Tymer’s Cafe, a mainstay eatery on Main Avenue in Durango. She held several jobs at Purgatory Resort, including bartender and working in the ticket office.
Her husband died nearly three years ago, and Nielsen sold her remaining ownership in Olde Tymer’s about 90 days ago, her brother said. In addition to her older brother, she is survived by an older sister, Karen Lamb, and a younger brother, Kent Nielsen. A memorial service is planned for early June.
He described his sister as a cross between Janis Joplin and Carol Burnett. She lived a full-throttle lifestyle in Durango, drinking with customers in the evenings and then visiting other restaurants to continue partying – and it took a toll on her body, Eric Nielsen said.
“Adele lived an extremely full life for 68 years,” he said. “People would have liked to have had that for 90 years, and she probably packed 90 years into 68.”
He said she would have wanted the Snowdown Follies cast to “enjoy themselves and have a good time.”
“If I were Adele, I’d say: ‘You know what, we put all this work in. This is the time to enjoy our performances and have people enjoy us.’”
Longtime friend John Ivers called her a “comic innovator” and a “Durango icon.”
“She always had a joke; she had an infectious laugh,” he said.
shane@durangoherald.com