Stella Stevens

Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston; October 1, 1938)[1][2][3] is an American film, television, and stage actress. She began her acting career in 1959, and starred in such popular films as Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), The Nutty Professor (1963), The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), The Silencers (1966), Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

Stella Stevens
Stevens in 2009
Born
Estelle Eggleston

(1938-10-01) October 1, 1938
Yazoo City, Mississippi, U.S.
OccupationActress, director
Years active1959–2010
Spouse(s)
Noble Herman Stephens
​
​
(m. 1954⁠–⁠1957)​
Partner(s)Bob Kulick (1983-2020)
Children1 son, Andrew Stevens
Websitestellastevens.biz

Stevens also appeared in numerous television series, miniseries, and movies, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960, 1988), Bonanza (1960), The Love Boat (1977, 1983), Hart to Hart (1979), Newhart (1983), Murder, She Wrote (1985), Magnum, P.I. (1986), Highlander: The Series (1995), and Twenty Good Years (2006). In 1960, she won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress.[4] Stevens has also worked as a film producer, director, and writer.[5] She appeared in three Playboy pictorials, and was Playmate of the Month for January 1960.

Early life

She was born Estelle Eggleston in Yazoo City, Mississippi,[6] the only child of Thomas Ellett Eggleston and his wife Dovey Estelle (née Caro).[7] One of her great-grandfathers was Henry Clay Tyler, an early settler from Boston and a jeweler who gave the Yazoo City courthouse cupola its clock.[1]

When Stevens was four, her parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where they lived on Carrington Road near Highland Street.[8] Her father was an insurance salesman, and her mother was a nurse.[1][8] Stevens attended St. Anne's Catholic School on Highland Street and Sacred Heart School on Jefferson Avenue, finishing her final year of high school in 1955 at the Memphis Evening School at Memphis Tech High School.[8][9]

At age 16, she married electrician Noble Herman Stephens on December 1, 1954, probably in Memphis. They had one child, Herman Andrew Stephens, who was later known as actor/producer Andrew Stevens. He is Stella's only child. The couple divorced in 1957, but Stella and her son retained a variation of her ex-husband's surname as their own professional surnames. While studying at Memphis State College, she became interested in acting and modeling. According to her official biography, "Her schooling in Memphis, included a couple of years at Memphis State University, where she was noticed in the school play Bus Stop. The Memphis Press-Scimitar review of that performance in Memphis sparked her career."[10]

Film career
Stella Stevens
Playboy centerfold appearance
January 1960
Preceded byEllen Stratton
Succeeded bySusie Scott
Personal details
MeasurementsBust: 37"
Waist: 22"
Hips: 40"
Height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Weight118 lb (54 kg; 8.4 st)

Stevens made her film debut in Say One for Me (1959),[11] a modest musical produced by and starring Bing Crosby, appearing in the minor role of a chorus girl.[12] Stevens' contract with 20th Century-Fox was dropped after six months.[13] After winning the role of Appassionata Von Climax in the musical Li'l Abner (1959),[14] she signed a contract with Paramount Pictures (1959-1963).[13] In 1960, she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress for her performance in Say One for Me,[4] sharing the distinction with fellow up-and-comers Tuesday Weld, Angie Dickinson, and Janet Munro.[4]

Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s, Stevens achieved success as a model. When high-speed Ektachrome film was introduced in 1959, Stevens was the first person ever photographed for a formal portrait by the light of a single candle and several reflectors for the cover of a photography magazine. In January 1960, she was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month, and was also featured in Playboy pictorials in 1965 and 1968. She was included in Playboy's 100 Sexiest Stars of the 20th Century, appearing at number 27. During the 1960s, she was one of the most photographed women in the world.[1]

In 1961, she starred opposite Bobby Darin in John Cassavetes' Too Late Blues, and in 1962, she starred opposite Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls!.[15] The following year she appeared in two successful comedy films: Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor (1963), as his student and love interest Stella Purdy,[16] and in Vincente Minnelli's The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963), playing the would-be "Miss Montana" beauty queen.[17]

In 1964, she signed a contract with Columbia Pictures (1964–68).[13] Following appearances in Synanon (1965)[18] and The Secret of My Success (1965),[19] Stevens starred as a sexy but clumsy government agent opposite Dean Martin in the Matt Helm spy spoof The Silencers (1966).[20] Her final film for Columbia was Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968) in which she played "Sister George".[21]

In 1970, Stevens starred opposite Jason Robards in Sam Peckinpah's The Ballad of Cable Hogue, for which she received positive reviews. In his review in The New York Times, Roger Greenspun wrote, "But it is Stella Stevens, at last in a role good enough for her, who most wonderfully sustains and enlightens the action."[22] In 1972 she starred in Irwin Allen's hugely successful disaster film The Poseidon Adventure, starring Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Roddy McDowall and Shelley Winters. Stevens played the role of Linda Rogo, the "refreshingly outspoken" ex-prostitute wife of Borgnine's character.[23]

Although she continued to appear in feature films for the next four decades, Stevens shifted the focus of her career to television series, miniseries, and movies.

Television career
Stella Stevens and Hugh O'Brian, General Electric Theater, 1961

Stevens appeared in several top television series in the 1960s, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960), General Electric Theater (1960, 1961), and Ben Casey (1964). One of her earliest television appearances was in a critically acclaimed 1960 episode of Bonanza, "Silent Thunder", playing a deaf mute.

In the early 1970s, she began working regularly on television series, miniseries, and movies. She appeared in episodes of such popular series as Banacek (1973) and Police Story (1975), as well as the pilot films for Wonder Woman (1975), The Love Boat (1977), and Hart to Hart (1979). In 1979, she appeared along with son Andrew Stevens in The Oregon Trail (1977) episode "Hannah's Girl".

In the 1980s, she continued to work regularly in series such as Newhart (1983), The Love Boat (1983), Fantasy Island (1983), Highway to Heaven (1984), Night Court (1984), Murder, She Wrote (1985), Magnum, P.I. (1986), and Father Dowling Mysteries (1987). Stevens appears in 34 episodes of the prime-time soap opera Flamingo Road (1981–82), as Lute-Mae Sanders, the former madam of a brothel.

From 1989-90, she had a role on Santa Barbara as Phyllis Blake. Her string of appearances on popular television series continued into the 1990s with The Commish (1993), Burke's Law (1994), Highlander: The Series (1995), Silk Stalkings (1996) and General Hospital (1996, 1999). She also appeared in the critically acclaimed miniseries In Cold Blood (1996). Her television career continued into the 2000s when she appeared in an episode of Twenty Good Years (2006).

Additional work

In the 1960s, Stevens was a member of a five-voice vocal ensemble called The Skip-Jacks. That group is best known for performing the theme songs for the television programs The Flintstones and The Patty Duke Show.[24]

Stevens appeared in several stage productions, including a touring production of an all-female version of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple opposite Sandy Dennis. Stevens played the Oscar Madison character. She produced and directed two films, The Ranch (1989) and The American Heroine (1979). In 1999, she co-wrote a novel, Razzle Dazzle, about a Memphis-born singer named Johnny Gault.[5]

Personal life

In late 1976, Stevens purchased a ranch in Methow Valley near Carlton, Washington, on the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains.[25] She also opened an art gallery and bakery in the nearby small town of Twisp, Washington.[25]

In 1983, Stevens began a long-term relationship with rock guitarist Bob Kulick; through at least 1990, they shared Stevens' Beverly Hills home.[3] <

In early 2015, Kulick and she sold her longtime home in Beverly Hills. She is now in a long-term Alzheimer's care facility in Los Angeles, and Kulick often visited her there until his death on May 28, 2020.[26]

Filmography

Films

Television
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960, Episode: "Craig's Will") as Judy
  • Johnny Ringo (1960, Episode: "Uncertain Vengeance") as Suzanne Crale
  • Hawaiian Eye (1960, Episode: "Kakua Woman") as Carol Judd
  • Bonanza (1960, Episode: "Silent Thunder") as Ann 'Annie' Croft
  • Riverboat (1960, Episode: "Zigzag") as Lisa Walters
  • General Electric Theater (1960, Episode: "The Graduation Dress") as Laura Jericho
  • General Electric Theater (1961, Episode: "The Great Alberti") as May Alberti
  • Follow the Sun (1961, Episode: "Conspiracy of Silence") as Linda Laurence
  • Frontier Circus (1962, Episode: "The Balloon Girl") as Katy Cogswell
  • Ben Casey (1964, 2 episodes) as Jane Hancock
  • In Broad Daylight (1971, TV Movie) as Elizabeth Chappel
  • Ghost Story (1972, Episode: "The Dead We Leave Behind") as Joanna Brent
  • Hec Ramsey (1972, Episode: "Hangman's Wages") as Ivy Turnwright
  • Climb an Angry Mountain (1972, TV Movie) as Sheila Chilko
  • Banacek (1973, Episode: "Ten Thousand Dollars a Page") as Jill Hammond
  • Linda (1973, TV Movie) as Linda Reston
  • Honky Tonk (1974, TV Movie) as Gold Dust
  • The Day the Earth Moved (1974, TV Movie) as Kate Barker
  • Police Story (1975, Episode: "The Losing Game") as Margaret Case
  • Wonder Woman (1975, Episode: "The New Original Wonder Woman") as Marcia
  • Kiss Me, Kill Me (1976, TV Movie) as Stella Stafford
  • Wanted: The Sundance Woman (1976, TV Movie) as Lola Wilkins
  • The Love Boat (1977, TV movie, pilot)
  • Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging (1977, TV Movie) as Martha McVea
  • Murder in Peyton Place (1977, TV Movie) as Stella Chernak
  • The Night They Took Miss Beautiful (1977, TV Movie) as Kate Malloy
  • The Oregon Trail (1977, Episode: "Hannah's Girl", appears with her son, Andrew Stevens) as Hannah Morgan
  • The Eddie Capra Mysteries (1978, 1 episode)
  • The Jordan Chance (1978, TV Movie) as Verna Stewart
  • Friendships, Secrets and Lies (1979, TV Movie) as Edyth
  • Hart to Hart (1979, Episode: "Express to Terror") as Dr. Fleming
  • The French Atlantic Affair (1979), miniseries
  • Make Me an Offer (1980, TV Movie) as Deidre Price
  • Flamingo Road (1980–1982, 34 episodes) as Lute-Mae Sanders
  • Children of Divorce (1980, TV Movie) as Sherry Malik
  • Twirl (1981, TV Movie) as Carolyn Moore
  • Matt Houston (1983, Episode: "Whose Party Is It Anyway?") as Clover McKenna
  • The Love Boat (1983, 3 episodes) as Toni Cooper / Kathy Costello / Leonara Klopman
  • Women of San Quentin (1983, TV Movie) as Lt. Janet Alexander
  • Newhart (1983, 2 episodes) as Erica Chase
  • Fantasy Island (1983, 2 episodes) as Marion Sommers / Maatira
  • Amazons (1984, TV Movie) as Kathryn Lundquist
  • No Man's Land (1984, TV Movie) as Nellie Wilder
  • Hotel (1984, Episode: "Flesh and Blood") as Rita DeLaine
  • Highway to Heaven (1984, Episode: "Help Wanted: Angel") as Stella
  • Night Court (1984, Episode: "Harry and the Madam") as Irene Danbury
  • Murder, She Wrote (1985, Episode: "Funeral at Fifty-Mile") as Sally Mestin
  • A Masterpiece of Murder (1986, TV Movie) as Della Vance / Deb Potts
  • Magnum, P.I. (1986, Episode: "Find Me a Rainbow") as Loretta 'Lolly' Zachary van der Post
  • The History of White People in America: Volume II (1986, TV Movie)
  • Tales from the Hollywood Hills: Natica Jackson (1987, TV Movie) as Mimi Carteret
  • Adventures Beyond Belief (1987, TV Movie) as Mrs. Loretta Kemble
  • Tales from the Hollywood Hills: A Table at Ciro's (1987, TV Movie) as Mimi Carteret
  • Father Dowling Mysteries (1987, "Fatal Confession") as Katherine 'Kate' St. Urban
  • Man Against the Mob (1988, TV Movie) as Joey Day
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1988, Episode: "Twist") as Georgia Brooks
  • Jake Spanner, Private Eye (1989, TV Movie) as Sandra Summers
  • Santa Barbara (1989–1990, 66 episodes) as Phyllis Blake
  • Dream On (1990, Episode: "Over Your Dead Body") as Lyla Murphy
  • In the Heat of the Night (1991, Episode: "A Woman Much Admired") as Georgia Farren
  • Dangerous Curves (1992, Episode: "In the Name of Love") as Muffy Fuller
  • The Commish (1993, Episode: "Eastbridge Boulevard") as Donna DeVries
  • Burke's Law (1994, Episode: "Who Killed the Romance?") as Candice Collier
  • Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women (1994, TV Movie) as Lawanda
  • Highlander: The Series (1995, Episode: "Vendetta") as Margaret Lang
  • Dave's World (1995, Episode: "The Mommies") as Dave's Mother
  • Subliminal Seduction (1996, TV Movie) as Mrs. Beecham
  • Renegade (1996, Episode: "Love Hurts") as Amanda Sixkiller
  • Arli$ (1996, Episode: "What About the Fans?") as Flora Lansing
  • Silk Stalkings (1996, Episode: "When She Was Bad") as Mrs. Morton
  • In Cold Blood (1996, 2 episodes) as Hotel Keeper
  • General Hospital (1996-1999)
  • The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (1997, TV Movie) as Josephine 'Mama Jo' Max
  • Nash Bridges (1997, Episode: "Deliverance") as Suzie Dupree
  • The Christmas List (1997, TV Movie) as Natalie Parris
  • Viper (1998, Episode: "The Getaway") as Lorraine
  • By Dawn's Early Light (2000, TV Movie) as Eli
  • Strip Mall (2001, 5 episodes) as Doreen Krudup
  • Twenty Good Years (2006, Episode: "The Crying Game") as Martha

As director
  • The American Heroine (1979)
  • The Ranch (1989)

See also

References
  1. Nicholas, Teresa. "Stella Stevens: From the Yazoo hills to Beverly Hills". Delta Magazine. Archived from the original on July 29, 2010. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  2. Estelle Eggleston, "Female Age 1, Ward 1, Yazoo City, Beat 3, Yazoo [County], Mississippi, United States" at United States Census, 1940, via FamilySearch.org.
  3. Sanz, Cynthia (October 22, 1990). "'Ear Ye, 'Ear Ye: Ribald Sex Bomb Stella Stevens, 52, and Wry, Bald Rocker Bob Kulick, 37, Find True Love". People. 34 (16). Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 6, 2012. ...a 52-year-old onetime Playboy centerfold...
  4. "Stella Stevens profile at". Golden Globes. Archived from the original on February 8, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  5. Stevens, Stella; Hegner, William (1999). Razzle Dazzle. New York: Forge. ISBN 978-0312853792.
  6. Some sources cite her birthplace as Hot Coffee, Mississippi. Stevens confirms Yazoo City in Macklin, Tony (July 31, 2004). "The Ballad of Stella Stevens: An Interview". Bright Lights Film Journal. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016. [I am from] Yazoo City. Hot Coffee is Meridian — it’s on the way to Gulfport and Biloxi. We would stop at this place that had a sign that said 'Hot Coffee', so everybody nicknamed it 'Hot Coffee.'
  7. Pylant, James. "The Deep Southern Roots of Stella Stevens". GenealogyMagazine.com. Archived from the original on March 11, 2016. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  8. Lauderdale, Vance (December 2011). "Stella!". Memphis Magazine. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  9. Lauderdale, Vance (January 12, 2012). "Meet Stella Stevens Before She Became 'Stella Stevens'". Memphis Magazine. Archived from the original on January 21, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  10. "Biography". Stella Stevens official site. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
  11. Say One For Me 1959 (Trailer) Bing Crosby Debbie Reynolds on YouTube
  12. "Say One for Me (1959)". IMDb. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  13. "Topic: Stella Stevens". UPI. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  14. Li'L Abner Original Trailer on YouTube
  15. Girls! Girls! Girls! - Trailer on YouTube
  16. The Nutty Professor (1963) - Trailer on YouTube
  17. The Courtship of Eddie's Father - Trailer on YouTube
  18. Synanon: Trailer (1965) on YouTube
  19. "The Secret of My Success (1965)". IMDb. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  20. The Silencers (Opening Credits) on YouTube
  21. Where Angels Go Trouble Follows! (1968) trailer on YouTube
  22. Greenspun, Roger (May 14, 1970). "Sam Peckinpah's 'Ballad of Cable Hogue'". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  23. Weiler, A.H. (December 13, 1972). "'Poseidon Adventure' Arrives". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  24. "The Skip-Jacks". CBS Interactive, Last.fm Ltd. Retrieved 2018-10-25.
  25. "Twisp Looks Good After Beverly Hills". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. May 9, 1978. Retrieved May 5, 2012. ...says the 39-year-old actress.
  26. "Film Beauty Stella Stevens is Sadly Fighting Alzheimer's/ Dementia". The Life and Times of Hollywood. November 17, 2017.
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