Inger Stevens Biography

Swedish-American actress (1934–1970)

Inger Stevens (born Ingrid Stensland; October 18, 1934:– April 30, 1970) was a Swedish-American film, stage and Golden Globe–winning television actress.

Early life

Inger Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the eldest child of Per Gustaf and Lisbet Stensland. When she was six years old, her mother abandoned the family, taking her youngest son Peter with her. Soon after, Stevens' father moved to the United States, leaving Stevens and her brother Ola in the custody of the family maid and then later with an aunt on Lidingö, an island near Stockholm. In 1944, Stevens and her brother moved to the United States and lived with their father and his new American wife in New York City, where her father was completing his PhD in Education at Columbia University. At age 13, Stevens moved with her family to Manhattan, Kansas, where her father taught at Kansas State University. Stevens attended Manhattan High School.

At 15, Stevens fled to Kansas City, where she worked in burlesque shows. At 18, she returned to New York City, where she worked as a chorus girl and in the Garment District while taking cl*es at the Actors Studio.

Career

Stevens in 1957

Stevens appeared on television series, in commercials and in plays until she received her big break in the film Man on Fire, starring Bing Crosby.

Roles in major films followed, including a starring role opposite Harry Belafonte in 1959's The World, the Flesh and the Devil, but she achieved her greatest success in the television series The Farmer's Daughter (1963–1966) with William Windom. Previously, Stevens had appeared in episodes of Bonanza, Route 66, The Alfred Hitch* Hour, The Eleventh Hour, Sam Benedict, The Aquanauts and The Twilight Zone.

Following the cancellation of The Farmer's Daughter in 1966, Stevens appeared in several films: A Guide for the Married Man (1967), Hang 'Em High, 5 Card Stud and Madigan. At the time of her death, Stevens was attempting to revive her television career with the detective drama series The Most Deadly Game.

Personal life

Stevens's first husband was her agent Anthony Soglio, to whom she was married from 1955 to 1957.

In January 1966, she was appointed to the advisory board of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Ins*ute by California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. She also was named chairman of the California Council for *ed Children. Her aunt was Karin Stensland Junker, author of The Child in the Gl* Ball.

After Stevens's death, Ike Jones, the first Black person to graduate from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, revealed that he had secretly married Stevens in 1961 in Mexico. Some doubted Jones's claim because of the lack of a marriage license, the maintenance of separate homes and the filing of tax do*ents as single people. However, when Stevens's estate was being settled, her brother Carl O. Stensland confirmed in court that Stevens had hidden her marriage to Jones "out of fear for her career." Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner A. Edward Nichols ruled in Jones's favor and named him administrator of her estate. A photo exists of the two attending a banquet together in 1968.

Death

On the morning of April 30, 1970, Stevens's roommate and companion Lola McNally found Stevens on the kitchen floor of her Hollywood Hills home. According to McNally, Stevens opened her eyes, lifted her head and tried to speak but was unable to utter any sound. McNally told police that she had spoken to Stevens the previous night and had seen no signs of trouble. Stevens died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. On arrival, medics removed a small bandage from her chin that revealed a small amount of fresh blood oozing from a cut that appeared to have been a few hours old. Los Angeles County coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi attributed Stevens's death to "acute barbiturate poisoning" and the death was eventually ruled a suicide.

Filmography

Film

• Man on Fire (1957):— Nina Wylie
• Cry Terror! (1958):— Mrs. Joan Molner
• The Buccaneer (1958):— Annette Claiborne
• The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959):— Sarah Crandall
• The New Interns (1964):— Nancy Terman
• The Borgia Stick (1967, TV):— Eve Harrison
• A Guide for the Married Man (1967):— Ruth Manning
• A Time for Killing (1967):— Emily Biddle
• Firecreek (1968):— Evelyn Pittman
• Madigan (1968):— Julia Madigan
• 5 Card Stud (1968):— Lily Langford
• Hang 'Em High (1968):— Rachel Warren
• House of Cards (1968):— Anne de Villemont
• A Dream of Kings (1969):— Anna

Stevens appeared in two episodes of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone (image at his home in 1960).

Television

• Kraft Television Theatre (1 episode, 1954)
• Robert Montgomery Presents (1 episode, 1955)
• Studio One (3 episodes, 1954–1955):— Lucy Henderson / Mary / Sue Ellen
• Crunch and Des (1 episode, 1956):— The Actress
• Matinee Theatre (1 episode, 1956)
• Crusader as Alicia in "The Girl Across the Hall" (CBS, 1956):— Alicia
• Conflict (1 episode, 1956):— Lady Arabella
• The Joseph Cotten Show, or On Trial (1 episode, "Law Is for the Lovers", 1956):— Ruth
• The Millionaire (1 episode, 1956):— Betty Perkins
• Alfred Hitch* Presents (Season 2 Episode 17: "My Brother, Richard") (1957):— Laura Ross
• Climax! (1 episode, 1957):— Marge
• Playhouse 90 (2 episodes, 1956–1959):— Gail Lucas / Johanna:— Chambermaid
• Bonanza (1 episode, 1959):— Emily Pennington
• Sunday Showcase (1 episode, 1959):— Nina Kay
• Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre (1 episode, 1960):— Beth Watkins
• Moment of Fear (1 episode, 1960)
• Checkmate (1 episode, 1960):— Betty Lyons
• Hong Kong (1 episode, 1960):— Joan Blakely
• The Twilight Zone
  • In "The Hitch-Hiker" Season 1 Episode 16 (CBS, 1960):— Nan Adams
  • In "The Lateness of the Hour", Season 2 Episode 8 (CBS, 1960):— Jana
• Route 66 (2 episodes, 1960–1961):— Julie Brack / Wendy Durant
• The DuPont Show of the Month (1 episode, 1961):— Princess Flavia
• Adventures in Paradise (1 episode, 1961):— Dr. Britta Sjostrom
• The Aquanauts (1 episode, 1961):— Margot Allison
• The Detectives (1 episode, 1961):— Thea Templeton
• Follow the Sun (2 episodes, 1961):— Lisa Mannheim / Abby Ellis
• The Eleventh Hour (1 episode, 1962):— Christine Warren
• Sam Benedict (1 episode, 1962):— Theresa Stone
• The Dick Powell Show (2 episodes, 1962–1963):— Adele Hughes / Anna Beza
• Your First Impression (1963):— Herself
• The Alfred Hitch* Hour (1963) (Season 1 Episode 17: "Forecast: Low Clouds and Coastal Fog"):— Karen Wilson
• The Nurses (1 episode, 1963):— Clarissa Robin
• Empire (1 episode, 1963):— Ellen Thompson
• The Farmer's Daughter (101 episodes, 1963–1966):— Katy Holstrum / Katy Morley / Ann Carpenter
• The Danny Kaye Show (1 episode, 1966):— Herself
• The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1 episode, 1967):— Eve Harrison
• The Mask of Sheba (1970):— Sarah Kramer
• Run, Simon, Run (1970):— Carroll Rennard
• The Most Deadly Game (1 episode, 1970):— Vanessa Smith

Broadway credits

• Debut (1956)
• Roman Candle (1960)
• Mary, Mary (1962)

Awards and nominations

References

Further reading

• Patterson, William T. (2000). The Farmer's Daughter Remembered: The Biography of Actress Inger Stevens. Xlibris. ISBN:978-0-7388-1192-5.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inger Stevens.

• Inger Stevens at IMDb:
• Inger Stevens at the Internet Broadway Database