Stella Stevens - # 300

Stella Stevens Dies; ‘Poseidon Adventure’ Actress & Elvis Presley, Jerry Lewis Co-Star Was 84

 

She was number 300 on the list.

Stella Stevens, the actress best known for her roles in The Nutty Professor and The Poseidon Adventure and starring opposite Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls!, died today in Los Angeles after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 84.

Stevens’ passing was confirmed to Deadline by her son, actor-producer Andrew Stevens, and her longtime friend John O’Brien.

A former Playboy centerfold from January 1960, Stevens was modeling in her hometown of Memphis when she was discovered and given a screen test by 20th Century Fox. She wound up under contract with Paramount and then Columbia through the ’60s, starring opposite such big names as Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls!, Dean Martin in How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life, Glenn Ford in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father and Rage and Bobby Darin in Too Late Blues.

She won a Golden Globe as Most Promising Newcomer in 1960 for her first film, Say One for Me, which starred Bing Crosby and Debbie Reynolds.

She also played Jerry Lewis’ dream girl in The Nutty Professor and the lippy wife of Ernest Borgnine in The Poseidon Adventure. Her other credits include The Silencers, The Ballad of Cable Hogue and Lil Abner.

Born on October 1, 1938, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Stevens was also a steady presence on television, appearing in dozens of TV movies and guest-starring in more than 40 series, from Bonanza and Ben Casey in the ‘60’s through The Commish and Arli$$ in the ‘90s.

For two seasons in the early ‘80s, she starred in the primetime soap Flamingo Road and later had recurring roles in Santa Barbara and General Hospital. Reportedly, Stevens came to regret her association with Playboy, finding the sexpot label confining.

“I did the best I could with the tools I had and the opportunities given me,” she was once quoted as saying. “I was a divorced mom with a toddler by the time I was 17. And Playboy did as much harm as it helped. But in spite of that rough start, I did OK.”

Along with her son, Stevens is survived by three grandchildren. She was predeceased by her longtime partner, rock musician Bob Kulick.

 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.

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.

Films

 

Say One for Me (1959) as Chorine

The Blue Angel (1959) as Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Li'l Abner (1959) as Appassionata Von Climax[

Man-Trap (1961) as Nina Jameson

Too Late Blues (1961) as Jess Polanski

Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) as Robin Gantner

The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) as Dollye Daly

The Nutty Professor (1963) as Stella Purdy

Advance to the Rear (1964) as Martha Lou Williams

Synanon (1965) as Joaney Adamic

The Secret of My Success (1966) as Violet Lawson

The Silencers (1966) as Gail Hendricks

Rage (1966) as Perla

How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life (1968) as Carol Corman

Sol Madrid (1968) as Stacey Woodward

Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968) as Sister George

The Mad Room (1969) as Ellen Hardy

The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970) as Hildy

A Town Called Bastard (1971) as Alvira

Stand Up and Be Counted (1972) as Yvonne Kellerman

Slaughter (1972) as Ann

The Poseidon Adventure (1972) as Linda Rogo

Arnold (1973) as Karen

The Day the Earth Moved (1974) as Kate Barker

Las Vegas Lady (1975) as Lucky

Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold (1975) as Bianca Javin / Dragon Lady

Nickelodeon (1976) as Marty Reeves

Mister Deathman (1977) as Liz

The Manitou (1978) as Amelia Crusoe

Wacko (1982) as Mrs. Doctor Graves

Ladies Night (1983) as Shelly

Chained Heat (1983) as Captain Taylor

The Longshot (1986) as Nicki Dixon

Monster in the Closet (1986) as Margo

Down the Drain (1990) as Sophia

The Terror Within II (1991) as Kara

Last Call (1991) as Betty

Mom (1991) as Beverly Hills

The Nutt House (1992) as Mrs. Robinson

Exiled in America (1992) as Sonny Moore

South Beach (1992) as Nancy

Little Devils: The Birth (1993) as Mrs. Clara Madison

Eye of the Stranger (1993) as Doc

Hard Drive (1994) as Susan

Point of Seduction: Body Chemistry III (1994, Video) as Frannie Sibley

Molly & Gina (1994) as Mrs. Sweeny

Illicit Dreams (1995) as Cicily

The Granny (1995, Video) as Granny

Body Chemistry 4: Full Exposure (1995, Video) as Fran Sibley

Star Hunter (1995, Video) as Mrs. March

Virtual Combat (1996, Video) as Mary

Invisible Mom (1996, Video) as Mrs. Herbert Pringle

Bikini Hotel (1997) as Gail Regent

Size 'Em Up (2001)

The Long Ride Home (2003) as Fiona Champyon

Blessed (2004) as Betty

Glass Trap (2005) as Joan Highsmith

Hell to Pay (2005) as Mary Potter

Popstar (2005) as Henrietta

Megaconda (2010) as Mary Jane, (final film role)

 

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)