All Rights Reserved. The funnyman had a total of seven children and a rumored love child. Titles The Nutty Professor. What sounds like a fantasy to most women was actually a severe disappointment to the actress. When Stella turned four, the Eggleston family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. Ms. Stevens, do you remember the early start of your career in movies? Girls! 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. It was a very exciting time.. Stella Stevens had a son with her ex-husband, Noble. Stevens won a Golden Globe for her 1959 film debut as a chorus girl in Say One for Me, which also starred Bing Crosby and Debbie Reynolds. Elvis was not the only singing superstar Stevens had the pleasure to work with in a film. I wouldnt say that. Stevens estate said she died Friday in Los Angeles after a long illness. with Elvis Presley, which she only agreed to do because she was promised to a Montgomery Clift movie if she did it. She said the support she got from other teams was 'overwhelming. Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and 70s comedies perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewis's affection in "The Nutty Professor," has died. If anyone would have given me a job to direct, I think I could have done it. Stella Stevens, who starred alongside Elvis Presley in Girls! Stevens also played one half of a newlywed couple on The Poseidon Adventure, a shipwreck movie that became one of the biggest blockbusters of 1972. Martin (screenplay LADIES IN RETIREMENT [1941] by Reginald Denham, Garrett Fort; play by Reginald Denham, Edward Percy) CAM Harry Stradling, Jr. ED Pat Somerset MUS Dave Grusin CAST Stella Stevens (Ellen Hardy), Shelley Winters, Skip Ward, Carol Cole, Beverly Garland, Michael Burns, THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (1970) DIR PROD Sam Peckinpah SCR John Crawford, Edmund Penney CAM Lucien Ballard ED Lou Lombardo, Frank Santillo MUS Jerry Goldsmith CAST Jason Robards, Stella Stevens (Hildy), David Warner, Strother Martin, Slim Pickens, L.Q. Directed by screen veteran Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley while still at the peak of his popularity, I suppose it gave your career a boost? It was a miserable six days of filming, she said, due to the temper of director Norman Taurog, though she said Presley was nice. At Columbia Pictures, she'd appear in "The Secret of My Success," "The Silencers," with Dean Martin, and "Where Angels Go Trouble Follows," as a nun opposite Rosalind Russell. Stella Stevens, who starred with Elvis Presley in Girls! "Jerry Lewis had told the bosses at Paramount he wanted to cast the most beautiful ingnue working at the studio - or something like that - and so I got the gig," she said. Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Girls! Stevens died from Alzheimers disease at a long-term care She also guested on specials with Crosby, Bob Hope and others. "We all tried to make the characters he had created in the script special, wonderful, unique - and if you ask me, I do believe that's why the film still holds up after all those years.". Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and 70s comedies perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewiss affection in The Nutty Professor, has died. Beginning at 20th Century Fox, she soon moved to Paramount to appear in Lil Abner (1959), where she signed a five-year contract which marked the beginning of her screen career. We all tried to make the characters he had created in the script special, wonderful, unique and if you ask me, I do believe thats why the film still holds up after all those years.. Doctor Jerry and Mister Love. Stella Stevens in a bikini, circa 1960. In 2017, she'd say that her favorite director that she worked with was Vincente Minnelli on "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," from 1963. To be honest, as agonizing as it was, it was a lot of fun. Did you learn anything from him on the set of Too Late Blues? In Girls! She was 84. He did a good picture, though. ABC7 Chicago 24/7 Stream LOS ANGELES -- Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and 70s comedies perhaps best known for playing the object of I did the best I could with the tools I had and the opportunities given me, she was once quoted as saying. Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and '70s comedies perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewis' affection in The Nutty Professor, has died, aged 84. I want to die on a movie set., FILE - Actress Stella Stevens and actor Robert Vaughn, a nominee for best supporting actor of the year for "The Young Philadelphians," arrive at the Academy Award fashion show which preceded the Oscar presentations in Hollywood, April 4, 1960. She started acting and modeling during her time at Memphis State University and made her film debut in a minor role in the Bing Crosby musical Say One for Me in 1959, but she considered Lil Abner her big break. South ED Edward A. Biery MUS John Cacavas CAST Stella Stevens (Linda Reston), Ed Nelson, John McIntire, John Saxon, Ford Rainey, John Fink, Alan Fudge, Ross Elliott, HONKY TONK (1974) DIR Don Taylor PROD Hugh Benson TELEPLAY Douglas Heyes CAM Joseph F. Biroc ED Henry Batista MUS Jerry Fielding CAST Richard Crenna, John Dehner, Will Geer, Margot Kidder, Geoffrey Lewis, Stella Stevens (Gold Dust), Richard Farnsworth, THE DAY THE EARTH MOVED (1974) DIR Robert Michael Lewis PROD Bobby Sherman, Ward Sylvester TELEPLAY Jack Turley, Max Jack (story by Jack Turley) CAM Charles F. Wheeler ED John F. Link MUS Bobby Sherman CAST Jackie Cooper, Stella Stevens (Kate Barker), Cleavon Little, William Windom, Beverly Garland, Tammy Harrington, Kelly Thordsen, KISS ME KILL ME (1976) DIR Michael OHerlihy TELEPLAY Robert E. Thompson CAM Meredith M. Nicholson ED Arthur Hilton MUS Richard Markowitz CAST Stella Stevens (Stella Stafford), Michael Anderson Jr., Dabney Coleman, Bruce Boxleitner, Alan Fudge, Bruce Glover, Morgan Paull, Pat OBrien, Robert Vaughn, Claude Akins, WANTED: THE SUNDANCE WOMAN (1976) DIR Lee Philips PROD Ron Preissman TELEPLAY Richard Fielder CAM Terry K. Meade ED Samuel E. Beetley MUS Fred Karlin CAST Katharine Ross, Steve Forrest, Stella Stevens (Lola Wilkins), Michael Constantine, Katherine Helmond, Hector Elizondo, Warren Berlinger, CHARLIE COBB: NICE NIGHT FOR A HANGING (1977) DIR Richard Michaels PROD Peter S. Fischer TELEPLAY Peter S. Fischer (story by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson, William Link) CAM Andrew Jackson ED Howard Deane MUS Mike Post, Pete Carpenter CAST Clu Gulager, Ralph Bellamy, Blair Brown, Christopher Connelly, George Furth, Pernell Roberts, Stella Stevens (Martha McVea), Josh Taylor, Ted Chapman, MURDER IN PEYTON PLACE (1977) DIR Bruce Kessler PROD Peter Katz TELEPLAY Richard De Roy (novel by Grace Metalious) CAM Gert Andersen ED Bud S. Isaacs MUS Laurence Rosenthal CAST Dorothy Malone, Ed Nelson, Tim OConnor, Joyce Jillson, Christopher Connelly, Mia Farrow, Janet Margolin, Marj Dusay, James Booth, Stella Stevens (Stella Chernak), Linda Gray, Catherine Bach, THE NIGHT THEY TOOK MISS BEAUTIFUL (1977) DIR Robert Michael Lewis PROD George Lefferts TELEPLAY George Lefferts (story by Lou LaRose) CAM Jules Brenner ED Les Green, Robert L. Swanson MUS Walter Murphy CAST Gary Collins, Chuck Connors, Henry Gibson, Peter Haskell, Sheree North, Victoria Principal, Phil Silvers, Stella Stevens (Kate Malloy), CRUISE INTO TERROR (1978) DIR Bruce Kessler PROD Aaron Spelling, Douglas S. Cramer TELEPLAY Michael Braverman CAM Archie R. Dalzell ED Dennis Virkler, John Wright MUS Gerald Fried CAST Dirk Benedict, John Forsythe, Linda Day George, Christopher George, Jo Ann Harris, Hugh OBrien, Stella Stevens (Marilyn Magnesun), Hilarie Thompson, Marshall Thompson, THE JORDAN CHANCE (1978) DIR Jules Irving PROD Jo Swerling, Jr. TELEPLAY Stephen J. Cannell (story by Stephen J. Cannell, Roy Huggins) CAM Enzo A. Martinelli, Leonard J. Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and 70s comedies perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewiss affection in The Nutty She also directed several films, the documentary An American Heroine, which never got distribution, and The Ranch. She retired in 2010. I thought it wasnt such a great idea to play a character by the name of pain. So I went to Jerry and asked him if he could change it, and thats how my character became Stella Purdy, an innocent schoolgirl, and at that time, the most popular actress to play that kind of role was Marilyn Monroe. She started acting and modeling during her time at Memphis State University and made her film debut in a minor role in the Bing Crosby musical "Say One for Me" in 1959, but she considered "Li'l Abner" her big break. The competition is tough, young people replace older generations of actors, and even they have to wait and see what their chances will be like in the near future. Girls!, Dean Martin in How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life, Bobby Darin in Too Late Blues, Chuck Conners in Synanon and Glenn Ford in The Courtship of Eddies Father, ADvance to the Rear and Rage. She had a major arc in Ben Casey as a woman who awakens from a 13-year coma and has a brief fling with Vince Edwards title doctor. Stevens' estate said she died Friday in Los Angeles after a long illness. Lewis retained the rights to his hit film, which was later remade by Eddie Murphy for the big screen and adapted for the stage. The Poseidon Adventure [1972] turned out to be your biggest commercial success. (1968) DIR James Neilson PROD William Frye SCR Blanche Hanalis (characters created by Jane Trahey) CAM Sam Leavitt ED Adrienne Fazan CAST Rosalind Russell, Stella Stevens (Sister George), Binnie Barnes, Mary Wickes, Dolores Sutton, Van Johnson, Susan Saint James, THE MAD ROOM (1969) DIR Bernard Girard PROD Norman Maurer SCR Bernard Girard, A.Z. You then appeared with Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor (1963). Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and '70s comedies who is perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewis affection in The Nutty Professor, has died. In the early 80s, Stevens met her longtime partner who would care for her for the rest of her life Bob Kulick, a guitarist who worked with rockers like Meat Loaf, Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, and KISS. Home. (with Elvis Presley) and The Poseidon Adventure, Stella Stevens was known for her voluptuous curves, platinum blonde locks, and shimmering eyes. 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