Stella Stevens

Posted September 22, 201014 yr

According to imdb - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001771/

A native of Hot Coffee, Mississippi, Stella was married at 15, a mother at 16 and divorced at 17. While attending Memphis State College, Stella became interested in acting and modeling. Her film debut was a bit part in Say One for Me, but her appearance in Li'l Abner as Appassionata Von Climax is the one that got her noticed...

Born: Estelle Caro Eggleston

October 1, 1936 in Yazoo City, Mississippi, USA

ACTING CAREER

Stevens was first under contract to 20th Century Fox, then dropped after six months. After winning the role of "Appassionata Von Climax" for the musical Li'l Abner (1959), she signed a contract with Paramount Pictures (1959-1963) and later Columbia Pictures (1964-1968). She shared the 1960 Golden Globe Award for "Most Promising Newcomer - Female", with Tuesday Weld, Angie Dickinson and Janet Munro for Say One For Me.[3]

In 1960, Stevens was Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Month for January (and had featured pictorials in 1965 and 1968). Stevens was in the 100 sexiest stars of the 20th Century (#27). During the 1960s, she was one of the ten most photographed women in the world, carving herself a distinctive 'sexy kitten' niche which was quite distinct from the overwhelming sexpot image of Marilyn Monroe and the numerous Monroe clones of the period.[citation needed]

In 1962, Stevens starred opposite Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls!. Later that year, she portrayed Jerry Lewis's love interest in The Nutty Professor. This was followed by other comic turns as the former "Miss Montana" beauty queen in Vincente Minnelli's The Courtship of Eddie's Father and opposite Dean Martin in the "Matt Helm" spy spoof The Silencers plus How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life.

Stevens was featured in Sam Peckinpah's western The Ballad of Cable Hogue in 1970 with Jason Robards. In 1972, she appeared in Irwin Allen's The Poseidon Adventure as "Linda Rogo" (the former-hooker wife of Ernest Borgnine's character).

Stevens appeared in dozens of TV shows. An early appearance was in the Bonanza episode "Silent Thunder" playing a deaf mute (the episode aired in December 1960) a role she played with exceptional charm and success. She was a regular on the 1981-1982 primetime soap opera Flamingo Road. She teamed with the late Sandy Dennis in a touring production of an all-female version of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple, playing the Oscar Madison character. She had a contract role on NBC's daytime drama Santa Barbara as Phyllis Blake from 1989 to 1990.

Stevens produced and directed two films, The Ranch (1989) and The American Heroine (1979).

Stella Stevens Awsome Ass n Boobs - The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)