Inger Stevens

Inger Stevens
Inger Stevens in 1957
Born Ingrid Stensland
(1934-10-18)October 18, 1934
Stockholm, Sweden
Died April 30, 1970(1970-04-30) (aged 35)
Hollywood, California, U.S.
Cause of death Drug-related overdose
Resting place Ashes scattered into the Pacific Ocean
Years active 1954–1970
Spouse(s)
Anthony Soglio
(m. 1955; div. 1958)

Ike Jones
(m. 1961)
Awards Best TV Star – Female
1964 The Farmer's Daughter

Inger Stevens (born Ingrid Stensland; October 18, 1934 – April 30, 1970)[1] was a Swedish-American film, television, and stage actress.

Early life

Inger Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the daughter of Per Gustaf[2] and Lisbet Stensland.[3][4] As a child, she was often ill. When she was nine, her mother abandoned the family and her father moved to the United States, leaving Inger and her sister in the custody first of the family maid and then with an aunt in Lidingö,[5] near Stockholm.[6] In 1944, the girls moved with their father and his new wife to New York City, where he had found work teaching at Columbia University. At age 13, she and her father moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where she attended Manhattan High School.[3]

At 16, she ran away from home to Kansas City, and worked in burlesque shows.[7] At 18, she left Kansas City to return to New York City, where she worked as a chorus girl and in the Garment District while taking classes at the Actors Studio.[6]

Career

Stevens in 1967

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, but she achieved her greatest success in the ABC television series The Farmer's Daughter (1963-1966), with William Windom. Previously, Stevens had appeared in episodes of Bonanza, Route 66, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Eleventh Hour, Sam Benedict 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), with Walter Matthau; Hang 'Em High, with Clint Eastwood; 5 Card Stud, with Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum; and Madigan with Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark. Stevens was attempting to revive her television career with the detective drama series The Most Deadly Game when she died.

Personal life

Her first husband was her agent, Anthony Soglio,[8] to whom she was married from 1955 to 1957.

In January 1966, she was appointed to the Advisory Board of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute by then California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. She was also named Chairman of the California Council for Retarded Children. Her aunt was Karin Stensland Junker, author of The Child in the Glass Ball.[9][10][11][12][13][14]

After her death, Ike Jones, the first African American to graduate from UCLA's School of Theatre, Film, and Television, claimed[15] that he had been secretly married to Stevens since 1961. Some doubted this due to the lack of a marriage license, the maintaining of separate homes and the filing of tax documents as single people.[16] However, at the time Stevens' estate was being settled, the actress's brother, Carl O. Stensland, confirmed in court that his sister had hidden her marriage to Jones "out of fear for her career."[17] Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner A. Edward Nichols ruled in Ike Jones's favor[18] and made him administrator of her estate.[19] A photo exists of the two attending a banquet together in 1968.[5] Her website also states that the marriage to Jones took place in Tijuana, Mexico.

Death

On the morning of April 30, 1970, Stevens' sometime roommate and companion, Lola McNally,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] found her on the kitchen floor of her Hollywood Hills home. According to McNally, when she called Stevens' name, she opened her eyes, lifted her head, and tried to speak, but was unable to make any sound. McNally told police that she had spoken to Stevens the previous night and had seen no sign 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 what appeared to be fresh blood oozing from a cut which appeared to have been a few hours old. Los Angeles County Coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi attributed Stevens's death to "acute barbiturate poisoning."[16][31][32][33][34][35][36]

Filmography

Television credits

Rod Serling and Inger Stevens, 1960

Broadway credits

  • Debut (1956)
  • Roman Candle (1960)
  • Mary, Mary (1962)[37]

Awards and nominations

Year Result Award Category Series
1958 Nominated Laurel Awards Top New Female Personality —
1968 Nominated Best Family Comedy Series A Guide for the Married Man
1964 Won Golden Globes Best TV Star – Female The Farmer's Daughter
1962 Nominated Emmy Award Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role The Dick Powell Show
1964 Nominated Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead) The Farmer's Daughter

References

  1. ↑ "Inger S Stevens". California Death Index, 1940–1997. Ancestry.com. Retrieved July 1, 2011. Name: Inger S Stevens; Social Security #: 511200818; Sex: Female; Birth Date: 18 Oct 1934; Birthplace: Sweden; Death Date: 30 Apr 1970; Death Place: Los Angeles (subscription required)
  2. ↑ "headline -". newtownbee.com.
  3. 1 2 Pilato, Herbie J. (2014). Glamour, Gidgets, and the Girl Next Door: Television's Iconic Women from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Rowman and Littlefield. p. 134. ISBN 9781589799707. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Patterson, William T. (September 30, 2017). "The Farmer's Daughter Remembered: The Biography of Actress Inger Stevens". Xlibris – via Google Books.
  5. 1 2 http://www.ingerstevens.org/bio.html / Internet Archive
  6. 1 2 Brumburgh, Gary. "Inger Stevens: Wounded Butterfly". , Classic Images. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Silverman (February 14, 2015). "TECH 1: The Mysterious Death of Inger Stevens".
  8. ↑ Petrucelli, Alan W. (September 29, 2009). "Morbid Curiosity: The Disturbing Demises of the Famous and Infamous". Penguin – via Google Books.
  9. ↑ Turkington, Carol; Anan, Ruth (September 30, 2017). "The Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders". Infobase Publishing – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Câmara, Emmanoel. "homep\children". www.ingerstevens.org. / Internet Archive
  11. ↑ "The child in the glass ball". www.worldcat.org.
  12. ↑ "THE CHILD IN THE GLASS BALL by Karin Stensland Junker - Kirkus Reviews".
  13. ↑ Feinstein, Adam (July 7, 2011). "A History of Autism: Conversations with the Pioneers". John Wiley & Sons – via Google Books.
  14. ↑ "Autism Frequently Asked Questions Memo - Full Text". www.autism-resources.com.
  15. ↑ Company, Johnson Publishing (May 21, 1970). "Jet". Johnson Publishing Company – via Google Books.
  16. 1 2 Austin, John. Hollywood's Babylon Women, S.P.I. Books, 1994, accessed at Google Books, July 1, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Inger's Brother Backs Ike Jones's Claim on Estate", Jet, August 13, 1970, page 22
  18. ↑ "Rule Ex-Actor Mate Of Actress, She Took Own Life". Jet. August 20, 1970. p. 23. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  19. ↑ http://www.ingerstevens.org/moreinfo.html / Internet Archive
  20. ↑ Austin, John (September 30, 1994). "Hollywood's Babylon Women". SP Books – via Google Books.
  21. ↑ "Lola 'Skip' McNalley". IMDb.
  22. ↑ Sangster, Jim (August 31, 2012). "Scorsese: Virgin Film". Random House – via Google Books.
  23. ↑ McGee, Marty (September 15, 2010). "Encyclopedia of Motion Picture Sound". McFarland – via Google Books.
  24. ↑ Ruditis, Paul (September 30, 2017). "Star Trek Voyager Companion". Simon and Schuster – via Google Books.
  25. ↑ "Detail view of Movies Page". www.afi.com.
  26. ↑ The Museum of Classic Chicago Television (www.FuzzyMemories.TV) (September 25, 2016). "WMAQ Channel 5 - Gavilan - "The Guns of Harry August" (Opening, Break & Ending, 1982)" – via YouTube.
  27. ↑ "Filmography for Lola Mcnally". Turner Classic Movies.
  28. ↑ Finstad, Suzanne (November 4, 2009). "Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood". Crown/Archetype – via Google Books.
  29. ↑ "Lola 'Skip' McNalley - Biographical Summaries of Notable People - MyHeritage". www.myheritage.com.
  30. ↑ 2003-2017, Filmová databáze s.r.o. (FDb.cz),. "Lola 'Skip' McNalley". FDb.cz.
  31. ↑ Company, Johnson Publishing (May 28, 1970). "Jet". Johnson Publishing Company – via Google Books.
  32. ↑ Schneider, Michel (November 3, 2011). "Marilyn's Last Sessions". Canongate Books – via Google Books.
  33. ↑ "The Saturday Evening Post". Curtis Publishing Company. January 1, 1964 – via Google Books.
  34. ↑ Fallen Angels: The Lives and Untimely Deaths of Fourteen Hollywood Beauties
  35. ↑ Crivello, Kirk (September 30, 1988). "Fallen Angels: The Lives and Untimely Deaths of Fourteen Hollywood Beauties". Little, Brown Book Group Limited – via Google Books.
  36. ↑ Frasier, David K. (March 8, 2005). "Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases". McFarland – via Google Books.
  37. ↑ Inger Stevens at the Internet Broadway Database

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