The actress Stella Stevens, famous for her role in the films “The Nutty Professor” and “The Poseidon Adventures” died this Friday at the age of 84.
As confirmed by her son, actor and producer Andrew Stevens, his mother had been battling Alzheimer’s for many years. Stevens is remembered for her roles in the best comedies of the sixties and seventies.
Born in Yazoo City, Mississippi, in 1938, Estelle Caro Eggleston married early – at the age of 16 – and had her only child in 1955, at the age of 17. However, two years later her love ended and she divorced her partner.
His beginnings in acting and modeling occurred while studying at Memphis State University and in 1959 he made his film debut with a supporting role in the Bing Crosby musical “Say One for Me.”
“Paramount’s head of publicity basically turned me into a global sex symbol,” she told FilmTalk in 2017 about her early days. “He had me do a lot of shoots with photographers – indoors, outdoors, here and there – being seen in different places, going to the best restaurants, meeting wonderful actors and directors…those were the golden years of Hollywood. It was a very exciting time, ”he added then.
Shortly after, she was awarded the Golden Globe for New Star, was named Playboy Magazine’s Playmate of the Month and, as a result, landed her first Paramount Pictures contract. It was there that she, among other films, she participated in “Girls! Girls! girls!” along with Elvis Presley although she only accepted it because she had been promised a Montgomery Clift film.
As he recalled, there were six miserable days of filming due to the temperament of director Norman Taurog, although he noted that Presley, on the other hand, was nice. However, all the hopes he had for Clift were dashed after that movie didn’t turn out well either.
After these, Stevens worked on “The Nutty Professor”, where he played Lewis’s student, Stella Purdy, with whom he is infatuated. “Jerry Lewis had told the bosses at Paramount that he wanted to cast the most beautiful actress in the studio, or something like that, and they gave me the part,” he recalled of that role. “We all tried to make the characters that he created in the script special, wonderful, unique, and if you ask me, I think that’s why the movie is still relevant after so many years,” he said.
Other of her works were for Columbia Pictures, such as “The secret of my success”, “The silencers” -with Dean Martin-, and “Where angels go trouble follows” -in which she played a nun with Rosalind Russell- . She also stood out for her role in “Slaughter” -along with Jim Brown-, “The ballad of cable hogue” -by Sam Peckinpah- and “The poseidon adventure” -film in which she played Linda Rogo, the wife of Ernest Borgnine’s character.
Years ago, Stevens surprised with a statement in which he revealed that, despite having worked with a long list of directors during his career, his favorite was Vincente Minnelli, with whom he had shared the filming of “The courtship of Eddie’s father”. , in 1963.
In another interview given in 1994, the actress spoke about her frustration at feeling that she had not been able to get the best out of her directors and even commented that her ambitions had changed.
“I wanted to be like my favorite actresses: Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. I wanted to be like a burst of youth and then when I get a little crow’s feet or age, get off the screen,” she said. “But I also had the project of being a director… I saw (Bob Hope) at 83 years old telling jokes and having fun. So I said that I never wanted to leave him. I want to be like this man. I want to go on forever. I want to die on a movie set, ”she mentioned years ago.
