Estelle Eggleston was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi on October 1, 1938. Her family moved to Memphis, Tennessee when she was four years old.
On December 3, 1954, when she was sixteen, Eggleston eloped to Holly Springs, Mississippi with Noble Herman Stephens, an electrician. Afterward, the couple settled in Memphis, Tennessee. Their son, Herman Andrew Stevens, was born seven months later. The couple divorced in 1957.
As a young mother, Stevens attended night school to earn her high school diploma in 1955. Afterward, she attended Memphis State University where she studied acting. Her performance in the play Bus Stop earned her favorable reviews, including in the Memphis Press-Scimitar. This prompted her to pursue a career in acting.
Upon moving to Hollywood in 1959, Stevens made her screen debut in a minor role as a chorus girl in Say One for Me (1959), starring Bing Crosby and Debbie Reynolds. Stevens won the Golden Globe in 1960 for New Star of the Year – Actress for her performance. Later that year, she appeared in the movie musical adaptation of Li’l Abner (1959). Stevens soon signed a contract with Paramount Pictures.
Stella Stevens and Jerry Lewis in a publicity picture for “The Nutty Professor” (1963).
Stevens started the following year as Playboy Magazine’s Playmate of the Month for January 1960. The actress would pose for the magazine twice more in 1965 and 1968. Stevens also enjoyed a healthy television career during this time, appearing on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, and General Electric Theatre.
In 1962, Stevens would co-star with Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls! Over the next couple of years, she would appear in The Nutty Professor (1963) with Jerry Lewis and The Courtship of Eddie’s Father(1963) with Glenn Ford.
After this string of movies, Stevens would sign a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1964. She then played opposite Chuck Connors in Synanon (1965) and The Secret of My Success(1965) with Shirley Jones and Honor Blackman. In 1966, she would co-star in The Silencers (1966) with Dean Martin’s Matt Helm. Two years later Stevens would appear with Martin again in the movie How to Save a Marriage and Ruin a Life (1968).
In early 1967, Stevens took out a large ad in Variety promoting her highly acclaimed comedic performance in The Silencers for an Academy Award for supporting actress. However, it wasn’t meant to be and Stevens wasn’t nominated.
The actress felt that comedy was her strongest suit and believed this was her finest performance. She basically was a female version of Jerry Lewis co-starring opposite Martin in the film. It also contained the scene she felt the proudest of as well, in which she falls several times in the mud during a heavy rain storm.
Stella Stevens and Hugh O’Brian on the set of “General Electric Theater” (1961).
Throughout the decade Stevens also appeared in a singing group that was named The Skip-Jacks. The ensemble sang the theme songs that were used in both The Patty Duke Show and The Flintstones.
Later Career and Life
In 1970, Stevens appeared with Jason Robards in The Ballad of Cable Hogue with Jason Robards. In 1972, she co-starred in the star-studded disaster classic The Poseidon Adventure. The remainder of her career would primarily focus on TV roles in many hit series including The Love Boat, Wonder Woman, Newhart, General Hospital, and Fantasy Island.
“I was friends with a lot of men – didn’t have affairs. But, of course, they all said I did, which made the ‘sexpot’ reputation grow. So, it was probably good for in a way. It was certainly better than having to have sex with them all.”
– Stella Stevens
Stella Stevens in a publicity photo for The Poseidon Adventure (1972).
Stevens took on theatre work including starring in an all-female version of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, with Sandy Dennis as her co-star. Additionally, she branched into film direction, stepping behind the camera for two separate projects – The American Heroine (1979) and The Ranch(1989). Stevens also co-wrote a novel entitled Razzle Dazzle.
Although her primary residence was in Beverly Hills, in 1976 Stevens purchased a ranch in Carton, Washington, and opened a bakery and art gallery in the nearby town of Twisp. In 1983 she began a relationship with session guitarist Bob Kulick, which lasted until his death in 2020.
In 2016, she sold her Beverly Hills home and moved into an assisted living facility in Los Angeles due to severe Alzheimer’s disease. Stella Stevens passed away on February 17, 2023, at the age of eighty-four.
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