Actress/Model Stella Stevens dead at age 84

Stella Stevens and Hugh O’Brian, General Electric Theater, 1961. By General Electric Theater. GE used the publicity firm of Strauss and Irwin, Public Domain, https commons.wikimedia.org

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston; October 1, 1938 – February 18, 2023) was an American actress and model. She began her acting career in 1959 and starred in films such as Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), The Nutty Professor (1963), The Courtship of Eddie’s Father (1963), The Silencers (1966), Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (1968), The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), and The Poseidon Adventure (1972).

Stevens also appeared in numerous television series, miniseries, and movies including Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960, 1988), Bonanza (1960), The Love Boat (1977, 1983), Hart to Hart (1979), Newhart (1983), Murder, She Wrote (1985), Magnum, P.I. (1986), Highlander: The Series (1995), and Twenty Good Years (2006). In 1960, she won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress.[1] Stevens worked as a film producer, director, and writer. She appeared in three Playboy pictorials, and was Playmate of the Month for January 1960.

PERSONAL LIFE

Stevens was married to electrician Noble Herman Stephens from 1954, when she was 16, until their divorce in 1957. Their son Andrew Stevens was born in 1955.

In late 1976, Stevens purchased a ranch in Methow Valley near Carlton, Washington on the eastern edge of the Cascade Mountains. She also opened an art gallery and bakery in the nearby small town of Twisp, Washington.

In 1983, Stevens began a long-term relationship with rock guitarist Bob Kulick. A little over a year later, he moved into Stevens’ Beverly Hills home. In March 2016, Kulick and Stevens sold her longtime Beverly Hills home, and she moved to a long-term Alzheimer’s care facility in Los Angeles. Kulick often visited her there until his death on May 28, 2020.

Stevens died from Alzheimer’s disease in Los Angeles on February 18, 2023, at the age of 84.

Stella Stevens Film publicity picture for The Nutty Professor with Jerry Lewis. 1963 photo. The photo via Heritage Auctions., Public Domain, https commons.wikimedia.org