Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and 70s comedies perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewiss affection in The Nutty It was a miserable six days of filming, she said, due to the temper of director Norman Taurog, though she said Presley was nice. Anyone who knew himwhich is nearly the entire motion picture industryhas great memories and wonderful stories to tell about him. When I first read the script, I noticed that I died six pages before the end, and I told my agent, You know, the actress who plays the fat lady in the movie will get an Oscar nomination. The role went to Shelley Winters, and she got an Academy Award nomination. If anyone would have given me a job to direct, I think I could have done it. She was 84. Stella Stevens, who starred alongside Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! She wound up under contract with Paramount and then Columbia through the 60s, starring opposite such big names as Presley in Girls! The funnyman had a total of seven children and a rumored love child. She was 84. Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and '70s comedies who is perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewis affection in The Nutty Professor, has died. The Poseidon Adventure [1972] turned out to be your biggest commercial success. Girls! I wanted to be like my favorite actresses: Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. Girls!" She was 84. When Stella turned four, the Eggleston family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. 27 in Playboys 100 Sexiest Stars Of The 20th Century.. A Golden Globe winner as Most Promising Newcomer for her screen debut in Frank Tashlins 1959 romantic comedy Say One For Mealong with Tuesday Weld, Angie Dickinson, and Janet Munroactress Stella Stevens (b. Stella Stevens, the stunning actress who rejected her label as a sex symbol, died Friday. Stevens estate said she died Friday in Los Angeles after a long illness. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. Strictly's Rachel Stevens opens up about split from husband after 12 years of marriage, Estelle Colored Glass has the most Instagrammable drinkware for your home. Stevens worked steadily in television in the 1970s and 80s, appearing in the pilots for Wonder Woman, Hart to Hart and The Love Boat and in series like Night Court, Murder She Wrote and Magnum, P.I.. Later the studio dropped her, but she was signed by Paramount. Girls! She was modeling in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, when she was discovered, ultimately leading her to roles in the 1962 music comedy Girls! It turned into John Cassavetes' "Too Late Blues," with Bobby Darrin. WebSteve Lawrence (* 8. "I wanted to be like my favorite actresses: Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. Titles The Nutty Professor. Titles The Nutty Professor. Beyond the Dash Home; Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and 70s comedies perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewiss affection in The Nutty Professor, has died. Girls! [1962] your first introduction to a major audience? In an interview in 1994, Stevens said that she worried that she didnt succeed in bringing out the best in her directors and that her ambitions changed. Stella Stevens, Hollywood Bombshell Who Yearned for More, Dies at 84 She starred alongside the likes of Elvis Presley and Jerry Lewis. Girls! and with Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor as well as in disaster film The Poseidon Adventure, died Friday in Los Angeles. Sam was okay, but he was tough to put up with. Soon after, she won the New Star Golden Globe, was named Playboys Playmate of the Month and got a contract with Paramount Pictures, leading to film work and Girls! She is also remembered for her role in action movie The Poseidon Adventure. and with Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor, has died at the age of 84, family members say. Very important. But for me, Jerry Lewis was very important when we were shooting The Nutty Professor. When we started working on that film, I told Jerry that Frank Tashlin had been teaching me how to be a director. (1962) DIR Norman Taurog PROD Hal B. Wallis SCR Edward Anhalt, Allan Weiss (story by Allan Weiss) CAM Loyal Griggs ED Stanley E. Johnson MUS Joseph J. Lilley CAST Elvis Presley, Stella Stevens (Robin Gantner), Jeremy Slate, Lionel Goodwin, Benson Fong, Robert Strauss, Guy Lee, THE COURTSHIP OF EDDIES FATHER (1963) DIR Vincente Minnelli PROD Joe Pasternak SCR John Gay (novel by Mark Toby) CAM Milton Kasner ED Adrienne Fazan MUS George Stoll CAST Glenn Ford, Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens (Dollye Daly), Roberta Sherwood, Ron Howard, Jerry Van Dyke, Clint Howard, Andrew Stevens, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (1963) DIR Jerry Lewis PROD Ernest D. Glucksman SCR Jerry Lewis, Bill Richmond CAM W. Wallace Kelley ED John Woodcock MUS Walter Scharf CAST Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens (Stella Purdy), Del Moore, Kathleen Freeman, Med Flory, Norman Alden, Howard Morris, Seymour Cassel, Richard Kiel, Francine York, ADVANCE TO THE REAR (1964) DIR George Marshall PROD Ted Richmond SCR William Bowers, Samuel A. Peeples (story by Jack Schaefer; novel by William Chamberlain) CAM Milton R. Krasner ED Archie Marshek MUS Randy Sparks CAST Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens (Martha Lou Williams), Melvyn Douglas, Jim Backus, Joan Blondell, Andrew Pine, Alan Hale Jr., Britt Ekland, Hal Needham, SYNANON (1965) DIR PROD Richard Quine SCR S. Lee Pogostin, Ian Bernard (story by S. Lee Pogostin, Barry Oringer) CAM Harry Stradling, Jr. ED David Wages MUS Neal Hefti CAST Edmond OBrien, Chuck Connors, Stella Stevens (Joaney Adamic), Alex Cord, Richard Conte, Eartha Kitt, Alejando Rey, THE SECET OF MY SUCCESS (1965) DIR SCR Andrew L. Stone PROD Andrew L. Stone, Virginia Stone CAM Davis Boulton ED Noreen Ackland MUS Roland Shaw CAST Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens (Violet Lawson), Honor Blackman, James Booth, Lionel Jeffries, Richard Vernon, THE SILENCERS (1966) DIR Phil Karlson PROD Irving Allen SCR Oscar Saul (novel by Donald Hamilton) CAM Burnett Guffey ED Charles Nelson MUS Elmer Bernstein CAST Dean Martin, Stella Stevens (Gail Hendricks), Daliah Lavi, Victor Buono, Arthur OConnell, Robert Webber, James Gregory, Cyd Charisse, RAGE (1966) DIR PROD Gilberto Gazcn SCR Gilberto Gazcn, Teddi Sherman, Fernando Mndez (story by Gilberto Gazcn, Jess Velsquez, Guillermano Hernndez) CAM Rosalo Solano ED Carlos Savage, Walter Thompson MUS Gustavo Csar Carrin CAST Glenn Ford, Stella Stevens (Perla), David Reysono, Armando Silvestre, Ariadna Welter, Dacia Gonzlez, Pancho Crdova, HOW TO SAVE A MARRIAGE AND RUIN YOUR LIFE (1968) DIR Fielder Cook PROD Stanley Shapiro SCR Stanley Shapiro, Nate Monaster CAM Lee Garmes ED Philip W. Anderson MUS Michel Legrand CAST Dean Martin, Stella Stevens (Carol Corman), Eli Wallach, Anne Jackson, Betty Field, Jack Albertson, Katharine Bard, SOL MADRID (1968) DIR Brian G. Hutton PROD Elliott Kastner, Hall Bartlett SCR David Karp (novel by Robert Wilder) CAM Fred J. Koenekamp ED John McSweeney, Jr. MUS Lalo Schifrin CAST David McCallum, Stella Stevens (Stacey Woodward), Telly Savalas, Rip Torn, Ricardo Montalban, Pat Hingle, Paul Lukas, Michael Ansara, WHERE ANGELSO GO TROUBLE FOLLOWS! Next came The Nutty Professor as Lewis student, Stella Purdy, who he is infatuated with. He was probably a different kind of director than you were used to? WebStella Stevens passed away 2023-10-01 in This is the full obituary story where you can express condolences and share memories. Two years later, she divorced and began modelling and acting. It was a very exciting time.. Girls!. Stella Stevens had a son with her ex-husband, Noble. She went on to play Jerry Lewis dream girl in The Nutty Professor which was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2004 and the lippy wife of Ernest Borgnine in The Poseidon Adventure, the star-packed pic about the wreck of a luxury liner that was among the biggest hits of 1972 and helped fuel that decades disaster-movie trend. We all tried to make the characters he had created in the script special, wonderful, unique and if you ask me, I do believe thats why the film still holds up after all those years.. Directed by screen veteran Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley while still at the peak of his popularity, I suppose it gave your career a boost? He took me to the dailiesI saw the best and the worst, the takes, the outtakes, all of themand whenever I watched him at work, I could ask him anything, and hed take the time to answer me and explain everything. Lewis retained the rights to his hit film, which was later remade by Eddie Murphy for the big screen and adapted for the stage. Girls!, starring opposite Presley in 1962, Stevens said she did not like the script, but Paramount told her she was contractually obliged to do it. Girls! Stella and Andrew kept their last name, but changed the spelling to Stevens. Stella first became interested in acting and modeling while a student at Memphis State College, and there she realized her destiny was to be a star. We did The Courtship of Eddies Father [1963] together. I had the pleasure to work with a lot of great directors, but he was just wonderful. You then appeared with Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor (1963). I also like Ride the High Country [1962] and The Wild Bunch [1969] a lot. and The Secret of My Success. What a tremendous body of work and loss. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. It was a very exciting time.. I said then that I never wanted to quit. While most admired Stevens for her bombshell appearance, the actress/model possessed more capabilities than just looking pretty. She was 84. She was 84. Hollywood actress Stella Stevens, who co-starred with Elvis Presley in Girls! May ED Carroll Sax MUS Raoul Kraushaar, Minette Allton CAST Barbara Feldon, Lance Kerwin, Stacey Nelkin, Carmine Caridi, Christopher Ciampa, Olivia Cole, Stella Stevens (Sherry Malik), Fritz Weaver, Billy Dee Williams, TWIRL (1981) DIR Gus Trikonis PROD Gabriel Grunfeld TELEPLAY Bernard M. Kahn (story by Gabriel Grunfeld, Ken Vrana) CAM Gil Hubbs ED John A. Barton, Thomas Fries MUS Jimmie Haskell CAST Stella Stevens (Carolyn Moore), Charles Haid, Erin Moran, Lisa Whelchel, Edd Byrnes, Sharon Spelman, Matthew Tobin, Heather Locklear, WOMEN OF SAN QUENTIN (1983) DIR William A. Graham PROD R.W. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but I know he did a lot of rewriting. She was 84. and with Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor, has died at the age of 84, family members say. (Jack Kanthal/AP). Famed for her appearances in The Nutty Professor (with Jerry Lewis), Girls! Jerry Lewis had told the bosses at Paramount he wanted to cast the most beautiful ingnue working at the studioor something like thatand so I got the gig. Stella Stevens, a prominent leading lady in 1960s and 70s comedies perhaps best known for playing the object of Jerry Lewiss affection in The Nutty Professor, has died. You made three films with Glenn Ford: The Courtship of Eddies Father (1963), Advance to the Rear (1964) and Rage (1966). Stevens also appeared in Lil Abner that year. Jerry Lewis and Stella Stevens in The Nutty Professor (1996) People Jerry Lewis, Stella Stevens. Other notable roles include Slaughter, with Jim Brown, the Sam Peckinpah television film The Ballad of Cable Hogue and The Poseidon Adventure in which she played Linda Rogo, Ernest Borgnines characters wife. 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