Inger Stevens

Inger Stevens (born October 18, 1934 as Inger Stensland in Stockholm , † April 30, 1970 in Los Angeles , California ) was a Swedish - American actress .

Career

Inger Stevens was a shy, insecure, and sickly child. When she was six, her parents divorced and she and her younger brother Ola moved to live with their father, Per Stensland, in the United States, where he was staying because of a scholarship he had won. The family settled in Manhattan, Kansas . After a joyless youth, which was characterized, among other things, by constant arguments with the stepmother, Inger Stevens left her home and went to New York in 1953 to begin a film career there.

She worked in the clothing industry and took acting lessons from Lee Strasberg , the owner of the Actors Studios and father of US actress Susan Strasberg . Inger Stevens first appeared on screen in the early 1950s. In 1955 she married her agent Anthony Soglio , but the marriage lasted only six months. Her first film, Man On Fire , she made in 1957 with Bing Crosby , with whom she also had an affair. In the same year she and some members of the team suffered smoke inhalation in a tunnel while filming the film Cry Terror .

In 1959 she went back to New York and on the New Years Eve of 1960 she tried suicide on sleeping pills. She was found unconscious three days later. The consequences of the suicide attempt were swollen legs and 14 days of blindness . To everyone's surprise, she recovered and two months later had guest appearances on several television series. In 1961, she died in a plane crash in Lisbon , just before the plane exploded. In the same year she married, supposedly secretly, the black producer and US actor Isaac Jones , whose first name was "Ike" for short.

From 1961 to 1966 she appeared in the very successful television series The Farmer's Daughter on the US television company ABC. After numerous appearances in several shows and commercials, she was now the star of her own show. Not indifferent to the suffering of her fellow human beings, also due to two mentally retarded cousins in her own family, she spent many hours with disabled children. Inger Stevens was the Chair of the California Disabled Children Committee and Commission of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA Medical Center, appointed by California Governor Edmund "Pat" Brown . After the TV series were shot, she turned back to her film career.

From 1966 to 1969 she appeared in front of the camera together with many Hollywood greats in numerous successful films. B. in Just 72 Hours with Richard Widmark and Henry Fonda or in Guide to Affair with Walter Matthau and Robert Morse , in The Five Birds Free with James Stewart and again Henry Fonda and in A Dream of Kings with Anthony Quinn and the Western Hang him higher with Clint Eastwood to name a few. Her second attempt at a great film career was a success and her future seemed more promising than ever. She had managed to rise from one of the first television stars to a great movie star. In early 1970, after completing the filming of the television film Run Simon Run (ABC), she agreed with Aaron Spelling , the later famous producer, to appear weekly in a television series he had produced.

On the morning of April 30, 1970, Inger Stevens was found unconscious in her kitchen by her friend and former roommate, Lola McNally. Upon arrival at a nearby hospital, she was officially pronounced dead. According to the initial assessment, and later toxicological studies confirmed this, she died of a barbiturate overdose . But it should also give evidence that Inger Stevens was killed. Immediately after her death, her “secret” husband laid claim to the remains and her property. Her body was cremated and the ashes were scattered across the Pacific Ocean. She had met Burt Reynolds shortly before she died . When asked about a relationship, Reynolds remained silent and said politely but firmly, "No comment."

Filmography (selection)

Movies

1957: Man on Fire
1958: Cry Terror
1958: King of the Buccaneer
1959: The World, the Flesh and the Devil
1964: Interns (The New Interns)
1967: The Killer Syndicate (The Borgia Stick)
1967: Guide to infidelities (A Guide for the Married Man)
1968: The Merciless Ride (A Time for Killing)
1968: The Five Bird Free (Firecreek)
1968: Only 72 hours left (Madigan)
1968: Mortal Enemies (Five Card Stud)
1968: Hang 'em High
1969: Every house of cards falls apart (House of Cards)
1969: Matzoukas, the Greek (A Dream of Kings)
1970: Quest: The Mask of Sheba
1970: My Brother's Killer (Run Simon Run)

TV Shows

The Farmer's Daughter (1963-1966)
Twilight Zone - The Lateness of the Hour (1960)
Twilight Zone - The Hitchhiker (1960)
Bonanza - The Newcomers (Season 1, Episode 3: The New Arrivals; Sep 26, 1959, NBC)

Web links

Commons : Inger Stevens - Collection of Images

personal data
SURNAME	Stevens, Inger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Stensland, Inger (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Swedish-American actress
DATE OF BIRTH	October 18, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stockholm , Sweden
DATE OF DEATH	April 30, 1970
Place of death	Los Angeles , California , United States