Inger Stevens
Inger Stevens in 1967
Born
Ingrid Stensland

(1934-10-18)October 18, 1934
Stockholm, Sweden
DiedApril 30, 1970(1970-04-30) (aged 35)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1954–1970
Spouses
Anthony Soglio
​
​
(m. 1955; div. 1958)​
    ​
    (m. 1961)​
    AwardsBest TV Star (TV Guide) – Female
    1964 The Farmer's Daughter

    Inger Stevens (born Ingrid Stensland; October 18, 1934 – April 30, 1970)[1] was a Swedish-American film, stage and Golden Globe-winning television actress.

    Early life

    Inger Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the eldest child of Per Gustaf[2] and Lisbet Stensland.[3][4] When she was six years old, her mother abandoned the family, taking her youngest son Peter with her. Soon after, Stevens' father moved to the United States, leaving Stevens and her brother Ola in the custody of the family maid and then later with an aunt on Lidingö,[5] an island near Stockholm.[6] In 1944, Stevens and her brother moved to the United States and lived with their father and his new wife in New York City, where her father was completing his PhD in Education at Columbia University. At age 13, Stevens moved with her family to Manhattan, Kansas, where her father taught at Kansas State University. Stevens attended Manhattan High School.[3]

    At 15, Stevens fled to Kansas City, where she worked in burlesque shows.[7] At 18, she returned to New York City, where she worked as a chorus girl and in the Garment District while taking classes at the Actors Studio.[6]

    Career

    Stevens in 1957

    Stevens appeared on television series, in commercials and in plays until she received her big break in the film Man on Fire, starring Bing Crosby.

    Roles in major films followed, including a starring role opposite Harry Belafonte in 1959's The World, the Flesh and the Devil, but she achieved her greatest success in the television series The Farmer's Daughter (1963–1966) with William Windom. Previously, Stevens had appeared in episodes of Bonanza, Route 66, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Eleventh Hour, Sam Benedict, The Aquanauts and The Twilight Zone.

    Following the cancellation of The Farmer's Daughter in 1966, Stevens appeared in several films: A Guide for the Married Man (1967), Hang 'Em High, 5 Card Stud and Madigan. At the time of her death, Stevens was attempting to revive her television career with the detective drama series The Most Deadly Game.

    Personal life

    Stevens's first husband was her agent Anthony Soglio,[8] to whom she was married from 1955 to 1957.

    In January 1966, she was appointed to the advisory board of the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute by California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. She also was named chairman of the California Council for Retarded Children. Her aunt was Karin Stensland Junker, author of The Child in the Glass Ball.[9][10]

    After Stevens's death, Ike Jones, the first black person to graduate from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, revealed that he had secretly married Stevens in 1961 in Mexico.[11][12] Some doubted Jones's claim because of the lack of a marriage license, the maintenance of separate homes and the filing of tax documents as single people.[13] However, when Stevens's estate was being settled, her brother Carl O. Stensland confirmed in court that Stevens had hidden her marriage to Jones "out of fear for her career."[14] Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner A. Edward Nichols ruled in Jones's favor[15] and named him administrator of her estate.[16] A photo exists of the two attending a banquet together in 1968.[5]

    Death

    On the morning of April 30, 1970, Stevens's roommate and companion Lola McNally found Stevens on the kitchen floor of her Hollywood Hills home. According to McNally, Stevens opened her eyes, lifted her head and tried to speak but was unable to utter any sound. McNally told police that she had spoken to Stevens the previous night and had seen no signs of trouble. Stevens died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. On arrival, medics removed a small bandage from her chin that revealed a small amount of fresh blood oozing from a cut that appeared to have been a few hours old. Los Angeles County coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi attributed Stevens's death to "acute barbiturate poisoning"[17][18] and the death was eventually ruled a suicide.

    Filmography

    Film

    Stevens appeared in two episodes of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone (image at his home in 1960).

    Television

    Broadway credits

    Awards and nominations

    Year Result Award Category Series
    1958 Nominated Laurel Awards Top New Female Personality —
    1968 Nominated Best Female Comedy Performance A Guide for the Married Man
    1963 Won Golden Globe Best TV Star – Female The Farmer's Daughter
    1962 Nominated Emmy Award Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role The Dick Powell Show
    1964 Nominated Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead) The Farmer's Daughter

    References

    1. ↑ "Inger S Stevens". California Death Index, 1940–1997. Retrieved July 1, 2011 – via Ancestry.com. Name: Inger S Stevens; Social Security #: 511200818; Sex: Female; Birth Date: 18 Oct 1934; Birthplace: Sweden; Death Date: 30 Apr 1970; Death Place: Los Angeles
    2. ↑ "Obits | Per Stensland". The Newtown Bee. August 14, 1998. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
    3. 1 2 Pilato, Herbie J. (2014). Glamour, Gidgets, and the Girl Next Door: Television's Iconic Women from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-58979-970-7. Retrieved June 17, 2017 – via Google Books.
    4. ↑ Patterson, William T. (September 30, 2017). The Farmer's Daughter Remembered: The Biography of Actress Inger Stevens. Xlibris. ISBN 978-0-7388-1192-5.
    5. 1 2 Lem, Jerry. "A Short Biography". The Inger Stevens Memorial Site. Archived from the original on April 6, 2018.
    6. 1 2 Brumburgh, Gary. "Inger Stevens: Wounded Butterfly". Classic Images. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
    7. ↑ Silverman (February 14, 2015). "TECH 1: The Mysterious Death of Inger Stevens". tech1tech1.blogspot.com.
    8. ↑ Petrucelli, Alan W. (September 29, 2009). Morbid Curiosity: The Disturbing Demises of the Famous and Infamous. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-14049-9 – via Google Books.
    9. ↑ Turkington, Carol; Anan, Ruth (September 30, 2017). The Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8160-7505-8 – via Google Books.
    10. ↑ "Inger and the Children". www.ingerstevens.org. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017 – via Internet Archive.
    11. ↑ "Ike Jones dies at 84; pioneering African American film producer". Los Angeles Times. October 11, 2014.
    12. ↑ Robinson, Louie (May 21, 1970). "Death of Actress Inger Stevens". Jet. p. 56 – via Google Books.
    13. ↑ Austin, John (1994). "Inger Stevens: Accident .. Suicide .. Or ...?". Hollywood's Babylon Women. S.P.I. Books. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-56171-288-5. Retrieved July 1, 2011 – via Internet Archive.
    14. ↑ "Inger's Brother Backs Ike Jones's Claim on Estate". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. August 13, 1970. p. 22 – via Google Books.
    15. ↑ "Rule Ex-Actor Mate Of Actress, She Took Own Life". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. August 20, 1970. p. 23. Retrieved June 17, 2017.
    16. ↑ "April 30th, 1970 and Aftermath". ingerstevens.org. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017 – via Internet Archive.
    17. ↑ Crivello, Kirk (September 30, 1988). Fallen Angels: The Lives and Untimely Deaths of Fourteen Hollywood Beauties. Little, Brown Book Group Limited. ISBN 978-0-7088-4836-4 – via Google Books.
    18. ↑ Frasier, David K. (March 8, 2005). Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-0807-5 – via Google Books.
    19. ↑ Inger Stevens at the Internet Broadway Database

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