Stella Stevens was in dire want of a paycheck when Playboy got here calling.
The actress, who was groomed to be the subsequent Marilyn Monroe earlier than she made her personal mark throughout the remaining years of Hollywood’s golden period, died in 2023 at age 84.
She’s now the topic of a brand new documentary by her son Andrew Stevens, “Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet.” It options commentary by Quentin Tarantino and Vivica A. Fox, amongst others.
Within the movie, viewers find out how Stevens, who had a younger son to feed, took a suggestion to pose nude for the journal. It cemented her function as a sought-after display siren, however it got here at a worth.
“She was alone in Hollywood, barely 18 years [and] broke with no source of income,” Andrew instructed Fox Information Digital.
“A photographer and his wife came to her, and they said, ‘We shoot for this magazine called Playboy, and we’ll pay you $5,000 if you do a layout.’ Stella said, ‘It was a job, and I needed a job. I had a child to support. I was a single person living in LA and I didn’t know anyone. So I took the work.’”
Earlier than stripping down, Stevens was found at a division retailer in Memphis. She was flown to Hollywood for a display check after which signed a three-year contract with twentieth Century Fox. Whereas Stevens filmed three motion pictures in six months, she was dropped by the studio over a piece card technicality.
Regardless of the $5,000 provide, Stevens mentioned Playboy founder Hugh Hefner instructed her after the racy shoot that he would solely pay her half. To earn the remainder, she needed to work as a hostess at certainly one of his golf equipment.
“She’s quoted as saying, ‘I told him to shove it, I will not,’” mentioned Andrew.
Stevens signed a brand new contract with Paramount. She scored a co-starring function in “Li’l Abner” as Appassionata Von Climax. She was decided to get her images again earlier than they went to print.
“She called Hugh Hefner and said, ‘I have this big Hollywood movie now… please don’t publish the photos. I’ll buy them back from you,’” mentioned Andrew. “He said, ‘Oh no, you have a contract. We’re using them.’ So, [Playboy] exploited ‘Li’l Abner,’ which takes place in a mythical place called Dogpatch. They titled her photos ‘Dogpatch Playmate.’”
“The irony is, after being dropped from 20th Century Fox, she won a Golden Globe as Best Newcomer of the Year in 1960 when Marilyn also won a Golden Globe for Best Actress,” Andrew shared. “And [Marilyn won] for the studio that had just dropped [my mother’s] contract.”
Stevens felt that being a intercourse image was a “double-edged sword,” mentioned Andrew.
“On one hand, she appreciated that she got more attention in the Hollywood community,” he defined. “Everyone wanted to meet her… [But] the old Hollywood studio system at that time was a very male-dominated, misogynistic community. And the casting couch was very real. And as [film critic] Leonard Maltin is quoted as saying [in the film], ‘There was a whole town run by early day Harvey Weinsteins.’”
“In some ways, [being a sex symbol] gave her a career boost,” mentioned Andrew. “But on the flip side, she’s quoted as saying it killed doing anything decent or legitimate after that. People wouldn’t take her seriously because of this sexpot moniker that she was given. So, the more weighty and meaty dramatic roles were not as forthcoming as the more frivolous post-Marilyn Monroe-type roles.”
Stevens was decided to be taken critically as an actress. In keeping with the documentary, Stevens had zero want to look alongside Elvis Presley in 1962’s “Girls! Girls! Girls!”.
“The studio was pushing her to do it,” Andrew defined. “At the time, very few actors had any say over what the studio assigned them to do… Stella, quite outspokenly, said, ‘I don’t want to be the girl that Elvis Presley leaves for another girl. That’s not what I have in mind for my career.’”
“She had just finished a film called ‘Too Late Blues,’ directed by John Cassavetes, starring Bobby Darin,” Andrew identified. “It was this… dramatic piece. That’s the kind of work she was interested in doing. Not some frivolous fluff piece, although Elvis movies were very popular at the time. [But] nobody took him seriously as an actor, and nobody took them seriously.”
“She was having her own struggles with trying to be taken seriously after having posed in Playboy.”
Whereas Stevens had “great respect” for Presley, she urged the studio to not solid her within the movie. Stevens solely agreed to do it after she was promised to play reverse Montgomery Clift in her subsequent film. It by no means occurred.
Stevens detested the Presley flick and will by no means convey herself to observe it.
There was one one who believed in Stevens’ expertise – Jerry Lewis. The comedian selected her to play his love curiosity in 1963’s “The Nutty Professor.”
“Stella and Jerry Lewis loved each other,” mentioned Andrew. “They had such a great collaborative working relationship. When Jerry got the green light to shoot ‘The Nutty Professor’ at Paramount, he said, ‘I want the most beautiful girl you have under contract.’ And I think he named the role Stella Purdy after Stella. They just had a lovely relationship.”
“I have fond memories of knowing Jerry Lewis and being on the set, watching him direct,” Andrew recalled. “… I think he was a great mentor for Stella.”
Rising up, Andrew admitted that his relationship with Stevens was sophisticated.
She dropped out of highschool at 15 to marry Andrew’s father, Herman Stephens. The couple divorced in 1956, and he or she took Andrew to California, the place she may pursue an performing profession. His father and grandfather later confirmed up at her dwelling to take him again to Memphis, leading to an unpleasant custody battle.
“The unfortunate thing about both of them is that they were babies having babies,” Andrew mirrored about his dad and mom. “My mom was 16 and my father was 18 once I was born.
“My father barely graduated from high school. My mother had to quit high school to stay home and take care of me. She went to school at night to get a GED to be able to then go to Memphis State University… But neither one, quite honestly, was really equipped to take care of a child.”
“… My preference would always have been to be in Memphis with my friends and the rest of my family,” Andrew admitted. “I certainly don’t begrudge my mother from wanting her child. But quite frankly, neither of my parents had the goods to be able to raise a kid.”
Whereas mom and son had “multiple periods of estrangement,” they bonded on set. She directed the 1989 movie “The Ranch,” which starred Andrew. He later directed her in 1991’s “The Terror Within II.”
Stevens labored steadily in tv within the Seventies and ’80s, showing in “Wonder Woman,” “Hart to Hart,” “The Love Boat” and “Night Court,” simply to call a number of. She stayed busy till she may not work because of Alzheimer’s illness.
To Stevens’ dismay, his mom wasn’t included within the Academy Awards’ annual “In Memoriam” phase, and he or she by no means acquired a star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame.
“My mother deserved better,” mentioned Andrew. “Even though my life with her was tumultuous and complex and not always warm and fuzzy, time and distance have given me a new perspective on the impact she had.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
