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

Early life
Inger Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the daughter of Per Gustaf and Lisbet Stensland. As a child, she was often ill. When she was six years old her mother abandoned the family and her father moved to the United States, leaving Inger and her sister in the custody first of the family maid and then with an aunt in Lidingö, near Stockholm. In 1944, the girls moved with their father and his new wife to New York City, where he had found work teaching at Columbia University. At age 13, she and her father moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where she eventually attended Manhattan High School.

At 16, she ran away from home to Kansas City, and worked in burlesque shows. At 18, she left Kansas City to return to New York City, where she worked as a chorus girl and in the Garment District while taking classes at the Actors Studio.

Career

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, but she achieved her greatest success in the ABC 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 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), with Walter Matthau; Hang 'Em High, with Clint Eastwood; 5 Card Stud, with Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum; and Madigan with Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark. 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
Her first husband was her agent, Anthony Soglio, 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 then California governor Edmund G. "Pat" Brown. She was also named Chairman of the California Council for Retarded Children. Her aunt was Karin Stensland Junker, author of The Child in the Glass Ball.

After her death, Ike Jones, the first African-American to graduate from UCLA's School of Theater, Film, and Television, claimed that he had been secretly married to Stevens since 1961. Some doubted this due to the lack of a marriage license, the maintaining of separate homes and the filing of tax documents as single people. However, at the time Stevens' estate was being settled, the actress's brother, Carl O. Stensland, confirmed in court that his sister had hidden her marriage to Jones "out of fear for her career". Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner A. Edward Nichols ruled in Ike Jones's favor and made him administrator of her estate. A photo exists of the two attending a banquet together in 1968. Her website also states that the marriage to Jones took place in Tijuana, Mexico.

Death
On the morning of April 30, 1970, Stevens' sometime roommate and companion, Lola McNally, found her on the kitchen floor of her Hollywood Hills home. According to McNally, when she called Stevens' name, she opened her eyes, lifted her head, and tried to speak, but was unable to make any sound. McNally told police that she had spoken to Stevens the previous night and had seen no sign 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 which appeared to have been a few hours old. Los Angeles County Coroner Dr. Thomas Noguchi attributed Stevens's death to "acute barbiturate poisoning" that was eventually ruled a suicide.

Filmography

Film

Man on Fire (1957) — Nina Wylie
Cry Terror! (1958) — Mrs. Joan Molner
The Buccaneer (1958) — Annette Claiborne
The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959) — Sarah Crandall
The New Interns (1964) — Nancy Terman
The Borgia Stick (1967, TV) — Eve Harrison
A Guide for the Married Man (1967) — Ruth Manning
A Time for Killing (1967) — Emily Biddle
Firecreek (1968) — Evelyn Pittman
Madigan (1968) — Julia Madigan
5 Card Stud (1968) — Lily Langford
Hang 'Em High (1968) — Rachel Warren
House of Cards (1968) — Anne de Villemont
A Dream of Kings (1969) — Anna

Television

Kraft Television Theatre (1 episode, 1954)
Robert Montgomery Presents (1 episode, 1955)
Studio One (3 episodes, 1954–1955) — Lucy Henderson / Mary / Sue Ellen
Crunch and Des (1 episode, 1956) — The Actress
Matinee Theatre (1 episode, 1956)
Crusader as Alicia in "The Girl Across the Hall" (CBS, 1956) — Alicia
Conflict (1 episode, 1956) — Lady Arabella
The Joseph Cotten Show, or On Trial (1 episode, "Law Is for the Lovers", 1956) — Ruth
The Millionaire (1 episode, 1956) — Betty Perkins
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1 episode, 1957) — Laura Ross
Climax! (1 episode, 1957) — Marge
Playhouse 90 (2 episodes, 1956–1959) — Gail Lucas / Johanna — Chambermaid
Bonanza (1 episode, 1959) — Emily Pennington
Sunday Showcase (1 episode, 1959) — Nina Kay
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre (1 episode, 1960) — Beth Watkins
Moment of Fear (1 episode, 1960)
Checkmate (1 episode, 1960) — Betty Lyons
Hong Kong (1 episode, 1960) — Joan Blakely
The Twilight Zone
In "The Hitch-Hiker" Season 1 Episode 16 (CBS, 1960) — Nan Adams
In "The Lateness of the Hour", Season 2 Episode 8 (CBS, 1960) — Jana
Route 66 (2 episodes, 1960–1961) — Julie Brack / Wendy Durant
The DuPont Show of the Month (1 episode, 1961) — Princess Flavia
Adventures in Paradise (1 episode, 1961) — Dr. Britta Sjostrom
The Aquanauts (1 episode, 1961) — Margot Allison
The Detectives (1 episode, 1961) — Thea Templeton
Follow the Sun (2 episodes, 1961) — Lisa Mannheim / Abby Ellis
The Eleventh Hour (1 episode, 1962) — Christine Warren
Sam Benedict (1 episode, 1962) — Theresa Stone
The Dick Powell Show (2 episodes, 1962–1963) — Adele Hughes / Anna Beza
Your First Impression (1963) — Herself
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1 episode, 1963) — Karen Wilson
The Nurses (1 episode, 1963) — Clarissa Robin
Empire (1 episode, 1963) — Ellen Thompson
The Farmer's Daughter (101 episodes, 1963–1966) — Katy Holstrum / Katy Morley / Ann Carpenter
The Danny Kaye Show (1 episode, 1966) — Herself
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1 episode, 1967) — Eve Harrison
The Mask of Sheba (1970) — Sarah Kramer
Run, Simon, Run (1970) — Carroll Rennard (final film role)
The Most Deadly Game (1 episode, 1970) — Vanessa Smith (final appearance)

Broadway credits
Debut (1956)
Roman Candle (1960)
Mary, Mary (1962)

Awards and nominations