She couldnt have played the bad girl if she tried; she was too sincere and nurturing. Facts Verse and Picnic, Ingers first break on TV came when she was cast in a 1954 Studio One presentation of Sue Ellen, thanks to her resemblance to the leading lady. The Newtown Bee. Many of these appearances were prompted by her upcoming starring role in a prime time series. The film raised some racial issues that then seemed to evaporate. Inger Stevens was died at 1970-04-30. Ingers family and close friends remained adamant in their belief that she did not commit suicide. Inger plays both a missionary and POW camp commander Fords bride-elect who is kidnapped by Rebel escapees as Ford and his men give chase. Spelling cast her without hesitation for his new drama series Zig Zag which set to premiere in the fall. The career backlash suffered by Mai Britt after her marriage to Sammy Davis was reason enough for Inger and Ike to keep their union under wraps. Plot-wise, however, the show had no place to go and the ratings once again plummeted. Patterson, who chose to take a more positive approach in opening up her story to the public, claimed that a significant amount of previously published information about Miss Stevens was either untrue or distorted. Her contributions to Hollywood are so much more than the personal tragedy that befell her. She died in July 1975 at 84 years old. On that same track, she went into a decorating and antique business venture with a friend and called the enterprise Stevens and Cardini, Interiors and Design, located in Hollywood on La Cienega Boulevard. Among the noted Swedish interviewees were actor Max Von Sydow, former boxing champ Ingemar Johansson, songwriter/singer Evert Taube and Prime Minister Tage Erlander. Crosby was previously linked with Joan Caulfield, Mona Freeman, Kathryn Grant, Grace Kelly, and Paramount dancer Betty Hannon. Inger Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden A strong and consummate dramatic player as well as light comedienne, Inger Stevens deserves to be remembered in a better and more encouraging light. She is at her sunniest and most vibrant here playing Ruth Manning, the practically perfect suburban housewife unsuspecting of hubby Pauls (Walter Matthau) roving eye. 9.2k Views. With ideas of directing or perhaps screenwriting, she also wished to devote more of herself to outside interests, particularly her work with special-needs children. Ingers most intense scenes involve her kidnapping and subsequent rape by three members of Segals former gang and the subsequent catatonic shock in its aftermath. Stevens's first husband was her agent Anthony Soglio,[8] to whom she was married from 1955 to 1957. Retrieved September 29, 2022. At 18, she left Kansas City to return to New York City . In it, he provided some answers to some of the more disturbing lingering questions, but not to all of them. July 28, 2021, 4:17 pm Stevens died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Following a visit to her Swedish homeland, Inger continued on with stops in Rome, Paris and Lisbon. With locations filmed in Chicago, A Dream of Kings was scheduled for only eight days of shooting but extremely bad weather extended it to three weeks. In the meantime, the Paramount publicity train worked overtime promoting their new film star. Ike and Inger kept their marriage a secret in fear that it might potentially damage Stevens career. Lisbet ended up marrying that man and they moved back to Stockholm. Facts Verse April 30, 1970 How did Inger Stevens die? These affairs were especially dangerous because after the film wraps and the actors go their separate ways, Inger once again was faced with reliving all the painful feelings of the breakup of her family in childhood. Inger and her agent, Tony Soglio, quickly became a romantic twosome and the couple impulsively married in Connecticut on July 9, 1955. .. The actress, who was the daughter of screen actor Robert Montgomery and Broadway actress Elizabeth Allen, died in 1995. She was married to her agent, Anthony Soglio, from 1955 to 1957. Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the eldest child of Per Gustaf and Lisbet Stensland. Michael Callan sitting with Inger Stevens as she drives in a scene from the film 'The New Interns', 1964. It later was revealed that Inger and Ike indeed had gotten married in Tijuana, Mexico on November 18, 1961. Facts Verse She committed a great deal of her time and energy with fierce determination dedicated to building a meaningful career; based on more than just her dazzling good looks. It is been said that her mother ran away from her house along with Igner's . This in depth story is fascinating about this forgotten beauty.Inger Stevens: Wounded Butterfly, COPYRIGHT 2020 By TheLifeandTimesofHollywood.com, Stories From The Life and Times of Hollywood. Vying for the leading lady role in the Paramount feature The Tin Star, she lost out to another pretty blonde, Betsy Palmer. The Stockholm-born beauty died at 35 years old on April 30, 1970. Birthday: October 18, 1934 ( Libra) Born In: Stockholm, Sweden 33 18 Actresses #1702 Film & Theater Personalities #4188 Quick Facts Also Known As: Ingrid Stensland Died At Age: 35 Family: Spouse/Ex-: Anthony Soglio (1955-1958; divorced), Ike Jones (1961-1970; her death) father: Per Gustaf mother: Lisbet Stensland Born Country: Sweden Although very little information has been filtered out about Ms. Stevens and her secretive life over the years, William T. Patterson's eagerly-anticipated biography, "The Farmer's Daughter Remembered: The Biography of Actress Inger Stevens" (2000), finally put an end to much of the mystery. In addition, she and The Fugitives David Janssen were recipients of the TV Guide Popularity Poll as The Favorite Male (Female) Performer of the Year. The sitcom completely relied upon the relaxed charm and chemistry of its two stars as the shows comedy approach was relatively tame. Inger Stevens passed away in Los Angeles, California, on April 30, 1970. There she met her mothers second family, which included two stepsiblings. Email: jeremylr@windstream.net. February 19, 2023, 6:22 am, by Stevens attended Manhattan High School. Brothers Ola (aka Carl) and Peter were born two and four years later, respectively. Twenty two year old Inger won a supporting role in the 1957 MGM drama Man on Fire. Oh, Women! Inger was unhappy with her home life and ran away from home when she was 16. She hailed from a family of five, comprising of her father, Per Gustaf, mother, Lisbet Stensland, and two younger brothers - Karl and Peter. Despite the inimitable Yul Brynner (sporting a dark head of hair) as the posturing pirate king, and a Moses-like Charlton Heston as the 45-year-old, silver-haired General Andrew Jackson, The Buccaneer was a critical misfire and Tony Quinns directing ambitions ended with it. Following her recovery, the actress began an intense period of self-examination with a new drive. Stevens told Bone that she was planning on taking a sleeping bill and going to bed. It never came to be. The early exteriors shots of Belafonte scouting out signs of human life in an utterly desolate New York City are awe-inspiring and disturbing. What was the cause of death? Oct. 11, 2014 4:44 PM PT Ike Jones, a pioneering African American film producer in the 1960s whose marriage to Swedish-born actress Inger Stevens was kept secret to avoid harming her career,. One eerie scene occurs at the beginning of the movie in a funeral parlor where Murray and Stevens are laid out in caskets. A strong talent and consummate dramatic player of the late 50s and 60s, she was born Inger Stensland, the eldest of three children, of Swedish parentage. To be more precise, Inger Stevens would be 32138 days old or 771312 hours. Judith Crist deemed Paramounts revenge western 5 Card Stud (1968) so mediocre you cant get mad at it. Gambling stud Dean Martin (who sings the lackadaisical title tune), fancy-shootin preacher Robert Mitchum and typically snide Roddy McDowall offer what interest there is. She appeared in The Farmers Daughter for three years and appeared in hit shows like Bonanza, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Sam Benedict, Route 66, and The Twilight Zone just to name a few. Jeremy Roberts. One wishes that the actress had made more movies like 20th Century-Foxs A Guide for the Married Man (1967), the only comedy in her modest film repertoire. She was found semiconscious in her home and died on the way to a hospital. [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. When World War II broke out, their dad decided to promptly move to the United States. Inger was a shy, quiet and introverted girl who was first drawn to acting after witnessing her fathers performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in a local amateur theater show. Ingers passionate affair with the married director Quinn wreaked havoc on her as its end brought on an acute bout of depression. About. Ingers random dancing and singing lessons also paid off when she found supplementary income as a Latin Quarter nightclub chorine at $75 a week. She is known for having won a Golden Globe for best actress in 1964 for "The Farmer's Daughter," for which she played the lead. Less than a week later, she was found unconscious on the floor of her kitchen by her housekeeper and died en route to the hospital of acute barbiturate intoxication -- a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol. Sami Hayek Dominguez - Salma Hayek's Father Who Could Afford to Buy Her Tigers, David Muir's Gay Rumors Followed Him for Years as He Was Linked to Co-host, Ellen Pierson Works in Real Estate - Robert Kardashians Widows Life Now, Barbara Hale Was Close with Raymond Burr's Partner after Star's Death - He Kept Their Relationship a Secret for 35 Years, Betty White Wed 'Wonderful Man' Who Wanted Her to Quit Her Career He Married Another Actress after Their Divorce, Raymond Burr Adopted 27 Kids during Last 40 Years of His Secretive Life after Loss of 10-Year-Old Son. Facts Verse It was as if the solution to her emotional problems was instead building to a deadly explosion of all the pain she had suffered as a child. Her nickname was Stensland Inger. In 1966 the California governor would appoint Inger to The Advisory Board of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA, an honor given for her pronounced dedication to working with mentally-disadvantaged children. She was known to have attempted to take her life, however. I was really just plain scared., With no public funeral services held, according to her wishes, mourners at her May 4 memorial service included director Leo Penn, and actors Peter Falk, Beau Bridges, Jack Warden, France Nuyen, Marge Redmond and Shelley Morrison, in addition to several family members. Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the eldest child of Per Gustaf and Lisbet Stensland. She grew tremendously as an actress revealing herself to be a mature, almost sagely adept performer. By April of 1970, Inger had added producer Aaron Spelling to her list of admirers. It was film producer Sol C. Siegel who came to Ingers rescue after discovering her in the minor role of a chambermaid in the Playhouse 90 presentation of Eloise which starred Ethel Barrymore, Monty Woolley, Louis Jourdan and Eloise creator Kay Thompson. 35 years old. They married in 1955 but separated just a few months later. Bill and Inger often played little gags on each other in order to lighten up any tension on the set. Julie McCullough. The book became controversial because it claims that a lot of information published about Stevens is either false or distorted. Inger Stevens's income source is mostly from being a successful Actress. She was compassionate, thoughtful and highly giving to both cast and crew. Once gone, she never looked back, maintaining very weak, unemotional ties with her entire family for the rest of her life. Estimated Net Worth in 2020. . Her long dormant film career began to rev up again. Inger stevens death. She swallowed 25 sleeping pills and took in ammonia on New Year's Day, 1959, as reported by The New York Times. This was a controversial move for the popular star of a family television show, but Inger never shied away from such topicsa fact that alienated her from an industry that expected her to play by their rules, but . Inger's death was due to acute barbiturate poisoning as attributed by Dr. Thomas Noguchi. Connie Stevens (born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia; August 8, 1938) is an American actress and singer. He quickly Americanized her last name and, within a short time, helped Inger Stevens book her very first professional job, a Vel Detergent commercial in November of 1954. The person who discovered her said that she opened her eyes, tried to say something, and then fell unconscious. The climax is worth waiting for and Miss Stevens plays an unexpected part of it. Back on the comedic stage in a Chicago production of The Voice of the Turtle, Inger went on to replace Barbara Bel Geddes in the New York smash Mary, Mary where she earned the best Broadway reviews of her career. An exceptional TV role came her way opposite Peter Falk in The Price of Tomatoes, a 1962 episode of The Dick Powell Show. Patterson released the 2000 biography, "The Farmer's Daughter Remembered: The Biography of Actress Inger Stevens. Sign: Libra. Serious problems set in when Inger began falling in love with her co-stars. She was an insecure and often ill woman. Well touch on Pattersons insights a bit more in just a bit, so bear with us. The last original episode aired on April 22, 1966, while reruns continued until September. Like the lovely Natalie Wood, Inger grew more beautiful and sensual with age. Retro pop culture interviews & lovin' something fierce sustain this University of Georgia Master of Agricultural Leadership alum. Inger played no diva cards despite being the shows top draw. She made a handful of movies and her performances weren't noted for their depth . On April 30th, 1970, Stevens was found on her kitchen floor by her roommate and longtime friend Lola McNally. I had a terrific insecurity and extreme shyness that I covered up with coldness. But not quite all. Facts Verse And on top of all of that, she had already worn off suicide as a solution for her problems. The truth about what happened to Inger Stevens may never come to light, but it is such a shame that such a young and talented young woman with such a bright and vibrant future ahead of her would have her light snuffed out at the prime of her career. A strong talent and consummate dramatic player of the late 50s and 60s, she was born Inger Stensland, the eldest of three children, of Swedish parentage. Following out-of-town tryouts, Inger took her first Broadway curtain call on February 22, 1956, as leading lady of the new three-act comedy, Debut. An autopsy performed at 1:30 pm at the County Coroners office after Inger Stevens death. . In 1953, at age 15, Stevens relocated with her father to Los Angeles, California. A string of parts came her way within a three-year period including the sex comedy A Guide for the Married Man (1967) as roving eye husband Walter Matthau's unsuspecting wife; Clint Eastwood's first leading film role in Hang 'Em High (1968); the crime drama, Madigan (1968) with Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark; the westerns Firecreek (1968) with Fonda again plus James Stewart, and 5 Card Stud (1968) opposite Dean Martin and Robert Mitchum; the political thriller House of Cards (1968) starring George Peppard and Orson Welles; and A Dream of Kings (1969) which reunited her with old flame Anthony Quinn.