‘The Nutty Professor’ and ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ Actress Stella Stevens Dies at 84

Stella Stevens, actress, producer, director and model, star of ‘The Nutty Professor’ and ‘Say One for Me’, He died at the age of 84 from complications of Alzheimer’s disease. As told The Hollywood Reporter by her son, producer Andrew Stevens, the actress died in Los Angeles this Friday, February 17 and was already in stage 7 of the disease, the most serious of all.

Stella Stevens’ real name was Estelle Caro Eggleston and she was born in Mississippi on October 1, 1938. She married at 15, had her son at 16, and was divorced before she turned 18. She made her film debut in 1958 as a showgirl in “Say One for Me”, a film for which she won a Golden Globe, and in 1960 she appeared for the first time in Playboy magazine. During that decade she was regarded as a sexual icon and was one of the most photographed women in the world. along with JMarilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot and Raquel Welch. In 1963 her most recognized role would come, that of Stella Purdy in “The Nutty Professor” by Jerry Lewis, although before that she had already played alongside Elvis Presley in “Girls, Girls, Girls” (a film that apparently she herself hated).

Though best remembered for her comedic roles, Stevens also excelled in drama, with titles such as John Cassavetes’ “Too Late Blues,” and he liked the action, as he demonstrated in the ‘Wonder Woman’ pilot against Lynda Carter or without resorting to doubles in “The Poseidon Adventure”. Not afraid to shoot sex scenes, she played prostitutes in Gilberto Gazcón’s “El mal” and Sam Peckinpah’s “The Ballad of Cable Hogue” and starred in a very explicit scene for the time with Jim Brown in “Operation Massacre”. Other notable films in his career include ‘The Last Escape’, ‘Eddie’s Father’s Engagement’, ‘Where Angels Go There’s Always Trouble’, ‘The Silencers’ and ‘How to Save a Marriage’. She was last seen on camera in a 2006 episode of ‘Twenty Good Years’ and in the 2005 films ‘Hell to Pay’ and ‘Pop Star: Classroom Stir’ where she also appeared as Aaron Carter .

Also director

One of her greatest aspirations has always been to become a director, even though it was difficult for her to let go of the label sex symbol and the reputation of bomb girl to be taken seriously. He finally managed to get behind the cameras on two occasions: with ‘The Ranch’ in 1989 and with ‘The American Heroine’ in 1979. Personally, she did not remarry, but was a couple with guitarist Bob Kulick from 1983 until his death in 2020. She has three grandchildren, Amelia, Aubrey and Samuel, by their only son, actor, producer and director Andrew Stevens.