# Stella Stevens
**Stella Stevens** (born Estelle Caro Eggleston; October 1, 1938 – February 17, 2023) was an American actress and director who was a leading lady in 1960s and 1970s Hollywood comedies, best known for playing Stella Purdy opposite [Jerry Lewis](https://www.edgepedia.org/jerry-lewis) in *The Nutty Professor* (1963) and Linda Rogo in the disaster film *The Poseidon Adventure* (1972).[1](https://apnews.com/article/983825af3914d407c629171aafe18d7a) She died in Los Angeles at age 84 from complications of Alzheimer's disease.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Estelle Caro Eggleston, October 1, 1938, Yazoo City, Mississippi; family moved to Memphis, Tennessee, when she was 4[3](https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/stella-stevens/) |
| Breakthrough | Film debut in *Say One for Me* (1959); won the 1960 Golden Globe for New Star of the Year – Actress[4](https://goldenglobes.com/person/stella-stevens/) |
| Signature roles | Stella Purdy in *The Nutty Professor* (1963); Linda Rogo in *The Poseidon Adventure* (1972)[1](https://apnews.com/article/983825af3914d407c629171aafe18d7a) |
| Output | More than 200 movie and TV roles, according to a Golden Globes obituary[5](https://www.wral.com/actress-stella-stevens-of-nutty-professor-and-poseidon-adventure-dies-at-84/20726205/) |
| Directing | Produced and directed the documentary *The American Heroine* (1979) and directed the feature *The Ranch* (1989), starring her son Andrew[3](https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/stella-stevens/) |
| Death | February 17, 2023, in Los Angeles, after hospice care for stage seven Alzheimer's disease[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/) • [6](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-02-17/stella-stevens-dies-alzheimers-battle) |
## Early life
Stevens was the only child of Dovey Estelle Caro Eggleston and Thomas Ellett Eggleston.[3](https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/stella-stevens/) At 16 she married Herman Stephens, a teenage electrician; their son Andrew was born in 1955, and the couple divorced about a year later.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/) She completed high school at night while modeling at a department store, then enrolled at what is now the [University of Memphis](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-memphis).[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/)
A starring role as the nightclub singer Cherie in a college production of William Inge's *Bus Stop* drew strong local reviews and a portfolio of glamorous photographs, and she moved to Hollywood, changing the spelling of her married name to Stevens.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/) The custody of her son became a long legal battle with her ex-husband, in which each accused the other of kidnapping and her parents were briefly jailed before she won full custody.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/)
## Film career
**Debut and stardom.** Stevens made her screen debut in a minor role in the 1959 [Bing Crosby](https://www.edgepedia.org/bing-crosby) musical *Say One for Me*, but she considered the same year's *Li'l Abner*, in which she played the flame-haired secretary Appassionata Von Climax, her big break.[1](https://apnews.com/article/983825af3914d407c629171aafe18d7a) She won the Golden Globe for New Star of the Year – Actress for 1959, was named Playboy's Playmate of the Month for January 1960, and signed a contract with [Paramount Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/paramount-pictures).[4](https://goldenglobes.com/person/stella-stevens/) • [7](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/stella-stevens) She appeared in three Playboy pictorials over the following years and said the publicity made her name: "After that, I starred in every one of my movies," she told the New York Times.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/)
In 1961 she played a would-be singer opposite [Bobby Darin](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-darin) in [John Cassavetes](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-cassavetes)'s black-and-white jazz film *Too Late Blues*, winning praise for the dramatic performance.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/) She appeared with [Elvis Presley](https://www.edgepedia.org/elvis-presley) in *Girls! Girls! Girls!* (1962), a part she accepted only because she was promised a film with Montgomery Clift in return; the Clift project instead became *Too Late Blues* with Darin.[1](https://apnews.com/article/983825af3914d407c629171aafe18d7a)
**The 1960s highlights.** In *The Nutty Professor* (1963) she played Stella Purdy, the student Jerry Lewis's title character pursues; she said Lewis had told Paramount he wanted "the most beautiful ingénue working at the studio."
[1](https://apnews.com/article/983825af3914d407c629171aafe18d7a) The same year she appeared opposite [Glenn Ford](https://www.edgepedia.org/glenn-ford) in [Vincente Minnelli](https://www.edgepedia.org/vincente-minnelli)'s *The Courtship of Eddie's Father*, and she later named Minnelli her favorite director.[1](https://apnews.com/article/983825af3914d407c629171aafe18d7a) She paired with [Dean Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/dean-martin) in the 1966 spy spoof *The Silencers* and again in the 1968 farce *How to Save a Marriage (and Ruin Your Life)*, and played a nun opposite Rosalind Russell in *Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows* (1968).[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/)
**Peckinpah and the 1970s.** In 1970 she co-starred with [Jason Robards](https://www.edgepedia.org/jason-robards) in [Sam Peckinpah](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-peckinpah)'s western *The Ballad of Cable Hogue*, playing the prostitute Hildy. The [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic Roger Ebert, who was the paper's film critic from 1967 until his death in 2013, wrote that "Stevens blossoms as quite a marvelous actress. There are few enough actresses who can be funny and feminine at the same time, but she is certainly one of them."[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-ballad-of-cable-hogue-1970) In 1972 she played Linda Rogo, the wife of Ernest Borgnine's character, in *The Poseidon Adventure*, promoted as part of an "all-star cast" headed by Gene Hackman and Ernest Borgnine.[5](https://www.wral.com/actress-stella-stevens-of-nutty-professor-and-poseidon-adventure-dies-at-84/20726205/)
## Television and later career
After her years as a leading sex symbol, Stevens became more of a character actress, appearing in dozens of TV movies and series and at fan festivals, often with other cast members of *The Poseidon Adventure*.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/) She worked steadily in television in the 1970s and 1980s, appearing in the pilots for *Wonder Woman*, *Hart to Hart*, and *The Love Boat*, and in series including *Night Court*, *Murder, She Wrote*, and *Magnum, P.I.*[1](https://apnews.com/article/983825af3914d407c629171aafe18d7a) She had a regular role as the madam Lute-Mae Sanders in the NBC prime-time soap opera *Flamingo Road* (1980–1982), and later tenures on the soap operas *Santa Barbara* (1989–90) and *General Hospital* (1996–99).[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/) • [3](https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/stella-stevens/)
**Behind the camera.** Stevens produced and directed the 1979 documentary *The American Heroine* and directed the 1989 feature *The Ranch*, starring her son.[3](https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/stella-stevens/) She said the "sexpot" label of the 1960s and 1970s made it hard for the industry to take her seriously as a producer or director.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001771/bio/) She also co-wrote a novel, *Razzle Dazzle*.[9](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001771/bio/) She retired from acting in 2010.[1](https://apnews.com/article/983825af3914d407c629171aafe18d7a)
## Personal life and death
Stevens never remarried, but she had a decades-long relationship with the rock guitarist and producer [Bob Kulick](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-kulick), who died in 2020.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/) In 2016 she sold her Beverly Hills home and moved into an assisted living facility in Los Angeles because of Alzheimer's disease.[10](https://cinemascholars.com/scholars-spotlight-stella-stevens/) Her son, the actor, producer, and director [Andrew Stevens](https://www.edgepedia.org/andrew-stevens), said she had been in hospice "for quite some time with stage seven Alzheimer's"; she died on February 17, 2023, at 84, survived by her son and three grandchildren.[6](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-02-17/stella-stevens-dies-alzheimers-battle) • [11](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/actress-stella-stevens-the-nutty-professor-dies-age-84/)
## References
1. [Stella Stevens, star of 'The Nutty Professor,' is dead at 84, Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/983825af3914d407c629171aafe18d7a)
2. [Stella Stevens, who brought glamour and comic touch to films, dies at 84, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/02/17/stella-stevens-actress-dead/)
3. [Stella Stevens (Estelle Eggleston), Mississippi Encyclopedia](https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/stella-stevens/)
4. [Stella Stevens, Golden Globes Awards Database](https://goldenglobes.com/person/stella-stevens/)
5. [Actress Stella Stevens of 'Nutty Professor' and 'Poseidon Adventure' dies at 84, CNN via WRAL](https://www.wral.com/actress-stella-stevens-of-nutty-professor-and-poseidon-adventure-dies-at-84/20726205/)
6. [Stella Stevens, 'The Nutty Professor' actor, dies at 84 after Alzheimer's battle, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2023-02-17/stella-stevens-dies-alzheimers-battle)
7. [Stella Stevens, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/stella-stevens)
8. [The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970), review by Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-ballad-of-cable-hogue-1970)
9. [Stella Stevens Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001771/bio/)
10. [Scholars' Spotlight: Stella Stevens, Cinema Scholars](https://cinemascholars.com/scholars-spotlight-stella-stevens/)
11. [Actress Stella Stevens, known for "The Nutty Professor," dies at 84, CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/actress-stella-stevens-the-nutty-professor-dies-age-84/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actors and actresses by country or nationality › American actors and actresses › Surnames P to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license