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Stella Stevens, whose turn
as an A-list actress
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in 1960s Hollywood, placed her
alongside six symbols
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like Brigitte Bardot,
Ann-Margret, and Raquel Welch.
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She was groomed as a contract
player by various studios
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and was often compared
to Marilyn Monroe
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for her smoldering blonde looks,
grace, and glamor.
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However, she came to resent the
male-dominated industry
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that she felt frustrated
her ambitions
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00:00:58,797 --> 00:01:01,539
to become more than
a pretty face.
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Stella Stevens died on Friday
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00:01:02,975 --> 00:01:04,890
at a hospice facility
in Los Angeles.
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She was 84 years old.
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♪ Stella means celestial star ♪
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♪ Chebella ♪
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♪ The loveliest by far ♪
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♪ The moon and the stars give
Their heavenly light ♪
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♪ But none in the firmament
Shine ♪
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♪ As bright as Stella ♪
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♪ Stella her star with its
Glow burning white ♪
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♪ None in the heavens are
Shining as bright tonight ♪
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Entries in film encyclopedias
chronicle Stella Stevens
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00:01:56,681 --> 00:02:00,729
as a film star and working
actress for more than 50 years.
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00:02:01,164 --> 00:02:04,298
But what is not recorded is
the pain she endured
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00:02:04,428 --> 00:02:06,822
stemming from her struggles
as a single mother
27
00:02:06,996 --> 00:02:08,432
from a small town in
Mississippi
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00:02:08,998 --> 00:02:11,087
who made her way alone
to Hollywood
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00:02:11,305 --> 00:02:13,307
and carved out a niche
for herself
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00:02:13,611 --> 00:02:17,702
during the misogynistic,
sexist, and racist 1960s.
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00:02:18,573 --> 00:02:22,664
I started to realize that even
though life with my mother
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00:02:22,794 --> 00:02:25,449
was never warm and fuzzy,
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00:02:25,580 --> 00:02:27,756
my truth wasn't necessarily
the whole truth
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00:02:27,886 --> 00:02:31,499
and that her truth was worthy
of having a look at.
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And as I started to research
her life and her story,
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I was able to look at things
with a softer lens
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00:02:40,725 --> 00:02:43,163
and view her journey
from multiple sides.
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00:02:45,382 --> 00:02:49,343
This house was originally built
in the early 1800s
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00:02:49,647 --> 00:02:52,955
by my great, great grandfather,
Edmund Trent Eggleston.
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00:02:53,956 --> 00:02:56,088
Some say it was renovated
again around 1870
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00:02:56,698 --> 00:02:58,917
and obviously it's had updates
since then.
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00:02:59,962 --> 00:03:02,312
My maternal grandfather,
Tom Eggleston,
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00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:05,054
he grew up in this house
with his siblings.
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00:03:05,663 --> 00:03:07,317
He had two brothers
and two sisters.
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00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:12,975
Tom met and married Dovie
Estelle Caro from Marks,
Mississippi.
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00:03:13,845 --> 00:03:17,936
The two of them, they had one
child, Estelle Caro Eggleston,
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00:03:18,285 --> 00:03:19,764
who later became Stella Stevens.
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00:03:20,504 --> 00:03:23,246
Stella Stevens was born Estelle
Caro Eggleston
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00:03:23,594 --> 00:03:27,207
on October 1st, 1938 in Yazoo
City, Mississippi.
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00:03:28,077 --> 00:03:30,906
The Eggleston family was one of
the oldest in Yazoo City.
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00:03:31,907 --> 00:03:33,561
As a child, she had
two nicknames.
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They called her Bootsy and they
also called her Little Estelle
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00:03:36,912 --> 00:03:39,175
because my grandmother
was Big Estelle.
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The Egglestons moved
to Memphis, Tennessee
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with four-year-old
Little Estelle
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and purchased a small brick
house on Carrington Road
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with the Park Theater just
across the back fence.
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00:03:49,751 --> 00:03:52,406
I uncovered decades of
interviews with my mother,
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00:03:52,710 --> 00:03:54,799
but in the early days
of her stardom,
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they were all in print
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00:03:56,975 --> 00:03:58,412
and I was trying to find a way
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00:03:58,542 --> 00:04:00,718
that we could bring
her words to life.
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00:04:01,589 --> 00:04:04,069
We lived behind the Park
Theater in Memphis
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00:04:04,940 --> 00:04:07,508
and growing up, I practically
lived inside it.
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00:04:07,856 --> 00:04:12,382
I saw every film that played
there over and over.
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00:04:12,513 --> 00:04:14,515
My mother thought I went
to too many movies,
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00:04:14,645 --> 00:04:17,735
but I learned that if I
bugged her enough,
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00:04:17,866 --> 00:04:19,781
she would pay me to
get rid of me.
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00:04:20,782 --> 00:04:23,915
I remember my mother didn't
want me seeing The Outlaw
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00:04:24,916 --> 00:04:27,615
A 1943 Western film
with Jane Russell
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00:04:27,789 --> 00:04:30,487
because it had been condemned
by the Catholic Legion
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of Decency for its provocative
content.
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She tracked me down and pulled
me out of the theater
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00:04:37,146 --> 00:04:37,973
by my ear.
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00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,368
The Catholic Church had it
out for the picture.
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They thought it was too risque.
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With two working parents, I
learned responsibility
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and independence at a young age.
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I learned to cook and take
care of myself,
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but movies became my passion
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00:04:58,515 --> 00:05:00,300
and I watched them at
every opportunity.
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00:05:02,389 --> 00:05:03,999
My life has never been
what I wanted.
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00:05:04,608 --> 00:05:08,090
My mother was a devout Catholic
and I was raised Catholic
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00:05:09,221 --> 00:05:10,571
and I went to Sacred
Heart High School.
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00:05:11,615 --> 00:05:13,661
After Sacred Heart,
little Estelle enrolled
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00:05:13,791 --> 00:05:15,489
in Elizabeth Messick
High School.
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00:05:15,924 --> 00:05:18,448
It is there that she met noble
Herman Stevens.
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00:05:19,057 --> 00:05:22,234
When Herman met Stella, she was
a high school sophomore
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00:05:22,670 --> 00:05:23,801
and he was a senior.
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00:05:24,324 --> 00:05:26,238
The attraction was instant.
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00:05:27,152 --> 00:05:29,329
Estelle dropped out of
high school at 16
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and married journeyman
electrician and amateur boxer
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Herman Stevens on December
3rd, 1954
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in Holly Springs, Mississippi.
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My parents told me that
I was conceived
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in the backseat of a Mercury
at the Skyview Drive-in
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in Memphis, Tennessee.
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00:05:45,345 --> 00:05:47,912
My mother, who said
my name Andrew
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00:05:48,086 --> 00:05:52,526
and Andy for short, was named
after the Aldo Rey character
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in the movie Battle Cry,
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which apparently was
playing that night.
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So I was conceived to the
soundtrack of a war film.
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When I was 15 years
old, I got pregnant.
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When I was 16, I had a baby.
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I've been a mother
since that time.
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I actually quit high school
to get married
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and have the baby, then went
back to school at night
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to finish high school.
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I went to college at Memphis
State University.
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I was an English major and
joined the drama group.
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I knew then that I
would like to act.
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Acting is what I wanted to do.
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00:06:31,086 --> 00:06:34,219
Estelle gained attention and
recognition playing Cherie,
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00:06:34,829 --> 00:06:37,527
a great part in William Inge's
stage play Bus Stop ,
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portrayed on screen
by Marilyn Monroe.
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This was the first real
recognition she got in print.
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00:06:44,142 --> 00:06:45,753
Because Andrew was
a toddler then,
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the thought of going to New
York
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00:06:47,145 --> 00:06:48,364
and trying to be in the theater
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00:06:48,495 --> 00:06:50,845
seemed like a horrible
grungy life.
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00:06:51,715 --> 00:06:54,109
I could just picture myself in a
hovel in Greenwich Village.
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00:06:55,153 --> 00:06:56,154
It was one or the other,
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00:06:56,851 --> 00:06:58,766
or it was to stay in
Memphis forever.
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Everyone in Memphis laughed at
me and thought I was uppity,
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00:07:03,814 --> 00:07:05,555
that I thought I was better
than everyone else
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00:07:05,686 --> 00:07:07,688
because I wanted to talk
in a different way.
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But I saw it as my only way out.
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She was discovered in classic
magic of the movies fashion
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when a visiting talent
agent spotted her
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00:07:17,828 --> 00:07:19,569
working as a junior
fashion model
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in the tea room at the old
Goldsmiths Department Store
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00:07:22,790 --> 00:07:23,617
in downtown Memphis.
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I modeled junior sophisticates
and Mr. Mort clothes
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00:07:28,491 --> 00:07:31,581
at Goldsmiths, Memphis's largest
department store
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00:07:31,712 --> 00:07:32,713
as my first job.
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And of course I had
a baby at the time.
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I made $38.86 a week.
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And I used to have to take
Andrew to the nursery
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while I went to work.
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00:07:45,900 --> 00:07:47,945
My parents did not support me
wanting to be an actress.
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00:07:48,816 --> 00:07:52,167
They had the attitude that I had
to get it out of my system,
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00:07:52,297 --> 00:07:53,864
that I was a bit crazy to do it.
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00:07:55,344 --> 00:07:56,911
They were very concerned
about me.
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00:07:57,651 --> 00:07:59,435
My mother said that she
hoped I would fail
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00:07:59,566 --> 00:08:01,306
and come back to Memphis
where I belong.
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00:08:02,438 --> 00:08:05,136
I was told that I should
have better sense
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00:08:05,876 --> 00:08:09,445
and stay home in Memphis, but
I couldn't do it.
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00:08:10,359 --> 00:08:12,448
When I discovered acting
was my destiny,
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00:08:12,709 --> 00:08:14,145
it was either New York
or Hollywood.
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00:08:15,712 --> 00:08:18,367
The odds against getting
anywhere in the movies
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00:08:18,498 --> 00:08:21,239
are so great that if you had
realized it beforehand,
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00:08:21,457 --> 00:08:23,067
you'd stay home.
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00:08:23,198 --> 00:08:25,722
But I wasn't a happy child.
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I wanted to be an actress.
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00:08:29,291 --> 00:08:31,467
United Artists press
agent Irving Schiffrin
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00:08:31,598 --> 00:08:33,338
arranged for a meeting
with executives
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00:08:33,556 --> 00:08:34,862
at 20th Century Fox.
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00:08:35,384 --> 00:08:38,648
They took photos of Stella and
offered to screen test her
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00:08:38,779 --> 00:08:39,693
there in New York.
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00:08:39,954 --> 00:08:41,521
But she had to get
back to Memphis.
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00:08:42,043 --> 00:08:44,524
The New York executives sent
the photos to California
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00:08:45,176 --> 00:08:47,570
and the executives there
liked what they saw
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00:08:47,831 --> 00:08:50,181
and offered for Stella to
come to Los Angeles
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00:08:50,355 --> 00:08:51,531
for her screen test.
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00:08:52,619 --> 00:08:55,317
The studio had told Stella that
they were interested in her
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00:08:55,447 --> 00:08:58,799
for the role of Jean Harlow in
a potential upcoming film.
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00:08:59,321 --> 00:09:02,498
I went to California
in August of 1958
168
00:09:02,803 --> 00:09:05,893
and made the screen test and
waited for my results.
169
00:09:07,024 --> 00:09:09,070
Stella didn't get the
Jean Harlow role,
170
00:09:09,374 --> 00:09:12,073
but the studio liked what it
saw in the screen test
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00:09:12,247 --> 00:09:15,642
and 20th Century Fox signed her
to a three year contract
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00:09:15,772 --> 00:09:21,735
in 1959 with a studio option
every six months.
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00:09:21,865 --> 00:09:24,607
Estelle's early maturity on
screen may have reflected
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00:09:24,738 --> 00:09:26,870
her own turbulent private life.
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00:09:27,175 --> 00:09:30,787
The marriage was volatile and
shortly after one year,
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00:09:30,961 --> 00:09:33,703
Herman moved out and Estelle
filed for divorce.
177
00:09:36,053 --> 00:09:38,403
My next job was at
20th Century Fox
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00:09:38,882 --> 00:09:41,581
where I was making $250 a week
179
00:09:42,016 --> 00:09:43,626
and I thought I was
really rich.
180
00:09:44,496 --> 00:09:47,238
I left Andy with my mother
because I wasn't allowed
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00:09:47,369 --> 00:09:50,328
to take him out of state and
I moved to Los Angeles.
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00:09:51,155 --> 00:09:53,593
Upon arrival in
Hollywood and under the advice
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00:09:53,723 --> 00:09:56,030
of an agent, Estelle
changed her name.
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00:09:56,552 --> 00:09:59,033
When I was introduced
as Stella, I said,
185
00:09:59,555 --> 00:10:01,644
"That last name doesn't look
good with a ph.
186
00:10:01,905 --> 00:10:04,386
"I'll just make it a V."
187
00:10:04,516 --> 00:10:05,909
That was the big change.
188
00:10:07,041 --> 00:10:09,478
I was then an actress
with a stage name.
189
00:10:10,261 --> 00:10:13,351
Studio biographies originally
claimed Stevens was born
190
00:10:13,482 --> 00:10:15,136
in Hot Coffee, Mississippi.
191
00:10:15,789 --> 00:10:18,226
That was a fabrication of press
agents who referred
192
00:10:18,356 --> 00:10:20,924
to her as the cream
of Hot Coffee.
193
00:10:21,664 --> 00:10:23,971
Because anything sounded better
than Yazoo City.
194
00:10:25,668 --> 00:10:28,671
Stella's on-screen
acting debut was in a speaking
role
195
00:10:28,802 --> 00:10:32,283
in Frank Tashlin's comedy
drama, Say One for Me.
196
00:10:35,460 --> 00:10:38,420
I was a chorus girl and
I sidled up to Mr. Crosby
197
00:10:38,550 --> 00:10:41,423
in a red spangled,
very tiny costume
198
00:10:42,250 --> 00:10:43,555
and I asked him to zip me up.
199
00:10:44,556 --> 00:10:47,734
They used to always try and
paste net over my cleavage.
200
00:10:49,083 --> 00:10:51,825
They had this idea that I was
too sexy for the screen.
201
00:10:52,869 --> 00:10:55,698
Seeing what they show now and
what they used to show before,
202
00:10:55,829 --> 00:10:57,395
it was pretty silly.
203
00:10:57,787 --> 00:11:00,572
Not long after
filming, Stella was back on the
studio lot
204
00:11:00,703 --> 00:11:03,053
doing a photo shoot when she
passed director
205
00:11:03,271 --> 00:11:04,707
Edward Dmytryk.
206
00:11:04,881 --> 00:11:07,579
She was soon called back to the
studio for a small part
207
00:11:07,710 --> 00:11:11,061
in Dmytryk's 1959 remake
of The Blue Angel,
208
00:11:11,322 --> 00:11:13,803
which starred Curt Jurgens
and May Britt.
209
00:11:14,325 --> 00:11:18,460
We were cast in the remake of a
film called The Blue Angel.
210
00:11:19,635 --> 00:11:23,552
I say remake because I'm old,
but I'm not that old.
211
00:11:24,074 --> 00:11:25,859
You know, the original was
Marlene Dietrich.
212
00:11:26,729 --> 00:11:28,339
Stella Stevens and Barbara
Luna were essentially
213
00:11:28,862 --> 00:11:32,692
chorus girls behind May Britt
and Edward Dmytryk's remake
214
00:11:32,953 --> 00:11:34,694
of Joseph von Sternberg's
The Blue Angel.
215
00:11:35,390 --> 00:11:39,524
They met again on Synanon ,
Frank Tashlin's movie
216
00:11:39,655 --> 00:11:41,657
and became friends for the
rest of their lives.
217
00:11:41,918 --> 00:11:45,356
The system was very unkind.
218
00:11:45,487 --> 00:11:49,752
They apparently, I would say
used the word force
219
00:11:49,970 --> 00:11:53,277
for the lack of a better term
to work on films
220
00:11:53,408 --> 00:11:55,105
that they did not want to be in.
221
00:11:55,236 --> 00:11:56,498
Well, when I started
in business,
222
00:11:56,628 --> 00:11:58,979
almost everybody who worked
was under contract
223
00:11:59,109 --> 00:12:00,284
to one studio or another.
224
00:12:01,285 --> 00:12:03,940
And, you know, nobody
made a lot of money
225
00:12:04,071 --> 00:12:05,202
except maybe the big stars.
226
00:12:05,812 --> 00:12:08,423
And even then they didn't
make a lot of money.
227
00:12:08,553 --> 00:12:09,772
It was the studios
who made money.
228
00:12:10,425 --> 00:12:11,774
You have a contract with them
229
00:12:11,948 --> 00:12:13,558
and they're gonna try
to build you up
230
00:12:14,037 --> 00:12:17,258
and put you in films.
231
00:12:17,867 --> 00:12:23,090
And sometimes it works out and
sometimes it doesn't.
232
00:12:23,351 --> 00:12:24,874
Despite appearing in two films,
233
00:12:25,179 --> 00:12:28,356
Stella's contract at the studio
lasted only six months
234
00:12:28,617 --> 00:12:30,619
and 20th Century Fox
did not renew her.
235
00:12:31,011 --> 00:12:33,404
I worked for four months
on Say One For Me.
236
00:12:34,231 --> 00:12:36,277
However, no one told me to
pick up a work card.
237
00:12:36,538 --> 00:12:39,367
So apparently the studio never
knew that I worked.
238
00:12:40,368 --> 00:12:41,195
So they dropped me.
239
00:12:41,804 --> 00:12:44,720
So now Stella is entering a
tough part of her career
240
00:12:44,851 --> 00:12:48,898
where the studio finds a clever
way to drop her contract.
241
00:12:49,551 --> 00:12:52,380
She's fighting for custody
of her son, Andrew,
242
00:12:52,510 --> 00:12:53,468
and money's tight.
243
00:12:53,860 --> 00:12:57,515
So along comes Playboy,
offers her $5,000.
244
00:12:58,821 --> 00:13:00,692
She doesn't think it's gonna
be that big of a deal
245
00:13:00,823 --> 00:13:01,693
and she does it.
246
00:13:01,911 --> 00:13:03,608
I was very new in Hollywood.
247
00:13:03,913 --> 00:13:05,523
Had only been out
there six months.
248
00:13:06,220 --> 00:13:08,222
And I had no money coming in
249
00:13:08,352 --> 00:13:10,137
and I didn't know
anyone out there.
250
00:13:10,659 --> 00:13:13,357
And I was offered a great deal
of money for doing it.
251
00:13:13,488 --> 00:13:15,098
So I said, well, it's
a job, you know.
252
00:13:15,664 --> 00:13:17,666
It's just like any other
kind of work.
253
00:13:18,188 --> 00:13:20,887
When I did it, they
paid me half of the money.
254
00:13:21,583 --> 00:13:23,541
And if I wanted the
other $2,500,
255
00:13:24,064 --> 00:13:26,675
I would have to work as a
hostess for Playboy parties.
256
00:13:27,719 --> 00:13:29,286
I said, shove it, I will not.
257
00:13:30,810 --> 00:13:32,507
She did a lot of good movies
in the sixties
258
00:13:33,595 --> 00:13:40,428
and she was actually one of
the most charming
259
00:13:40,689 --> 00:13:43,605
of the leading lady comedians
out there.
260
00:13:44,258 --> 00:13:47,348
Look what's happened
to Li'l Abner.
261
00:13:48,566 --> 00:13:51,221
Paramount was producing a film
version of Li'l Abner.
262
00:13:51,569 --> 00:13:53,397
Based on Al Capp's comic strip
263
00:13:53,615 --> 00:13:55,965
and the hit Broadway musical
of the same name.
264
00:13:56,705 --> 00:13:58,185
Stella auditioned for
the great role
265
00:13:58,402 --> 00:14:00,796
of the vampish Appassionata
von Climax
266
00:14:01,231 --> 00:14:03,755
and won it over a multitude
of other actresses.
267
00:14:04,191 --> 00:14:07,324
Sensational Stella Stevens
as Appassionata von Climax,
268
00:14:07,803 --> 00:14:09,761
General Bull Moose's
sexy secretary.
269
00:14:10,588 --> 00:14:11,894
Does that mean you
get bed and board?
270
00:14:13,722 --> 00:14:14,592
Extremely.
271
00:14:14,854 --> 00:14:16,551
This was an enormous
coup for her.
272
00:14:16,768 --> 00:14:18,248
And she was cast to
take over the role
273
00:14:18,509 --> 00:14:20,468
that Tina Louise had
created on Broadway.
274
00:14:20,947 --> 00:14:22,687
A parody of a sex symbol.
275
00:14:24,037 --> 00:14:27,040
Fate intervened and
two significant things happened
276
00:14:27,214 --> 00:14:28,258
in Stella's career.
277
00:14:28,911 --> 00:14:31,609
One, ironically, she
won a Golden Globe
278
00:14:31,827 --> 00:14:34,525
as new star of the year
for Say One for Me
279
00:14:34,656 --> 00:14:36,005
for 20th Century Fox.
280
00:14:36,527 --> 00:14:39,487
The studio that had just
dropped her contract.
281
00:14:40,053 --> 00:14:42,882
And two, Paramount Pictures
signed her
282
00:14:43,099 --> 00:14:46,146
to a seven year contract.
283
00:14:46,276 --> 00:14:48,191
For me it all started when
I did Li'l Abner.
284
00:14:49,236 --> 00:14:50,715
The head of publicity
at Paramount
285
00:14:50,846 --> 00:14:53,022
basically made me a worldwide
sex symbol.
286
00:14:53,544 --> 00:14:55,764
He had me doing a lot of
layouts with photographers,
287
00:14:56,678 --> 00:14:59,246
indoors, outdoors,
here and there,
288
00:14:59,724 --> 00:15:01,248
being seen in different places,
289
00:15:01,422 --> 00:15:03,076
going to the best restaurants,
290
00:15:03,772 --> 00:15:06,644
meeting wonderful actors
and directors.
291
00:15:06,775 --> 00:15:08,255
Those were the golden
years of Hollywood.
292
00:15:09,038 --> 00:15:10,300
It was a very exciting time.
293
00:15:11,084 --> 00:15:12,955
Things were looking
up for the starlet
294
00:15:13,260 --> 00:15:16,089
and Stella panicked about
the Playboy photos.
295
00:15:16,567 --> 00:15:18,308
She tried to buy back
the pictures
296
00:15:18,526 --> 00:15:20,789
and dissuade Playboy
from exploiting them
297
00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,052
in connection with her
new movie role.
298
00:15:23,748 --> 00:15:25,881
I called Hugh Hefner and
I said, I'm sorry,
299
00:15:26,142 --> 00:15:28,362
I know I made a deal with
you to do a layout,
300
00:15:28,492 --> 00:15:29,885
but I don't want to.
301
00:15:30,973 --> 00:15:34,629
And he said, "Oh no, you have
a contract with us".
302
00:15:35,412 --> 00:15:36,283
You have to do it.
303
00:15:37,197 --> 00:15:38,894
I didn't have any options
at the time.
304
00:15:39,460 --> 00:15:41,462
I would say for Stella,
you know,
305
00:15:41,810 --> 00:15:45,379
in that era to do Playboy, to
then lead to movies,
306
00:15:45,596 --> 00:15:47,337
that's how it went, you know.
307
00:15:47,642 --> 00:15:49,687
Unfortunately for women
back in the day,
308
00:15:50,210 --> 00:15:54,301
that's how you got the Hollywood
boys to notice you.
309
00:15:54,649 --> 00:15:57,869
The photos became a
celebrated Playboy centerfold
310
00:15:58,174 --> 00:16:00,437
and Stella was named Playmate
of the Month
311
00:16:00,611 --> 00:16:02,004
for January 1960.
312
00:16:02,787 --> 00:16:06,313
It was my decision
and mine alone.
313
00:16:06,443 --> 00:16:08,793
Hollywood, November 18, 1961.
314
00:16:09,664 --> 00:16:10,752
Paramount Pictures
calls a meeting
315
00:16:10,882 --> 00:16:12,449
of its female contract players,
316
00:16:13,146 --> 00:16:15,583
Stella Stevens and only Stella
Stevens shows up.
317
00:16:16,149 --> 00:16:18,716
She's it, the only actress
the powerful studio
318
00:16:18,847 --> 00:16:19,979
has under contract.
319
00:16:20,283 --> 00:16:21,415
And the betting around town
is that Paramount
320
00:16:21,545 --> 00:16:23,591
will build her into a star
of Marilyn Monroe
321
00:16:23,765 --> 00:16:24,766
Elizabeth Taylor importance.
322
00:16:25,375 --> 00:16:27,421
♪ I've entertained
Above the clouds ♪
323
00:16:27,899 --> 00:16:29,249
♪ From Timbuktu to Rome ♪
324
00:16:29,466 --> 00:16:31,207
♪ Guys who've seen me taking
Off ♪
325
00:16:31,729 --> 00:16:33,122
♪ Don't wanna go home ♪
326
00:16:33,557 --> 00:16:37,213
♪ So stand by for the greatest
Show you're ever gonna see ♪
327
00:16:37,605 --> 00:16:42,088
♪ But even if it ain't I know
You won't walk out on me ♪
328
00:16:50,487 --> 00:16:52,707
Stella was thrust into
the final years
329
00:16:53,055 --> 00:16:54,404
of the golden age of Hollywood.
330
00:16:54,883 --> 00:16:56,841
She became a bonafide starlet.
331
00:16:57,712 --> 00:16:58,974
During the golden
age of Hollywood,
332
00:16:59,105 --> 00:17:00,367
if you're a contract actor,
333
00:17:00,715 --> 00:17:02,630
you were either filming
every day
334
00:17:02,978 --> 00:17:05,676
or you were in the taking
stills every day.
335
00:17:05,807 --> 00:17:07,374
You were promoting your movies.
336
00:17:07,504 --> 00:17:09,245
You were promoting everybody
else's movies.
337
00:17:09,767 --> 00:17:11,813
It was a complete
and total factory
338
00:17:12,292 --> 00:17:14,424
and they made sure that their
contract players
339
00:17:15,077 --> 00:17:17,645
and their stars worked
every single day
340
00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:19,342
for the good of the studio.
341
00:17:20,691 --> 00:17:23,390
Those battling her
for custody of her son in
Tennessee
342
00:17:23,912 --> 00:17:27,133
believed that Hollywood was no
place to raise a child.
343
00:17:27,524 --> 00:17:29,265
This belief was only
strengthened
344
00:17:29,439 --> 00:17:32,181
after Stella's nude layout
appeared in Playboy.
345
00:17:32,747 --> 00:17:34,096
When Stella and her
husband Herman
346
00:17:34,227 --> 00:17:35,576
were going through
their divorce,
347
00:17:36,011 --> 00:17:38,666
their son Andrew was caught
between two worlds
348
00:17:38,796 --> 00:17:40,624
of Hollywood and Memphis,
Tennessee.
349
00:17:41,582 --> 00:17:43,192
I was 16 when Andrew
was born
350
00:17:43,497 --> 00:17:46,152
and when I went out to
Hollywood, I missed him so
much.
351
00:17:47,022 --> 00:17:50,156
I saw a film in which Frank
Sinatra sang "High Hopes".
352
00:17:51,244 --> 00:17:54,247
That inspired me to go back and
get my baby from Memphis
353
00:17:54,377 --> 00:17:55,596
and bring him to California.
354
00:17:56,336 --> 00:17:59,861
After the divorce, a very bitter
custody battle
355
00:18:00,035 --> 00:18:01,645
erupted between Herman
and Stella.
356
00:18:02,690 --> 00:18:04,257
Herman, supported
by his parents,
357
00:18:04,387 --> 00:18:06,737
wanted Andrew to stay in
Memphis, Tennessee,
358
00:18:07,738 --> 00:18:10,132
whereas Stella wanted
her son with her
359
00:18:10,611 --> 00:18:11,786
in Los Angeles, California.
360
00:18:12,917 --> 00:18:15,050
When I was very young, and
I know it's strange
361
00:18:15,181 --> 00:18:17,226
because I have a distinct
memory of this,
362
00:18:17,792 --> 00:18:20,621
I was at my mother's
parents' house
363
00:18:20,969 --> 00:18:23,363
who were taking care
of me alternately
364
00:18:23,493 --> 00:18:24,581
with my father's parents
365
00:18:25,365 --> 00:18:27,236
and they said they had
a surprise for me
366
00:18:27,367 --> 00:18:28,803
and they opened the door to
one of the bedrooms
367
00:18:28,977 --> 00:18:30,587
and my mother walked out.
368
00:18:31,762 --> 00:18:35,679
He was three and so to this day,
369
00:18:37,116 --> 00:18:38,291
Andrew is scarred from that.
370
00:18:38,900 --> 00:18:40,902
They took us to the airport,
371
00:18:41,424 --> 00:18:45,950
put us on a late night flight
back to Los Angeles.
372
00:18:46,081 --> 00:18:47,474
I'd never flown in
a plane before
373
00:18:48,170 --> 00:18:51,347
and I later learned that my
mother had defied a court order
374
00:18:51,782 --> 00:18:54,611
and had taken me out of state
without the court's permission.
375
00:18:55,438 --> 00:18:57,092
But less than a year
later,
376
00:18:57,440 --> 00:19:00,269
Andrew's father and grandfather
took a clandestine trip
377
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:03,359
to Beverly Hills to
kidnap Andrew back
378
00:19:03,664 --> 00:19:05,187
and take him home to Memphis.
379
00:19:06,971 --> 00:19:08,886
I'd been in Los Angeles
for a year or so
380
00:19:09,017 --> 00:19:12,063
living with my mother and I
guess I was getting close
381
00:19:12,194 --> 00:19:14,109
to around five years old
382
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:15,980
and my mother was getting ready
383
00:19:16,111 --> 00:19:17,591
for a photo shoot or something
384
00:19:17,721 --> 00:19:21,377
and I was outside at a rented
house on Benedict Canyon
385
00:19:21,508 --> 00:19:23,205
riding my tricycle
in the driveway
386
00:19:23,858 --> 00:19:27,253
and as I rounded the corner
from the garage,
387
00:19:28,079 --> 00:19:30,517
I saw a blue station wagon
in the driveway
388
00:19:30,908 --> 00:19:32,780
and I rode my tricycle
closer to it
389
00:19:32,910 --> 00:19:34,956
and I saw my granddaddy
in the window
390
00:19:35,391 --> 00:19:37,350
and I said, "Granddaddy," and
he got out of the car
391
00:19:37,480 --> 00:19:39,265
and he hugged me and
I looked back
392
00:19:39,395 --> 00:19:41,789
and there was a man at the front
door ringing the doorbell
393
00:19:41,919 --> 00:19:43,138
and I said, "What was that?"
394
00:19:43,530 --> 00:19:44,748
And he said, "That's
your daddy."
395
00:19:45,532 --> 00:19:49,100
And my father saw me and
he ran to the car,
396
00:19:49,231 --> 00:19:52,930
put me in the car and they
peeled out down Benedict Canyon
397
00:19:53,235 --> 00:19:54,845
as my mother ran out of the
house screaming,
398
00:19:55,237 --> 00:19:56,107
"Andy, Andy."
399
00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:59,763
My ex-husband came and stole
my son from me,
400
00:20:00,242 --> 00:20:02,026
charged me with contempt
of court
401
00:20:02,505 --> 00:20:04,942
and took him back to
Memphis, lied to him
402
00:20:05,334 --> 00:20:07,118
and said, "Your mother doesn't
want you anymore.
403
00:20:07,815 --> 00:20:09,860
She's got too many boyfriends
in California.
404
00:20:10,731 --> 00:20:13,429
We'll give you a motorcycle,
a pig, a dog, a bunny,
405
00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:14,387
a cat, whatever.
406
00:20:14,822 --> 00:20:16,345
We love you and your
mother doesn't."
407
00:20:17,346 --> 00:20:19,130
Finally, when I went to court,
408
00:20:19,957 --> 00:20:21,263
the bailiff thought
it would be a joke
409
00:20:21,394 --> 00:20:23,091
to put the Playboy spread
under the glass
410
00:20:23,222 --> 00:20:24,310
on the judge's desk.
411
00:20:25,136 --> 00:20:27,051
During my mother and father's
custody battle,
412
00:20:27,530 --> 00:20:30,925
my father's petition was more
for me to live with his parents
413
00:20:31,708 --> 00:20:33,319
because he clearly
was not capable
414
00:20:33,623 --> 00:20:37,323
of taking care of a child, but
they desperately wanted me
415
00:20:37,453 --> 00:20:40,151
and Meme and Granddaddy and also
my mother's parents
416
00:20:40,674 --> 00:20:42,676
were collectively like
my real parents.
417
00:20:43,198 --> 00:20:44,373
It was settled by the
court
418
00:20:44,678 --> 00:20:46,636
that Andrew would live in
Hollywood with his mom,
419
00:20:46,767 --> 00:20:49,117
but would spend summers and
vacations with his dad.
420
00:20:50,031 --> 00:20:52,642
However, presiding
judge, Greenfield Polk,
421
00:20:53,339 --> 00:20:56,342
admonished Herman and
Stella saying,
422
00:20:56,559 --> 00:20:59,258
"He is not your child and he
is not your child.
423
00:20:59,693 --> 00:21:02,478
He is my child and a
ward of this court."
424
00:21:03,610 --> 00:21:05,351
Just before I turned
six years old,
425
00:21:05,699 --> 00:21:08,005
I learned that my mother had
won custody of me
426
00:21:08,136 --> 00:21:10,269
and at my sixth birthday party,
427
00:21:11,226 --> 00:21:13,359
with all my friends in
the neighborhood,
428
00:21:13,489 --> 00:21:14,882
I had to say goodbye to everyone
429
00:21:15,012 --> 00:21:18,320
because that night she took
me to the airport
430
00:21:18,668 --> 00:21:20,627
and we were booked on
a red-eye flight
431
00:21:21,062 --> 00:21:22,237
to go back to Los Angeles.
432
00:21:23,194 --> 00:21:26,589
And I remember standing on the
tarmac, waiting for her,
433
00:21:27,111 --> 00:21:29,462
and she was posing for pictures
with photographers
434
00:21:29,810 --> 00:21:31,812
and I was saying, "Come
on, come on."
435
00:21:33,335 --> 00:21:35,642
Stella's acting
career was really taking off
436
00:21:35,990 --> 00:21:37,687
and in addition to the movies,
437
00:21:37,818 --> 00:21:41,691
she was doing prestigious
and the top one-hour
438
00:21:41,865 --> 00:21:43,780
television shows that
were on the air.
439
00:21:44,215 --> 00:21:47,828
And at this time, it was every
network's dream
440
00:21:47,958 --> 00:21:52,833
to have a movie star as a guest
star on a television show.
441
00:21:52,963 --> 00:21:54,704
Stella appeared in the
anthology series
442
00:21:54,835 --> 00:21:57,403
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
in early 1960
443
00:21:57,707 --> 00:21:59,753
in an episode called
Craig's Will
444
00:22:00,057 --> 00:22:01,276
co-starring Dick Van Dyke.
445
00:22:01,668 --> 00:22:03,409
Tom, how much did he leave you?
446
00:22:06,847 --> 00:22:07,630
One dollar.
447
00:22:10,633 --> 00:22:11,417
One what?
448
00:22:13,462 --> 00:22:14,376
I don't believe you.
449
00:22:15,943 --> 00:22:16,944
But he wouldn't dare.
450
00:22:17,379 --> 00:22:18,815
You're his only living relative.
451
00:22:19,860 --> 00:22:22,950
This is almost, what did he do
with all that money?
452
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,081
Who did he leave it to?
453
00:22:27,389 --> 00:22:28,216
His dog.
454
00:22:29,957 --> 00:22:32,176
There were so many
well-crafted mini movies
455
00:22:32,307 --> 00:22:33,743
in the early days of television.
456
00:22:34,178 --> 00:22:35,963
When young, hopeful actors
on the way up
457
00:22:36,355 --> 00:22:37,791
were able to work with
trusty veterans
458
00:22:37,921 --> 00:22:39,488
from the golden days
of Hollywood.
459
00:22:39,923 --> 00:22:42,273
I didn't know who Robert Altman
was at the time.
460
00:22:42,926 --> 00:22:45,581
He had been working in
television in black and white
461
00:22:45,712 --> 00:22:49,237
and his first big thing in
color was Bonanza.
462
00:22:51,500 --> 00:22:52,936
I thought I'd bring it as long
as I was coming.
463
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:54,547
It's not much.
464
00:22:55,635 --> 00:22:57,898
I was up for the role,
but everybody said, "No,
465
00:22:58,028 --> 00:22:59,856
she'll never get that."
466
00:23:04,034 --> 00:23:06,036
Here...
467
00:23:06,167 --> 00:23:07,603
I went into the office
for the meeting
468
00:23:07,864 --> 00:23:09,170
and they said, "Hello".
469
00:23:10,519 --> 00:23:11,346
I said nothing.
470
00:23:12,173 --> 00:23:13,566
They asked me how I was.
471
00:23:14,871 --> 00:23:15,655
I said nothing.
472
00:23:16,699 --> 00:23:17,831
I sat there silently.
473
00:23:18,962 --> 00:23:22,575
They talked and they talked
and then they got it.
474
00:23:22,836 --> 00:23:24,359
That I couldn't hear
them at all.
475
00:23:24,968 --> 00:23:27,231
And I got the part that way
because I acted
476
00:23:27,362 --> 00:23:29,320
as though I couldn't hear,
that I was deaf.
477
00:23:34,630 --> 00:23:35,675
Don't worry, I'm not
gonna take it back.
478
00:23:42,508 --> 00:23:45,032
Stella's performance in the
episode of Bonanza,
479
00:23:45,859 --> 00:23:49,863
Silent Thunder was just
astonishingly good.
480
00:23:49,993 --> 00:23:53,257
It was playing a deaf
and dumb girl.
481
00:23:54,433 --> 00:23:57,044
This was their version of
The Miracle Worker
482
00:23:57,697 --> 00:23:58,915
or Johnny Belinda.
483
00:23:59,568 --> 00:24:02,571
And Robert Altman was simpatico
with Stella
484
00:24:02,876 --> 00:24:08,577
and he saw the real gem of a
performance she was giving
485
00:24:08,969 --> 00:24:11,493
and he let her run with it,
which was so wise.
486
00:24:11,624 --> 00:24:13,843
And it's some of the absolute
best work she ever did.
487
00:24:14,191 --> 00:24:16,759
A little known fact is that
Stella was also a member
488
00:24:17,194 --> 00:24:21,242
of the Skip Jacks, a late 50s,
early 60s vocal quintet.
489
00:24:21,677 --> 00:24:23,200
You've heard their work without
knowing it.
490
00:24:23,592 --> 00:24:24,898
Since she
performed the theme song
491
00:24:25,202 --> 00:24:27,509
for The Flintstones and The
Patty Duke Show.
492
00:24:28,379 --> 00:24:30,817
But movies were
Stella's passion
493
00:24:30,991 --> 00:24:34,168
and her theatrical film career
was starting to blossom.
494
00:24:35,082 --> 00:24:41,436
And she's like the legit above
the title lead.
495
00:24:41,828 --> 00:24:43,525
Under her new contract
at Paramount,
496
00:24:44,047 --> 00:24:46,615
Stella was cast in the movie
originally titled Deadlock
497
00:24:46,876 --> 00:24:48,661
but released as Man-Trap.
498
00:24:49,749 --> 00:24:51,664
Nina, the character I
played in Man-Trap
499
00:24:51,794 --> 00:24:53,492
made quite the impression
at the time.
500
00:24:54,275 --> 00:24:55,972
She was the total
opposite of me.
501
00:24:56,799 --> 00:25:00,368
I was an introverted, bookish
sort of person
502
00:25:00,542 --> 00:25:02,718
who wanted to learn to become
a good writer
503
00:25:02,936 --> 00:25:05,982
and here's this woman who
is a nymphomaniac
504
00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,811
and the challenge really
intrigued me.
505
00:25:09,725 --> 00:25:11,640
Some of the most fun
parts I've played
506
00:25:11,771 --> 00:25:15,426
have been nymphomaniacs, but
it was very risky,
507
00:25:15,557 --> 00:25:17,385
very taboo at the time.
508
00:25:18,517 --> 00:25:21,476
I'll be ready for you in just a
minute.
509
00:25:26,220 --> 00:25:28,396
I gotta go make myself look
pretty for you, don't I?
510
00:25:29,092 --> 00:25:32,095
She sought to work on better
projects with top directors.
511
00:25:33,009 --> 00:25:35,055
John Cassavetes cast her as
the female lead
512
00:25:35,272 --> 00:25:36,317
in Too Late Blues.
513
00:25:37,231 --> 00:25:40,495
Cassavetes was the consummate
maverick filmmaker
514
00:25:40,713 --> 00:25:44,238
who delved into the psychology
of human relationships.
515
00:25:45,021 --> 00:25:47,763
He did and so did I since I
started in theater.
516
00:25:48,329 --> 00:25:49,504
Whoever told you that's
what you had to do
517
00:25:49,635 --> 00:25:50,636
in order to reach somebody.
518
00:25:53,116 --> 00:25:53,900
Are you kidding?
519
00:25:55,336 --> 00:25:57,773
Just where do I stand without
my body, huh?
520
00:25:58,774 --> 00:25:59,645
Tell me that.
521
00:25:59,906 --> 00:26:01,690
The film showcased
her dramatic gifts
522
00:26:01,908 --> 00:26:04,301
and starred pop singing
sensation Bobby Darin
523
00:26:04,780 --> 00:26:05,955
in his first dramatic role.
524
00:26:09,306 --> 00:26:12,135
The more glorious story is
when I'm standing
525
00:26:12,309 --> 00:26:15,443
against a wall in another scene
and he walks over to me
526
00:26:15,574 --> 00:26:18,141
and kisses me with this
passionate kiss.
527
00:26:19,142 --> 00:26:21,144
Well, we kissed and kissed.
528
00:26:22,058 --> 00:26:25,540
When he stood back, he had
an erection this big.
529
00:26:26,672 --> 00:26:28,717
The guy on the catwalk
noticed it,
530
00:26:29,152 --> 00:26:31,764
so everybody on set knew about
it after that.
531
00:26:37,247 --> 00:26:40,033
Hollywood in the 1960s was
a different town.
532
00:26:40,599 --> 00:26:41,425
It was a different era.
533
00:26:42,078 --> 00:26:43,993
The casting couch was very real.
534
00:26:44,428 --> 00:26:47,301
There was an entire town full of
early day Harvey Weinsteins.
535
00:26:48,171 --> 00:26:50,652
Well, it's not only the
producers and the directors,
536
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,482
it's the agents and
the casting people
537
00:26:54,613 --> 00:26:57,050
and the fellow actors
and the businessmen
538
00:26:57,485 --> 00:27:00,096
and anybody who sees you and
knows that you're an actress,
539
00:27:00,227 --> 00:27:01,097
I think.
540
00:27:01,489 --> 00:27:03,622
Men ran the business and
men behaved badly.
541
00:27:03,796 --> 00:27:05,145
There were many attempted rapes
542
00:27:05,275 --> 00:27:07,016
if I would have meetings
with people
543
00:27:07,756 --> 00:27:10,759
without having a chaperone
with me or something.
544
00:27:11,194 --> 00:27:14,154
Now that I've gotten older, you
know, I'm over 30 now,
545
00:27:14,545 --> 00:27:16,939
so people don't jump on me
like they used to,
546
00:27:17,070 --> 00:27:18,375
but that was a big problem.
547
00:27:18,854 --> 00:27:21,378
With her talent and
her career on the rise,
548
00:27:21,944 --> 00:27:24,251
Stella was able to evade
the casting couch,
549
00:27:24,512 --> 00:27:27,733
but her beauty attracted men
like moths to a flame.
550
00:27:28,559 --> 00:27:31,388
Ms. Stevens is admired by Cary
Grant,
551
00:27:32,172 --> 00:27:34,565
who saw her in the Paramount
Commissary one day
552
00:27:34,914 --> 00:27:37,699
and insisted on having lunch
with her for the entire week.
553
00:27:38,961 --> 00:27:42,182
I dated Cary a couple
of times and I loved him
dearly.
554
00:27:42,661 --> 00:27:45,838
We never had an affair, but we
were great, great friends.
555
00:27:46,534 --> 00:27:49,885
Actors are business, not
pleasure for me.
556
00:27:50,364 --> 00:27:52,192
And there's very good reason.
557
00:27:52,322 --> 00:27:54,194
Actors are selfish and so am I.
558
00:27:54,673 --> 00:27:58,067
You have to be if you want to be
ambitious in this business.
559
00:27:58,198 --> 00:28:01,375
Early on, she was lumped
into a situation
560
00:28:01,592 --> 00:28:07,076
of sort of like after Marilyn
Monroe, after Jane Mansfield,
561
00:28:08,208 --> 00:28:13,039
after Mamie Van Doren, but what
Stella Stevens had
562
00:28:13,169 --> 00:28:17,652
in the sixties, she became a
really, really, really
563
00:28:17,783 --> 00:28:18,609
good comedienne.
564
00:28:20,394 --> 00:28:22,701
The studio sent
Stella a script to co-star
565
00:28:22,831 --> 00:28:26,313
with another music singing
icon, Elvis Presley.
566
00:28:27,923 --> 00:28:30,143
I started hearing Elvis music
at the drive-in diner
567
00:28:30,273 --> 00:28:32,014
in Memphis called the
Jungle Garden.
568
00:28:32,623 --> 00:28:34,190
I remember hearing
That's All Right
569
00:28:34,408 --> 00:28:35,757
and Blue Moon of Kentucky.
570
00:28:36,410 --> 00:28:38,194
He was great, an instant hit.
571
00:28:40,022 --> 00:28:40,806
♪ Let it go ♪
572
00:28:43,069 --> 00:28:46,333
I was still a baby, still young,
but I was old enough
573
00:28:46,463 --> 00:28:49,031
to fight with the studio and
say, you're not gonna put me
574
00:28:49,162 --> 00:28:51,294
in this piece of junk and
make me the girl
575
00:28:51,642 --> 00:28:53,644
that Elvis Presley dumps
for another girl.
576
00:28:54,297 --> 00:28:56,082
That's not what I had in
mind for my career.
577
00:28:56,909 --> 00:29:00,260
If it isn't your boat, it's
girls. Girls, girls, girls!
578
00:29:00,826 --> 00:29:03,002
And they promised that the
next film would be
579
00:29:03,132 --> 00:29:04,133
with Montgomery Clift.
580
00:29:06,788 --> 00:29:10,096
I finally said, "Yes, I'll do
the Elvis picture.
581
00:29:10,357 --> 00:29:12,881
It's only six days work and
I'll forget about it".
582
00:29:13,621 --> 00:29:15,666
Stella felt coerced
into joining the cast
583
00:29:15,797 --> 00:29:18,887
of Girls, Girls, Girls!, and
the film she was promised
584
00:29:19,061 --> 00:29:21,934
with Montgomery Clift
never materialized.
585
00:29:22,499 --> 00:29:24,284
I was actually miserable
making that film
586
00:29:24,414 --> 00:29:26,503
and that's the one film I've
done that I have never seen
587
00:29:26,634 --> 00:29:28,288
in my life, nor will
I ever see it.
588
00:29:28,549 --> 00:29:31,117
So I hesitate to talk about
it in that it was such
589
00:29:31,247 --> 00:29:32,901
an unpleasant experience for me.
590
00:29:33,032 --> 00:29:33,815
Why?
591
00:29:35,425 --> 00:29:38,907
At how I was treated on the
film by the producer,
592
00:29:39,038 --> 00:29:41,780
the director, the people who
decided how I would look
593
00:29:41,910 --> 00:29:42,998
and what I would do.
594
00:29:43,912 --> 00:29:46,219
At this point,
there's always been this idea
595
00:29:46,349 --> 00:29:48,874
that Stella Stevens was the
most photographed woman
596
00:29:49,004 --> 00:29:51,920
in the world and it was true.
597
00:29:53,269 --> 00:29:56,882
The studios got behind her with
their publicity machine
598
00:29:57,186 --> 00:30:00,407
and it was absolutely
incredible.
599
00:30:01,495 --> 00:30:05,934
Photographed at premiers,
photographed on dates at
Ciro's,
600
00:30:06,065 --> 00:30:07,196
photographed at home,
601
00:30:07,980 --> 00:30:12,201
photographed wherever she went
and then in studio,
602
00:30:12,985 --> 00:30:15,814
portraits for magazine
covers, ads,
603
00:30:16,162 --> 00:30:18,164
sometimes endorsing other
people's movies,
604
00:30:18,294 --> 00:30:19,992
it just never stopped.
605
00:30:20,340 --> 00:30:23,082
They wanted Stella Stevens
to be a part
606
00:30:23,256 --> 00:30:25,736
of the American movie
going consciousness
607
00:30:26,215 --> 00:30:27,608
and there was no social media.
608
00:30:28,174 --> 00:30:32,047
So the way it worked was to
get her on the cover
609
00:30:32,613 --> 00:30:35,964
of all of the hundreds
of movie magazines
610
00:30:36,443 --> 00:30:39,533
and there was Stella Stevens,
in some cases more so
611
00:30:39,663 --> 00:30:41,274
than somebody like
Elizabeth Taylor.
612
00:30:41,796 --> 00:30:45,626
It was Stella Stevens looking at
you from the magazine rack
613
00:30:45,756 --> 00:30:47,889
and everybody was buying
those magazines.
614
00:30:48,672 --> 00:30:50,718
When I was six years old and
my mother was shooting
615
00:30:50,849 --> 00:30:52,067
The Courtship of
Eddie's Father,
616
00:30:52,894 --> 00:30:55,984
I got to meet my childhood
hero, Ronny Howard,
617
00:30:56,332 --> 00:30:58,378
who played Opie on The Andy
Griffith Show.
618
00:30:58,726 --> 00:31:00,728
The Courtship of Eddie's
Father brings together
619
00:31:00,902 --> 00:31:03,731
two of the most delightful fun
stars of recent years,
620
00:31:04,253 --> 00:31:06,516
Stella Stevens and
Jerry Van Dyke.
621
00:31:07,082 --> 00:31:10,738
All right, now move straight
forward from the hips.
622
00:31:13,132 --> 00:31:14,133
See where my hips are?
623
00:31:15,003 --> 00:31:17,266
Oh, I do, I do.
624
00:31:17,745 --> 00:31:20,139
My favorite director
is Vincent Minnelli.
625
00:31:20,966 --> 00:31:23,490
I believe he is the most
fabulous genius
626
00:31:23,664 --> 00:31:24,578
I've ever worked with.
627
00:31:25,448 --> 00:31:26,972
Vincent was the husband
of Judy Garland
628
00:31:27,581 --> 00:31:30,410
and that's what impressed
me initially.
629
00:31:31,193 --> 00:31:32,847
Then I learned of all the films
that he had done
630
00:31:32,978 --> 00:31:36,546
and I thought, oh my
God, I'm so stupid.
631
00:31:37,417 --> 00:31:39,027
I realized what a genius he
was.
632
00:31:40,115 --> 00:31:46,861
So, Stella Stevens was the girl
633
00:31:46,992 --> 00:31:51,300
in a whole bunch of
movies in the 60s
634
00:31:51,431 --> 00:31:55,304
where she's supporting the
other big stars
635
00:31:55,522 --> 00:31:58,699
or upcoming stars of the time,
636
00:31:59,004 --> 00:32:02,833
whether it be Jerry Lewis,
whether it be Dean Martin,
637
00:32:03,356 --> 00:32:08,013
whether it be Glenn Ford,
whether it be David McCallum.
638
00:32:08,839 --> 00:32:11,320
When I was a young kid,
my parents took me
639
00:32:11,451 --> 00:32:13,148
to the drive-in in
Sarasota, Florida
640
00:32:13,279 --> 00:32:15,237
to see a movie called, The
Nutty Professor.
641
00:32:16,108 --> 00:32:18,545
It starred Jerry Lewis and it
was like a Dr. Jekyll
642
00:32:18,675 --> 00:32:20,982
and Mr. Hyde and I was a
monster movie fanatic.
643
00:32:21,504 --> 00:32:23,854
Well, I came out of there being
a Stella Stevens fanatic.
644
00:32:24,899 --> 00:32:26,553
There's never a dull
moment on the set
645
00:32:26,683 --> 00:32:28,424
when Jerry Lewis is
making a film.
646
00:32:29,295 --> 00:32:31,427
Jerry not only acts
in but also directs
647
00:32:31,688 --> 00:32:33,212
his newest motion
picture in color.
648
00:32:35,475 --> 00:32:37,085
Stella Stevens, Jerry's
leading lady,
649
00:32:37,216 --> 00:32:38,304
gives him a knowing wink.
650
00:32:38,782 --> 00:32:41,611
In The Nutty Professor, I
was scared to death
651
00:32:41,872 --> 00:32:42,699
during filming.
652
00:32:43,265 --> 00:32:44,614
I didn't know what to do.
653
00:32:45,006 --> 00:32:47,878
I thought I had to be funny and
when I look back at it today,
654
00:32:48,009 --> 00:32:51,012
I kind of cringe at a few
of the things I did.
655
00:32:56,452 --> 00:32:57,497
I don't know any place.
656
00:33:02,023 --> 00:33:03,764
In addition to his
other talents,
657
00:33:04,156 --> 00:33:05,374
Jerry Lewis was an innovator,
658
00:33:05,809 --> 00:33:08,247
the first actor director to
use video playback
659
00:33:08,595 --> 00:33:10,597
to scrutinize his comic
performances
660
00:33:10,901 --> 00:33:11,815
before printing a take.
661
00:33:30,312 --> 00:33:31,270
Cut!
662
00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:32,923
Because of my Catholic
grandmother,
663
00:33:33,185 --> 00:33:35,404
my mother enrolled me in Beverly
Hills Catholic School
664
00:33:35,535 --> 00:33:36,927
for the first and second
grades.
665
00:33:38,016 --> 00:33:40,583
And about that time, my
mother's centerfold
666
00:33:40,714 --> 00:33:41,758
in Playboy came out.
667
00:33:42,498 --> 00:33:44,631
And I remember being
shamed by the nuns
668
00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,112
and being told that my
mother was a whore
669
00:33:47,329 --> 00:33:49,288
and a harlot was gonna
burn in hell.
670
00:33:49,940 --> 00:33:51,725
And I was sent home crying.
671
00:33:52,769 --> 00:33:54,989
So when my mother was doing
The Nutty Professor
672
00:33:55,250 --> 00:33:58,253
with Jerry Lewis, she
told him the story
673
00:33:58,514 --> 00:34:01,213
and all of the anguish I
was going through
674
00:34:01,343 --> 00:34:02,214
at Catholic school.
675
00:34:02,910 --> 00:34:04,433
And he said, "Get
him out of there.
676
00:34:04,564 --> 00:34:05,956
Send him where my kids
go to school.
677
00:34:06,174 --> 00:34:09,351
Black Fox Military Institute in
Hollywood, it's great".
678
00:34:10,613 --> 00:34:13,312
So the following year,
I was enrolled
679
00:34:13,616 --> 00:34:17,620
in an all boys private military
institute in Hollywood.
680
00:34:18,491 --> 00:34:21,320
And I didn't have nuns shaming
me about my mother,
681
00:34:22,016 --> 00:34:25,454
but I had grades 1 through 12
of horny boys masturbating
682
00:34:25,585 --> 00:34:27,108
to pictures of my
mom in Playboy.
683
00:34:27,804 --> 00:34:29,632
And actually I was in
Playboy magazine.
684
00:34:30,372 --> 00:34:34,289
I was the January 1960 playmate
of the month.
685
00:34:34,985 --> 00:34:37,336
And the preacher in the First
Baptist Church
686
00:34:37,466 --> 00:34:40,600
in Memphis, Tennessee preached
a sermon against me,
687
00:34:40,730 --> 00:34:44,778
setting me up as a young lady
who was typical
688
00:34:45,039 --> 00:34:48,129
of all young women led astray by
the evils of Hollywood.
689
00:34:48,651 --> 00:34:53,352
Would you advise other girls
to pose this way
690
00:34:53,482 --> 00:34:54,831
to further their careers?
691
00:34:54,962 --> 00:34:56,137
I don't like to give anybody
advice about anything.
692
00:34:56,268 --> 00:34:59,009
I tell you, in a way it's
a help, I guess,
693
00:34:59,401 --> 00:35:01,360
because it is some sort
of recognition.
694
00:35:02,187 --> 00:35:05,538
But if one is an actress and
trying to convince people
695
00:35:05,668 --> 00:35:08,106
that she can act as
I was trying to do,
696
00:35:08,715 --> 00:35:10,369
then it can be a detriment
actually,
697
00:35:10,499 --> 00:35:13,067
because nobody believes that
you can do anything
698
00:35:13,198 --> 00:35:14,590
other than take your
clothes off.
699
00:35:15,591 --> 00:35:17,202
So Stella and I had
a lot in common
700
00:35:17,463 --> 00:35:19,117
because we both posed
for Playboy.
701
00:35:19,987 --> 00:35:25,775
Now she did it in 1960s, so it
was even more scandalous.
702
00:35:25,906 --> 00:35:30,476
I think that the Playboy thing
definitely prevented her
703
00:35:31,129 --> 00:35:37,091
from getting roles in maybe a
lot of prestige movies.
704
00:35:37,526 --> 00:35:39,963
She became labeled as
a sexpot,
705
00:35:40,399 --> 00:35:42,618
a term she despised throughout
her career.
706
00:35:43,097 --> 00:35:45,534
And one she believed stunted
her career-long,
707
00:35:45,665 --> 00:35:48,537
deep-rooted ambition
to direct films.
708
00:35:49,538 --> 00:35:52,237
All of a sudden I got
sidetracked into being a sexpot.
709
00:35:53,455 --> 00:35:55,762
Once I was a pot, there was
nothing I could do.
710
00:35:57,111 --> 00:35:58,982
There was nothing legitimate
I could do.
711
00:35:59,461 --> 00:36:02,116
The thing is, it also
affected our jobs.
712
00:36:02,421 --> 00:36:05,119
I was a makeup artist
for productions.
713
00:36:05,554 --> 00:36:09,515
I worked for many big directors,
but I lost my job.
714
00:36:10,211 --> 00:36:12,561
I worked for 10 years, and
when Google came out,
715
00:36:12,692 --> 00:36:16,174
I lost my job because the
parents had no idea
716
00:36:16,304 --> 00:36:18,567
that I had taken my clothes off.
717
00:36:19,177 --> 00:36:22,354
Well, I think that every girl
that appeared on Playboy
718
00:36:23,006 --> 00:36:28,664
took their chances of being
deemed sort of a sex goddess
719
00:36:29,012 --> 00:36:31,537
or not to be taken seriously
as an actress.
720
00:36:32,364 --> 00:36:34,279
People in this town just
couldn't get out of their minds
721
00:36:34,888 --> 00:36:39,762
that she was Stella,
vah-vah-voom, and Playboy.
722
00:36:39,893 --> 00:36:42,025
And she really was
more than that.
723
00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:43,679
And she never had a problem
with nudity.
724
00:36:44,289 --> 00:36:46,334
I don't think she saw what
the big deal was.
725
00:36:47,074 --> 00:36:52,035
But trying to marry that with
being a respected actress
726
00:36:52,166 --> 00:36:54,864
and artist I think proved
more difficult
727
00:36:55,125 --> 00:36:57,302
than she thought it would be.
728
00:36:57,606 --> 00:36:59,304
Are you the only
Playboy playmate
729
00:36:59,434 --> 00:37:01,044
who has become successful,
is that true?
730
00:37:02,481 --> 00:37:05,310
I don't really, I don't
really think so.
731
00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:07,964
I can't think of
any others.
732
00:37:08,313 --> 00:37:10,706
Well, actually, of course there
was Marilyn Monroe
733
00:37:10,837 --> 00:37:12,882
and there was Jane Mansfield and
both of them are dead.
734
00:37:13,013 --> 00:37:15,276
Yes, but both of
them had attained fame
735
00:37:15,407 --> 00:37:17,191
when that happened, I believe,
hadn't they?
736
00:37:17,322 --> 00:37:18,148
No, not really.
737
00:37:18,540 --> 00:37:20,412
No, that was actually
the very beginning
738
00:37:20,542 --> 00:37:22,022
of both of their careers.
739
00:37:24,329 --> 00:37:27,593
Unfortunately, I'm the only one
still alive, I guess.
740
00:37:28,550 --> 00:37:31,336
When Sesame Street first came
on the air in 1969,
741
00:37:31,727 --> 00:37:35,644
I begged them to allow me to do
the alphabet or anything,
742
00:37:36,079 --> 00:37:38,256
but they would not allow
me on the show.
743
00:37:39,039 --> 00:37:41,607
I wasn't allowed to be featured
in certain magazines.
744
00:37:42,085 --> 00:37:45,045
I was blackballed from anything
decent after Playboy.
745
00:37:45,959 --> 00:37:48,396
Later that year,
Stella was loaned out to MGM
746
00:37:48,744 --> 00:37:51,007
and again, starred opposite
Glenn Ford
747
00:37:51,138 --> 00:37:53,880
in the Civil War comedy,
Advance to the Rear.
748
00:37:54,359 --> 00:37:56,796
Another of my favorite
directors is George Marshall,
749
00:37:57,362 --> 00:37:58,841
who directed Advance
to the Rear.
750
00:37:59,712 --> 00:38:01,279
I worked with a lot
of good directors,
751
00:38:01,496 --> 00:38:03,759
but he was a great
comedy director.
752
00:38:04,412 --> 00:38:06,675
He could make anything funny.
753
00:38:06,806 --> 00:38:08,764
After roles previously
promised to her
754
00:38:08,938 --> 00:38:11,767
in Harlow, The
Carpetbaggers, and Sylvia
755
00:38:11,985 --> 00:38:14,509
were given to a fellow studio
star, Carol Baker,
756
00:38:15,205 --> 00:38:17,382
Stella requested an early
release from Paramount
757
00:38:17,817 --> 00:38:19,122
and signed with Columbia
Pictures
758
00:38:19,514 --> 00:38:21,255
for the remainder of the 1960s.
759
00:38:22,082 --> 00:38:23,823
So then I went to Columbia
for five years
760
00:38:23,953 --> 00:38:25,172
and did some good films.
761
00:38:26,086 --> 00:38:28,218
Columbia was the last studio
I had a contract with.
762
00:38:28,958 --> 00:38:31,091
Stella's first film at Columbia
was a gritty
763
00:38:31,221 --> 00:38:34,137
and sincere drug addiction drama
called Synanon.
764
00:38:35,487 --> 00:38:40,056
Joanie, doll face with a
deadly expensive appetite.
765
00:38:41,275 --> 00:38:42,407
What are you, my nurse?
766
00:38:44,104 --> 00:38:46,019
Nope, just another dope fiend.
767
00:38:46,498 --> 00:38:48,108
Stella and I worked
together again
768
00:38:48,674 --> 00:38:50,110
in a film called Synanon,
769
00:38:50,893 --> 00:38:52,982
and it was very personal
for all of us.
770
00:38:53,113 --> 00:38:55,071
When my mother was
working on Synanon,
771
00:38:55,724 --> 00:38:58,292
she started hanging out with
a guy I thought
772
00:38:58,423 --> 00:39:00,207
was the coolest guy
I'd ever met,
773
00:39:01,251 --> 00:39:03,036
Alex Cord, who was her co-star.
774
00:39:03,602 --> 00:39:07,606
She clearly was having
a relationship with Alex Cord.
775
00:39:07,954 --> 00:39:09,999
They didn't flaunt
it on the set,
776
00:39:10,130 --> 00:39:11,566
but you could tell by behavior,
777
00:39:11,914 --> 00:39:13,481
by the way people talk
to each other,
778
00:39:13,873 --> 00:39:15,701
you know, body positions
and so on,
779
00:39:15,962 --> 00:39:18,225
that there was a spark there.
780
00:39:18,791 --> 00:39:20,706
He was an ex-Rodeo
cowboy.
781
00:39:21,271 --> 00:39:22,751
He'd been gored by a bull,
782
00:39:22,925 --> 00:39:25,928
had this really gnarly scar
on his abdomen,
783
00:39:26,581 --> 00:39:28,888
and he rode a Triumph 650
Bonneville motorcycle.
784
00:39:30,455 --> 00:39:32,761
More and more, movies
were shooting on location
785
00:39:33,283 --> 00:39:36,199
rather than on sets built
on a studio backlot
786
00:39:36,504 --> 00:39:39,681
and filmed on significantly
longer shooting schedules
787
00:39:39,812 --> 00:39:42,554
than films today, sometimes
for months.
788
00:39:43,076 --> 00:39:45,470
This was the case for Stella's
next assignment
789
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:49,082
for Columbia Pictures, a dark
comedy shot in London
790
00:39:49,430 --> 00:39:52,128
called The Secret
of My Success.
791
00:39:52,259 --> 00:39:54,130
As Stella continued to work,
792
00:39:54,261 --> 00:39:57,220
her son was raised more by his
housekeeper, Annabelle,
793
00:39:57,351 --> 00:39:59,353
who lived at the Stevens house
during the week.
794
00:39:59,832 --> 00:40:02,008
When Stella filmed The Secret
of My Success,
795
00:40:02,530 --> 00:40:04,402
England was just too far to go
796
00:40:04,532 --> 00:40:06,316
to visit during the school
year.
797
00:40:07,492 --> 00:40:09,755
When I was 11 years old, I went
to school one day
798
00:40:10,016 --> 00:40:11,147
and all the kids said,
799
00:40:11,583 --> 00:40:13,889
"Did you see this new movie
called The Silencers?"
800
00:40:14,324 --> 00:40:15,543
And I didn't think
anything of it
801
00:40:15,674 --> 00:40:17,110
because I wasn't really
a Dean Martin fan.
802
00:40:17,240 --> 00:40:18,981
He was an old fogey as far
as I was concerned.
803
00:40:19,329 --> 00:40:21,157
But everybody said, "You gotta
see it, you gotta see it."
804
00:40:21,288 --> 00:40:22,681
So I went to see
The Silencers.
805
00:40:23,333 --> 00:40:26,075
Oh my God, Stella
is in this movie
806
00:40:26,206 --> 00:40:29,427
and she is so funny,
but she is so sexy.
807
00:40:30,863 --> 00:40:34,519
Now do I look like
an enemy agent?
808
00:40:34,649 --> 00:40:37,260
I don't know, I haven't seen all
the latest models yet.
809
00:40:38,174 --> 00:40:40,655
The Silencers was originally
going to be
810
00:40:40,916 --> 00:40:45,268
a straight, dramatic, very
gritty espionage story,
811
00:40:45,399 --> 00:40:47,053
just like Donald
Hamilton's book.
812
00:40:47,314 --> 00:40:48,968
But then they decided
to make it a comedy
813
00:40:49,621 --> 00:40:50,883
and they have Dean Martin
814
00:40:51,057 --> 00:40:54,582
and they needed a comic
foil for him.
815
00:40:54,713 --> 00:40:56,149
He wasn't going to
be the funny one,
816
00:40:56,279 --> 00:40:57,585
it was going to be his partner.
817
00:40:58,717 --> 00:41:01,981
And here comes Stella with
this delightful,
818
00:41:02,285 --> 00:41:03,983
wonderful physical performance.
819
00:41:04,113 --> 00:41:05,419
She's tripping over herself
820
00:41:05,550 --> 00:41:06,725
and getting at all
kinds of problems
821
00:41:06,855 --> 00:41:07,856
with machine guns and stuff
822
00:41:08,204 --> 00:41:09,684
that Dean Martin has
to save her from.
823
00:41:09,989 --> 00:41:14,167
And she is fantastic and
actually carries the movie.
824
00:41:14,297 --> 00:41:15,168
She was ahead of her time
825
00:41:15,734 --> 00:41:19,607
because she was able to combine
beauty with comedy
826
00:41:19,738 --> 00:41:22,175
and also do physical
comedy as well too,
827
00:41:22,305 --> 00:41:23,437
which back in the day,
828
00:41:23,611 --> 00:41:25,395
they really didn't let women
be that funny.
829
00:41:25,700 --> 00:41:28,790
You couldn't steal the scene
away from the man,
830
00:41:28,921 --> 00:41:32,272
but she was clever enough to
work it in her own way.
831
00:41:32,402 --> 00:41:33,926
The sex has always
been comedy sex
832
00:41:34,404 --> 00:41:36,189
and I like the pacing of comedy
833
00:41:36,319 --> 00:41:37,886
and I like the excitement of it.
834
00:41:38,017 --> 00:41:40,454
And I love action, I love
physical comedy.
835
00:41:40,715 --> 00:41:44,719
The movie that the
wild, more raunchy,
836
00:41:45,372 --> 00:41:49,507
bodacious, stronger, slightly
more vulgar,
837
00:41:49,985 --> 00:41:51,291
Stella Stevens started to
emerge
838
00:41:51,509 --> 00:41:53,946
is in a really good action
movie
839
00:41:54,076 --> 00:41:56,252
she did with Glenn Ford
called Rage.
840
00:41:56,992 --> 00:42:00,866
She sparks incendiary
reactions in an all male world.
841
00:42:04,783 --> 00:42:08,482
And even if you look at the
poster for Rage,
842
00:42:08,874 --> 00:42:12,704
this wasn't just alluring and
she looked nice in her dress.
843
00:42:12,834 --> 00:42:14,314
There's a sexual animalism,
844
00:42:14,444 --> 00:42:18,144
which fits with the storyline
of that movie.
845
00:42:18,448 --> 00:42:21,713
My role as Perla, the whore,
was a very good one.
846
00:42:22,627 --> 00:42:26,282
She was the first whore I
played with a heart of gold
847
00:42:27,893 --> 00:42:29,329
and that kind of stuck with me.
848
00:42:29,677 --> 00:42:35,727
And she did that so well because
she had that angelic face,
849
00:42:35,857 --> 00:42:39,382
that beautiful face, but she
could be ballsy, oh boy.
850
00:42:39,948 --> 00:42:41,950
She could sock it to you
if she wanted to.
851
00:42:42,342 --> 00:42:46,607
♪ Each new producer that you
Meet thinks he's a gem ♪
852
00:42:47,216 --> 00:42:51,133
♪ They all want you to go and
Do the town with them ♪
853
00:42:51,873 --> 00:42:55,616
♪ Remind them that the morning
Starts at 6 a.m. ♪
854
00:42:55,964 --> 00:42:58,576
♪ When you're making movies ♪
855
00:43:00,403 --> 00:43:02,275
Studios often teamed their young
contract players
856
00:43:02,623 --> 00:43:03,798
with veteran movie stars.
857
00:43:04,103 --> 00:43:06,409
You have starring roles in three
motion pictures now.
858
00:43:07,193 --> 00:43:08,629
Tell us first about the
part that you play
859
00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:10,849
in How to Save a Marriage.
860
00:43:10,979 --> 00:43:12,633
Well, I played Dean
Martin's mistress.
861
00:43:15,157 --> 00:43:16,594
What's he like to work with,
was that fun?
862
00:43:16,942 --> 00:43:18,508
Oh, he's just great.
863
00:43:19,248 --> 00:43:23,165
In 1967, Stella was
again cast opposite Dean
Martin,
864
00:43:23,644 --> 00:43:26,299
only this time she shared above
the title billing
865
00:43:26,429 --> 00:43:30,042
with him as well, along with
Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson.
866
00:43:30,520 --> 00:43:32,522
The film was a romantic
comedy called
867
00:43:32,740 --> 00:43:35,134
How to Save a Marriage and
Ruin Your Life.
868
00:43:35,395 --> 00:43:37,745
It's called, How to Save a
Marriage and Ruin Your Life.
869
00:43:37,876 --> 00:43:39,094
I always call it , How
to Commit Marriage.
870
00:43:40,356 --> 00:43:40,966
Well, I don't know
why I bothered
871
00:43:41,096 --> 00:43:42,968
to stay on as your mistress.
872
00:43:43,098 --> 00:43:44,752
You are not my mistress,
it's over.
873
00:43:44,883 --> 00:43:46,362
I sent you that note.
874
00:43:46,493 --> 00:43:48,843
I am not a public utility, you
can turn off with a note.
875
00:43:49,235 --> 00:43:50,845
How to Commit Marriage is a
really funny movie.
876
00:43:51,716 --> 00:43:53,065
That's a really, really
good movie.
877
00:43:54,196 --> 00:43:55,328
Oh, we
should say something.
878
00:43:56,155 --> 00:43:58,331
Why is it the wrong men always
start conversations?
879
00:43:59,549 --> 00:44:02,552
Not bad
looking, but I wouldn't leave
home for.
880
00:44:03,031 --> 00:44:05,686
When he
leaves this elevator, you'll
never see him again.
881
00:44:05,817 --> 00:44:06,644
You say something.
882
00:44:07,688 --> 00:44:08,167
Pardon me.
883
00:44:08,297 --> 00:44:08,950
Yes?
884
00:44:09,081 --> 00:44:10,038
Do you have the time?
885
00:44:10,169 --> 00:44:10,778
No.
886
00:44:10,909 --> 00:44:11,953
It's 10 after five.
887
00:44:12,127 --> 00:44:16,784
In that movie, she's just coming
888
00:44:16,915 --> 00:44:18,525
from a very, very
innocent place.
889
00:44:19,221 --> 00:44:21,702
And in most of her comedies,
she was coming
890
00:44:21,833 --> 00:44:23,661
from a very innocent place.
891
00:44:25,445 --> 00:44:31,973
In the 70s, she never played
innocent again.
892
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:34,149
Roger Ebert correctly identified
893
00:44:34,497 --> 00:44:37,326
How to Save a Marriage and Ruin
Your Life as old-fashioned,
894
00:44:37,675 --> 00:44:40,286
especially compared to smart,
contemporary comedies
895
00:44:40,416 --> 00:44:41,374
like The Graduate.
896
00:44:41,504 --> 00:44:43,289
It was a very cute movie.
897
00:44:43,855 --> 00:44:46,553
The problem was, cute was over
898
00:44:46,684 --> 00:44:48,294
by the time the film
was released.
899
00:44:48,903 --> 00:44:51,993
So the romantic comedies with
all the sexual suggestiveness
900
00:44:52,124 --> 00:44:55,388
of Doris Day and Rock Hudson or
Doris Day and James Garner
901
00:44:55,518 --> 00:44:58,434
and those films, that
era was done.
902
00:44:59,131 --> 00:45:02,438
So here comes this movie that
came along too late.
903
00:45:03,613 --> 00:45:06,312
The world and Hollywood were
changing at warp speed.
904
00:45:07,052 --> 00:45:10,055
Fueled by the war in Vietnam,
social and political mores
905
00:45:10,185 --> 00:45:12,622
were rapidly changing
in the late 1960s.
906
00:45:12,927 --> 00:45:14,276
And audience tastes
and expectations
907
00:45:14,407 --> 00:45:16,191
in film were changing too.
908
00:45:16,931 --> 00:45:21,022
1968 was like this watershed
year for the movies
909
00:45:21,153 --> 00:45:23,721
because absolutely everything
changed.
910
00:45:25,157 --> 00:45:26,854
The kind of sex you could
show on the screen,
911
00:45:27,376 --> 00:45:28,769
violence you could show
on the screen.
912
00:45:29,248 --> 00:45:33,295
So things like, The Graduate,
Bonnie and Clyde, Easy
Rider,
913
00:45:33,905 --> 00:45:36,429
just about wiped away
old Hollywood.
914
00:45:37,212 --> 00:45:38,213
And suddenly there
was new freedom
915
00:45:38,344 --> 00:45:42,348
for this whole new wave
of filmmakers.
916
00:45:42,783 --> 00:45:45,481
Old Hollywood had
died and with it,
917
00:45:45,612 --> 00:45:47,092
the innocence of its movies.
918
00:45:47,483 --> 00:45:51,139
In its place, stark and bold
films evolved,
919
00:45:51,574 --> 00:45:54,752
which challenged and replaced
Old Hollywood.
920
00:45:58,538 --> 00:46:01,367
Now Sol Madrid is
a very good film.
921
00:46:01,497 --> 00:46:02,455
It's a really cool film.
922
00:46:02,803 --> 00:46:04,631
And it starred David McCallum
at the height
923
00:46:05,284 --> 00:46:09,723
of his almost rock star
pop idol fame.
924
00:46:10,071 --> 00:46:11,072
Can't you ever be nice?
925
00:46:12,639 --> 00:46:13,466
No.
926
00:46:13,988 --> 00:46:14,815
Why not?
927
00:46:15,468 --> 00:46:17,470
Stella's role in this film is
actually quite dramatic.
928
00:46:17,905 --> 00:46:19,994
A small time crook steals
money from the mafia
929
00:46:20,125 --> 00:46:21,648
and splits it with
his girlfriend.
930
00:46:22,257 --> 00:46:24,477
They flee to Acapulco and
Stella's character
931
00:46:24,607 --> 00:46:26,218
is taken captive by the cartel
932
00:46:26,348 --> 00:46:29,656
and shot up with heroin till
she's turned into an addict.
933
00:46:30,265 --> 00:46:31,397
I remember going to Mexico
934
00:46:31,527 --> 00:46:33,703
and visiting the set
of Sol Madrid.
935
00:46:34,095 --> 00:46:35,401
I think we're in Acapulco.
936
00:46:36,358 --> 00:46:37,533
And for the first time,
937
00:46:37,664 --> 00:46:40,667
I saw people openly
smoking marijuana.
938
00:46:41,537 --> 00:46:43,104
Use of the drug
became widespread
939
00:46:43,322 --> 00:46:46,238
in the upper middle class in
fashionable society
940
00:46:46,368 --> 00:46:50,068
and particularly in the music
culture and in Hollywood
941
00:46:50,372 --> 00:46:52,853
with actors and directors who
were revolutionizing
942
00:46:52,984 --> 00:46:55,508
and abandoning the
old studio system.
943
00:46:57,423 --> 00:47:00,252
Next up for Stella under her
Columbia Pictures contract
944
00:47:00,382 --> 00:47:02,776
was Where Angels Go
Trouble Follows.
945
00:47:03,211 --> 00:47:05,953
And she got to work with one
of her Hollywood idols.
946
00:47:06,867 --> 00:47:07,955
Where Angels Go
Trouble Follows.
947
00:47:09,522 --> 00:47:11,219
That was actually the first,
948
00:47:11,741 --> 00:47:13,395
that was the first movie
I ever saw of her.
949
00:47:13,526 --> 00:47:14,483
And I really liked that movie.
950
00:47:14,614 --> 00:47:15,702
I thought that movie
was really cool.
951
00:47:16,007 --> 00:47:18,096
The comedy pits an old school
mother superior
952
00:47:18,226 --> 00:47:19,488
played by Rosalind Russell
953
00:47:19,749 --> 00:47:22,448
against a modern thinking young
nun, Sister George,
954
00:47:22,752 --> 00:47:23,753
played by Stella Stevens.
955
00:47:24,406 --> 00:47:26,887
The film was a showcase for
me as Sister George
956
00:47:27,018 --> 00:47:28,628
who literally looked
at the world
957
00:47:28,758 --> 00:47:30,108
through rose colored glasses.
958
00:47:30,499 --> 00:47:31,718
I thought it worked quite well
959
00:47:31,849 --> 00:47:35,113
and Rosalind was funny
and wonderful,
960
00:47:35,374 --> 00:47:36,592
a very giving actress.
961
00:47:36,897 --> 00:47:38,116
You'll be flying high
962
00:47:38,377 --> 00:47:41,162
on the wildest runaway
joy ride of all.
963
00:47:43,338 --> 00:47:46,080
Fabled Hollywood
director Henry Hathaway said of
her,
964
00:47:46,211 --> 00:47:48,474
Stella Stevens was born to
be in the movies
965
00:47:48,866 --> 00:47:50,432
and to drive men crazy.
966
00:47:50,998 --> 00:47:52,478
Henry Hathaway was prophetic
967
00:47:52,739 --> 00:47:57,135
and Stella drew the attention
of a different type of suitor.
968
00:47:57,265 --> 00:47:58,701
Of course Sidney Korshak
969
00:47:58,832 --> 00:48:01,139
was one of the most powerful
men in Hollywood.
970
00:48:01,269 --> 00:48:02,488
There's no question about it.
971
00:48:02,923 --> 00:48:05,056
And he was from a
very early date.
972
00:48:05,795 --> 00:48:08,189
While moguls, crime bosses,
law enforcement
973
00:48:08,320 --> 00:48:10,757
and politicians have always been
visible to the world
974
00:48:11,105 --> 00:48:13,542
and the press, Sidney Korshak
was a power broker
975
00:48:13,673 --> 00:48:14,587
who was invisible.
976
00:48:15,109 --> 00:48:19,331
Up until this time Korshak
was, you know,
977
00:48:19,461 --> 00:48:20,332
he was anonymous.
978
00:48:20,462 --> 00:48:21,681
Nobody knew who he was.
979
00:48:22,029 --> 00:48:24,292
If there was ever
any problem with,
980
00:48:24,727 --> 00:48:26,207
especially with organized
labor.
981
00:48:26,947 --> 00:48:29,602
Korchak stepped in
and fixed things.
982
00:48:30,603 --> 00:48:34,563
And he had the threat
of violence
983
00:48:34,824 --> 00:48:39,525
from the Chicago mob
behind his words.
984
00:48:40,569 --> 00:48:43,094
Revered and feared
throughout the industry.
985
00:48:43,224 --> 00:48:45,096
And although married
with a family,
986
00:48:45,661 --> 00:48:48,012
Korshak had a penchant for
beautiful actresses
987
00:48:48,490 --> 00:48:51,015
and Stella Stevens had
caught his eye.
988
00:48:51,363 --> 00:48:53,147
He pursued her relentlessly
989
00:48:53,669 --> 00:48:56,237
and eventually they
began an affair.
990
00:48:56,846 --> 00:48:58,587
Seems like I was always
with older men.
991
00:48:58,936 --> 00:49:00,415
When I was 18.
992
00:49:00,676 --> 00:49:01,590
Attracted to
power.
993
00:49:03,592 --> 00:49:05,464
Attracted to success, yes.
994
00:49:05,594 --> 00:49:06,465
And power.
995
00:49:06,813 --> 00:49:08,684
I'm sure that Stella
was quite aware
996
00:49:09,207 --> 00:49:12,384
that to get close to Sidney
Korshak was a dangerous thing.
997
00:49:12,993 --> 00:49:16,997
The word was that
if Sidney Korshak
998
00:49:19,260 --> 00:49:22,394
gave the word and said
that a studio head
999
00:49:22,524 --> 00:49:24,396
was supposed to do something
or other,
1000
00:49:25,005 --> 00:49:29,923
that it was as good as
coming from Nitti
1001
00:49:30,054 --> 00:49:36,451
or Paul "The Waiter" Ricca or
any of the other mobsters in
Chicago
1002
00:49:37,278 --> 00:49:41,935
and that they were to do
whatever Sidney told them to do.
1003
00:49:42,414 --> 00:49:44,633
Everybody is familiar with
Sidney Korshak.
1004
00:49:47,071 --> 00:49:49,812
My goodness, that man
was notorious.
1005
00:49:49,943 --> 00:49:52,293
I mean, if you were in New
York or Las Vegas
1006
00:49:52,424 --> 00:49:54,121
or Los Angeles, no
matter, in Europe,
1007
00:49:54,643 --> 00:49:56,994
no matter where you went, this
man's name came up.
1008
00:49:58,082 --> 00:49:58,952
In the case of Stella,
1009
00:49:59,431 --> 00:50:02,912
she got tired after
a period of time
1010
00:50:03,043 --> 00:50:04,697
of being the other woman.
1011
00:50:05,306 --> 00:50:07,395
She didn't want to just
be a mistress.
1012
00:50:07,743 --> 00:50:14,707
She wanted a more solid
relationship
1013
00:50:15,621 --> 00:50:20,321
and she finally told him that
she'd had enough.
1014
00:50:21,061 --> 00:50:23,324
Around this time,
Stella became reacquainted
1015
00:50:23,498 --> 00:50:25,935
with a struggling actor
named Skip Ward.
1016
00:50:26,632 --> 00:50:29,243
Skip had worked in a small role
playing a football player
1017
00:50:29,374 --> 00:50:32,159
in the 1963 film, The
Nutty Professor.
1018
00:50:32,855 --> 00:50:36,120
So Stella finally ended things
with Sidney Korshak.
1019
00:50:36,424 --> 00:50:39,384
Which a lot of people thought
1020
00:50:39,514 --> 00:50:41,603
was a very dangerous
thing to do.
1021
00:50:41,734 --> 00:50:44,824
You don't tell Sidney that
your affections
1022
00:50:44,954 --> 00:50:47,261
are no longer called for.
1023
00:50:47,653 --> 00:50:50,656
On top of that, she moved Skip
Ward, her new boyfriend,
1024
00:50:51,091 --> 00:50:52,919
into our house on
Coldwater Canyon.
1025
00:50:53,615 --> 00:50:57,445
They were on for, I think,
several years, actually,
1026
00:50:57,576 --> 00:50:59,360
and I think Stella was quite
taken with Skip
1027
00:51:00,013 --> 00:51:02,711
because whenever we
saw them together,
1028
00:51:02,929 --> 00:51:05,975
they seemed to be very happy.
1029
00:51:06,541 --> 00:51:09,022
The final movie under
Stella's term contract
1030
00:51:09,153 --> 00:51:11,459
with Columbia Pictures was
The Mad Room,
1031
00:51:11,677 --> 00:51:16,029
which were shot in 1968 in
London and released in 1969.
1032
00:51:17,117 --> 00:51:18,336
Shelley was under
a lot of stress
1033
00:51:18,466 --> 00:51:20,120
when we were filming
The Mad Room.
1034
00:51:20,947 --> 00:51:22,514
Robert Kennedy had been shot
during production
1035
00:51:22,731 --> 00:51:25,038
and she had a very bad
reaction to it.
1036
00:51:25,473 --> 00:51:27,388
She had been soothing her nerves
with white wine
1037
00:51:27,519 --> 00:51:28,346
and shouldn't have been.
1038
00:51:28,998 --> 00:51:30,826
I swore I'd never work
with her again.
1039
00:51:31,653 --> 00:51:33,568
There was a male role
in The Mad Room,
1040
00:51:33,699 --> 00:51:34,917
that of Stella's fiance,
1041
00:51:35,875 --> 00:51:39,008
and she defiantly fought with
Columbia Pictures
1042
00:51:39,661 --> 00:51:42,447
to hire her boyfriend, Skip
Ward, to play that role.
1043
00:51:43,187 --> 00:51:47,408
She dug her heels in and she
fought harder and harder
1044
00:51:47,539 --> 00:51:50,281
and harder until finally the
studio just gave up
1045
00:51:50,411 --> 00:51:51,369
and relented.
1046
00:51:51,499 --> 00:51:54,546
I do believe that
Stella was told
1047
00:51:54,763 --> 00:51:56,635
in no uncertain terms by Sidney
1048
00:51:56,809 --> 00:52:01,944
that if she did, in fact, leave
him for Skip Ward,
1049
00:52:02,728 --> 00:52:06,601
that Skip Ward's days in
Hollywood were over
1050
00:52:07,167 --> 00:52:09,300
and that he would never work
in this town again.
1051
00:52:10,344 --> 00:52:11,215
He's my true love.
1052
00:52:12,912 --> 00:52:15,784
I have a perfect life with
the man I love.
1053
00:52:17,699 --> 00:52:19,136
I'm much happier than
I've ever been.
1054
00:52:20,137 --> 00:52:21,747
Skip was very low key.
1055
00:52:22,791 --> 00:52:25,403
So when I would hear things
about him being
1056
00:52:26,317 --> 00:52:28,841
part of the druggie world, same
thing with Stella,
1057
00:52:30,059 --> 00:52:32,061
it, that didn't sound
right to me.
1058
00:52:32,497 --> 00:52:34,542
That just sounded
like bad gossip.
1059
00:52:35,152 --> 00:52:37,284
I think as much as I wanted
to go back to Memphis,
1060
00:52:38,024 --> 00:52:39,678
Skip wanted to get me
out of the house
1061
00:52:39,939 --> 00:52:43,377
so that he and Stella could
party more and more blatantly.
1062
00:52:44,422 --> 00:52:46,728
They were trying to hide
it from me as a kid
1063
00:52:46,946 --> 00:52:48,817
and not doing a very
good job of it.
1064
00:52:49,731 --> 00:52:51,690
He got my mother to
agree to enroll me
1065
00:52:51,820 --> 00:52:54,345
in a Catholic boarding school
in Northern California.
1066
00:52:55,911 --> 00:52:58,871
I had a plan which was
to get to Memphis
1067
00:52:59,001 --> 00:53:02,179
for my summer vacation and
go see Judge Polk.
1068
00:53:02,614 --> 00:53:05,138
I was a ward of his court
and petition him
1069
00:53:05,269 --> 00:53:07,575
to allow me to dictate where
I wanted to live
1070
00:53:07,793 --> 00:53:09,011
and move back to Memphis.
1071
00:53:09,795 --> 00:53:10,926
I told Skip this.
1072
00:53:11,492 --> 00:53:13,668
He told my mother. She
got very upset.
1073
00:53:14,365 --> 00:53:17,542
When Andrew was 12, he came
back from Memphis
1074
00:53:18,499 --> 00:53:20,632
and said, "I hate you.
1075
00:53:22,155 --> 00:53:23,243
I hate California.
1076
00:53:24,113 --> 00:53:25,854
I hate the maid.
1077
00:53:25,985 --> 00:53:27,247
I hate your friends.
1078
00:53:28,030 --> 00:53:29,380
I hate my school.
1079
00:53:29,510 --> 00:53:31,120
I hate everything here."
1080
00:53:33,949 --> 00:53:37,779
I said, "Okay, tomorrow
you get on a plane
1081
00:53:37,910 --> 00:53:38,824
and you go back to Memphis."
1082
00:53:40,260 --> 00:53:41,914
We didn't see each other or
speak
1083
00:53:42,044 --> 00:53:44,264
for over four years after that.
1084
00:53:44,395 --> 00:53:46,266
So Stella's son is transferred
1085
00:53:46,658 --> 00:53:49,095
from an all-boys
military academy
1086
00:53:50,009 --> 00:53:55,362
to a co-ed public high school
in Memphis, Tennessee
1087
00:53:55,797 --> 00:53:56,885
in a poor section of town.
1088
00:53:58,409 --> 00:54:00,672
I walked around the
house like a ghost.
1089
00:54:02,108 --> 00:54:03,370
I couldn't go into his room,
1090
00:54:05,546 --> 00:54:07,592
but finally I got over
it, you know?
1091
00:54:08,593 --> 00:54:10,638
You get over anything.
1092
00:54:10,769 --> 00:54:14,120
I just kept doing
what I was doing.
1093
00:54:16,078 --> 00:54:18,907
When Stella was
offered The Ballad of Cable
Hogue,
1094
00:54:19,691 --> 00:54:23,695
Sam Peckinpah's reputation was
already growing and growing,
1095
00:54:23,825 --> 00:54:26,915
and The Wild Bunch had not
even been released yet,
1096
00:54:27,046 --> 00:54:29,222
and she wanted to have
that experience
1097
00:54:29,353 --> 00:54:32,530
with a really fine, rebellious
director.
1098
00:54:32,878 --> 00:54:34,836
I'm quite excited
about this film,
1099
00:54:34,967 --> 00:54:36,055
The Ballad of Cable Hogue,
1100
00:54:36,229 --> 00:54:40,102
because I feel it's the most
important film
1101
00:54:40,364 --> 00:54:43,149
and just the most exciting film
1102
00:54:43,671 --> 00:54:45,151
that I've ever been
in in my career.
1103
00:54:45,586 --> 00:54:46,413
This is the pioneer.
1104
00:54:46,848 --> 00:54:49,242
This is the man whose
faith, stamina,
1105
00:54:49,634 --> 00:54:52,245
and risk capital conquered
the frontier.
1106
00:54:52,985 --> 00:54:54,247
Why do you think
it's so important
1107
00:54:54,378 --> 00:54:56,075
over the other things
you've done, Stella?
1108
00:54:56,249 --> 00:54:58,164
Because it's a story
about true love,
1109
00:54:58,295 --> 00:55:00,253
and I think true love is the
most important thing
1110
00:55:00,384 --> 00:55:04,170
in the world, and it's a story
about two people
1111
00:55:04,301 --> 00:55:06,520
who find each other
and fall truly,
1112
00:55:07,042 --> 00:55:08,696
deeply in love with each other.
1113
00:55:09,218 --> 00:55:11,438
So she signs on for
The Ballad of Cable Hogue,
1114
00:55:11,699 --> 00:55:13,919
which became known by everyone
involved with it
1115
00:55:14,049 --> 00:55:16,008
as The Battle of Cable Hogue,
1116
00:55:16,617 --> 00:55:19,359
because they were shooting
in Echo Bay, Nevada,
1117
00:55:19,490 --> 00:55:21,013
which she fell in love with,
1118
00:55:21,143 --> 00:55:23,668
but the weather would
not cooperate,
1119
00:55:23,972 --> 00:55:25,757
and the shoot went on forever.
1120
00:55:26,410 --> 00:55:31,153
Cable Hogue says, "Do unto
others as you would have them.
1121
00:55:31,284 --> 00:55:32,111
Do unto you."
1122
00:55:36,550 --> 00:55:37,638
When the film was released,
1123
00:55:37,769 --> 00:55:39,684
and it was released after
The Wild Bunch,
1124
00:55:39,814 --> 00:55:40,859
and it did not do well,
1125
00:55:41,555 --> 00:55:45,994
but everyone lit up to Stella's
performance,
1126
00:55:47,169 --> 00:55:52,218
and they were like, "Wow, this
woman has been hindered
1127
00:55:52,479 --> 00:55:55,047
and kept down with all
of these movies
1128
00:55:55,177 --> 00:55:57,179
that she's been making
for these studios,"
1129
00:55:57,310 --> 00:55:59,312
and here she comes in
with this sweet,
1130
00:55:59,443 --> 00:56:01,183
glorious comic performance,
1131
00:56:01,488 --> 00:56:04,361
and it was like a revelation
to the reviewers,
1132
00:56:05,013 --> 00:56:06,580
and they were much more
interested in her
1133
00:56:06,711 --> 00:56:08,495
than they were in
the movie itself.
1134
00:56:09,235 --> 00:56:10,715
Stella Stevens has
blossomed into
1135
00:56:10,932 --> 00:56:13,587
quite a marvelous actress in
The Ballad of Cable Hogue.
1136
00:56:14,196 --> 00:56:16,198
There aren't many actresses who
could be both funny
1137
00:56:16,373 --> 00:56:20,028
and feminine at the same time,
but she is one of them.
1138
00:56:20,986 --> 00:56:23,728
When Peckinpah was brought
on to The Getaway,
1139
00:56:25,991 --> 00:56:27,296
Steve McQueen was
already attached,
1140
00:56:27,819 --> 00:56:31,866
and so the big question was,
who's gonna play Carol?
1141
00:56:32,519 --> 00:56:36,131
When I finally said, "Okay, yes,
if she comes back,
1142
00:56:36,262 --> 00:56:38,177
I will play Hildy in The Ballad
of Cable Hogue,
1143
00:56:38,743 --> 00:56:42,442
but you must promise me and
your hand on it
1144
00:56:44,139 --> 00:56:45,967
that we will do another
picture together.
1145
00:56:46,098 --> 00:56:47,142
You have to give me
another film."
1146
00:56:47,578 --> 00:56:51,712
And she kind of thinks it like
a little clear that,
1147
00:56:52,757 --> 00:56:56,021
okay, I did Cable Hogue for
not that much money for you,
1148
00:56:56,151 --> 00:56:59,938
so I expect another movie,
1149
00:57:00,460 --> 00:57:03,289
a bigger movie in
return for this.
1150
00:57:03,594 --> 00:57:06,074
But, you know, if I do
this for you, Sam,
1151
00:57:07,075 --> 00:57:08,773
then you're gonna have to
do something for me.
1152
00:57:09,513 --> 00:57:12,951
Peckinpah's choice was
Stella Stevens,
1153
00:57:14,082 --> 00:57:18,652
because he thought, one, she was
perfect for the character.
1154
00:57:19,653 --> 00:57:23,440
She's from the South, and he
also thought that she,
1155
00:57:25,050 --> 00:57:26,878
and he also loved
working with her.
1156
00:57:27,444 --> 00:57:30,011
When the picture came
up, I met with Sam,
1157
00:57:30,969 --> 00:57:34,842
and yet, when Steve McQueen
and I sat in a booth
1158
00:57:35,016 --> 00:57:37,541
at lunch together,
he said to me,
1159
00:57:37,671 --> 00:57:38,846
"I have to tell you one thing.
1160
00:57:40,326 --> 00:57:42,459
I consider you competition."
1161
00:57:45,723 --> 00:57:47,812
And I knew I wasn't gonna get
the picture, and I didn't.
1162
00:57:48,943 --> 00:57:54,253
I actually think Steve is an
honestly refreshing
1163
00:57:54,558 --> 00:57:55,602
selfish movie star.
1164
00:57:55,994 --> 00:57:58,692
He's like, "Wait a minute, this
is my fucking movie?
1165
00:57:59,519 --> 00:58:01,826
Everybody's gonna go see it
because I'm in it?
1166
00:58:02,609 --> 00:58:04,742
I make this whole, this movie's
for my company,
1167
00:58:05,264 --> 00:58:07,396
and I'm gonna spend six months
making this movie
1168
00:58:07,527 --> 00:58:09,964
so Stella Stevens can get
an Oscar nomination?
1169
00:58:10,095 --> 00:58:11,183
Fuck that shit."
1170
00:58:13,141 --> 00:58:16,231
The next feature film
for Stella was 1971's
1171
00:58:16,362 --> 00:58:20,105
A Town Called Bastard , also
known as A Town Called Hell.
1172
00:58:20,845 --> 00:58:23,804
Stella was second billed above
the title with Robert Shaw,
1173
00:58:24,196 --> 00:58:26,807
along with Telly Savalas
and Martin Landau.
1174
00:58:27,808 --> 00:58:30,245
The blonde one, they
call the witch,
1175
00:58:30,376 --> 00:58:32,073
and she is Stella Stevens.
1176
00:58:33,597 --> 00:58:36,730
I complained bitterly to my
agent saying, "What is this?"
1177
00:58:37,339 --> 00:58:39,428
He said, "It's filler,
it pays your rent,
1178
00:58:39,559 --> 00:58:40,734
just don't talk about it."
1179
00:58:41,474 --> 00:58:43,302
I guess I had to learn to
look at it that way.
1180
00:58:44,216 --> 00:58:47,393
After that, she said, "Gosh,
no more bad movies
1181
00:58:47,524 --> 00:58:48,612
if I could help it.
1182
00:58:48,742 --> 00:58:50,439
I don't wanna just
go into something
1183
00:58:50,570 --> 00:58:53,530
and then have it flaunted if
it's lousy like this."
1184
00:58:53,747 --> 00:58:55,749
And so she began doing more
and more television,
1185
00:58:55,880 --> 00:58:57,534
and it was good television.
1186
00:58:58,056 --> 00:58:59,187
Growing up in the 70s,
1187
00:58:59,405 --> 00:59:06,368
I realized that there were
two Stella Stevens,
1188
00:59:07,108 --> 00:59:09,067
especially as far as her being
a leading lady.
1189
00:59:10,242 --> 00:59:14,855
There was the 60s
Stella Stevens,
1190
00:59:14,986 --> 00:59:17,292
which was the blonde bombshell
1191
00:59:18,642 --> 00:59:21,383
that had overtones
of Marilyn Monroe.
1192
00:59:22,689 --> 00:59:25,562
But the Stella Stevens
I grew up with,
1193
00:59:25,692 --> 00:59:29,087
the Stella Stevens that I
knew was the 70s.
1194
00:59:30,175 --> 00:59:32,569
Stella Stevens, when I thought
of Stella Stevens,
1195
00:59:33,004 --> 00:59:35,484
that's who I thought of.
1196
00:59:35,920 --> 00:59:39,140
She was tough, she was strong,
1197
00:59:39,706 --> 00:59:44,537
she was sexy and sexual and not
in a coquettish way.
1198
00:59:45,059 --> 00:59:46,234
I have to make a living,
1199
00:59:46,887 --> 00:59:49,107
but most people who
make a living
1200
00:59:49,237 --> 00:59:52,589
don't see their work exposed on
the screen to the public.
1201
00:59:52,719 --> 00:59:54,503
Sometimes it can
be a lot of fun,
1202
00:59:54,634 --> 00:59:57,550
the playing and the acting,
but it's work.
1203
00:59:58,333 --> 00:59:59,596
In those days, it
was a bigger deal
1204
00:59:59,726 --> 01:00:01,641
when film stars appeared
on television.
1205
01:00:02,947 --> 01:00:04,165
Excuse me, baby,
1206
01:00:04,470 --> 01:00:07,255
but can you direct me to the
little red school house?
1207
01:00:08,213 --> 01:00:12,260
♪ Nothing's wrong in doing the
Charleston, Charleston ♪
1208
01:00:12,391 --> 01:00:14,132
♪ I want to be a vamp ♪
1209
01:00:14,828 --> 01:00:20,442
♪ I want to draw the men to me
Like bees to honey ♪
1210
01:00:21,922 --> 01:00:23,881
One of the shows that
she appeared in
1211
01:00:24,011 --> 01:00:26,840
was the William Castle
anthology series, Ghost
Story,
1212
01:00:27,101 --> 01:00:28,842
was hosted by Sebastian Cabot.
1213
01:00:29,408 --> 01:00:32,585
And it was, in fact, the last
time she really used
1214
01:00:32,716 --> 01:00:35,066
her influence to get
someone hired.
1215
01:00:35,196 --> 01:00:37,416
And in this case, it was her
boyfriend, Skip Ward.
1216
01:00:37,808 --> 01:00:38,852
Take two of these, man.
1217
01:00:39,113 --> 01:00:39,984
They'll solve your problems.
1218
01:00:40,724 --> 01:00:42,813
Guaranteed to give you fast
relief from headache pain.
1219
01:00:43,204 --> 01:00:44,249
You don't want a headache,
do you, man?
1220
01:00:44,728 --> 01:00:46,425
So come on, take a couple.
1221
01:00:46,817 --> 01:00:49,558
After that, she and
Skip Ward broke up
1222
01:00:50,081 --> 01:00:53,606
and she kicked him out of their
Coldwater Canyon house.
1223
01:00:54,389 --> 01:00:57,566
One day, his clothes
were out on the lawn
1224
01:00:57,697 --> 01:00:59,220
of the house on Coldwater
Canyon.
1225
01:01:01,048 --> 01:01:02,093
That made my eyes pop.
1226
01:01:02,484 --> 01:01:03,964
Wow, you're tough
to be with.
1227
01:01:04,661 --> 01:01:06,140
You're saying the
last, then he--
1228
01:01:06,271 --> 01:01:08,316
Well, I would say every
relationship lasted
1229
01:01:08,490 --> 01:01:09,404
about a year and a half.
1230
01:01:09,666 --> 01:01:11,319
And after that, it sort
of petered out.
1231
01:01:11,493 --> 01:01:12,451
Why is that,
Stella?
1232
01:01:12,930 --> 01:01:13,757
Busy?
1233
01:01:14,409 --> 01:01:18,413
It would just be that people
grow and they grow apart.
1234
01:01:18,544 --> 01:01:21,852
Stella's breakup with Skip Ward
was devastating for her
1235
01:01:21,982 --> 01:01:24,550
because she had discovered that
he had been cheating on her
1236
01:01:24,681 --> 01:01:27,161
while she was away on location.
1237
01:01:27,292 --> 01:01:30,687
And she felt betrayed, but
also felt foolish
1238
01:01:30,817 --> 01:01:33,646
and wanted just to get away
from Hollywood
1239
01:01:33,951 --> 01:01:37,084
and the machine and the gossip
and all the bad things
1240
01:01:37,215 --> 01:01:40,000
that went with working in the
movies at that time.
1241
01:01:40,566 --> 01:01:43,221
So she decided to retreat
to Echo Bay, Nevada,
1242
01:01:43,700 --> 01:01:44,962
which she had fallen
in love with
1243
01:01:45,092 --> 01:01:46,659
while making The Ballad
of Cable Hogue
1244
01:01:47,268 --> 01:01:51,751
for the glorious desert
solitude and the beauty there.
1245
01:01:52,317 --> 01:01:55,407
And so that she could
practice other art,
1246
01:01:56,016 --> 01:01:57,670
including painting,
photography.
1247
01:01:58,279 --> 01:01:59,716
And while she was there,
1248
01:01:59,846 --> 01:02:02,327
she also wanted to experiment
with psychedelics.
1249
01:02:02,631 --> 01:02:05,634
I think when my mother realized
1250
01:02:06,505 --> 01:02:08,376
that the only man she
ever really loved
1251
01:02:08,594 --> 01:02:11,989
and gave her heart
to after my father
1252
01:02:12,119 --> 01:02:17,081
had cheated on her and lied
to her and used her,
1253
01:02:17,821 --> 01:02:19,997
it just sent her into an
emotional spiral.
1254
01:02:20,562 --> 01:02:24,566
I guess they had a
row of some kind
1255
01:02:25,916 --> 01:02:27,613
and that was the end of them.
1256
01:02:30,311 --> 01:02:32,618
I was either a sophomore or a
junior in high school.
1257
01:02:32,749 --> 01:02:34,881
And I got a call from a close
friend of my mother's
1258
01:02:35,012 --> 01:02:39,538
who asked me if I might consider
talking to my mother
1259
01:02:39,668 --> 01:02:42,802
and maybe meeting her somewhere
to try and reconcile.
1260
01:02:44,456 --> 01:02:46,371
And I was very reluctant.
1261
01:02:46,501 --> 01:02:47,676
We had a whole new life.
1262
01:02:47,981 --> 01:02:49,678
I was playing in a rock
and roll band.
1263
01:02:49,809 --> 01:02:50,767
I had a girlfriend.
1264
01:02:50,984 --> 01:02:52,986
I just, I didn't see the point
1265
01:02:53,117 --> 01:02:55,119
in opening that whole
can of worms again.
1266
01:02:55,989 --> 01:02:59,906
But both of my grandmothers
were very supportive
1267
01:03:00,646 --> 01:03:02,691
of me reconciling with my mom.
1268
01:03:02,822 --> 01:03:03,867
So I did it.
1269
01:03:04,911 --> 01:03:08,436
Aspiring to tackle
roles that elevate the status
of women,
1270
01:03:08,567 --> 01:03:11,744
Stella burned her bra in the
first film about women's lib,
1271
01:03:12,266 --> 01:03:13,485
Stand Up and Be Counted.
1272
01:03:15,269 --> 01:03:18,359
She invited me to come to
St. Louis, Missouri
1273
01:03:18,664 --> 01:03:20,884
to the press junket premiere
1274
01:03:21,623 --> 01:03:24,235
of the first women's liberation
film called
1275
01:03:24,365 --> 01:03:25,540
Stand Up and Be Counted
1276
01:03:25,671 --> 01:03:27,412
that she starred in with
Jacqueline Bisset.
1277
01:03:28,500 --> 01:03:29,806
I met her in St. Louis
1278
01:03:30,067 --> 01:03:32,896
and we actually had a
very pleasant time.
1279
01:03:33,026 --> 01:03:34,636
We stayed away from
touchy topics.
1280
01:03:35,289 --> 01:03:38,118
Yeah, now all of a sudden women
are burning their brassieres
1281
01:03:38,249 --> 01:03:39,380
and they're standing
up for their rights
1282
01:03:39,511 --> 01:03:41,774
and okay, we want to
be independent.
1283
01:03:41,992 --> 01:03:42,688
That's terrific.
1284
01:03:42,819 --> 01:03:43,732
That's wonderful.
1285
01:03:44,908 --> 01:03:48,259
I know that my grandmother
fought for what she believed in.
1286
01:03:48,781 --> 01:03:51,305
She really paved the
way for women
1287
01:03:51,523 --> 01:03:54,831
and women in the film industry
and she was a bad ass.
1288
01:03:55,483 --> 01:03:57,964
After a period of
reflection and healing,
1289
01:03:58,312 --> 01:04:00,793
she was offered a film role
to co-star opposite
1290
01:04:00,924 --> 01:04:03,709
ex Cleveland Browns football
star, Jim Brown.
1291
01:04:05,493 --> 01:04:07,452
Jim Brown is Slaughter.
1292
01:04:08,018 --> 01:04:11,586
I think Slaughter was a really
is a magnificent action movie
1293
01:04:12,152 --> 01:04:15,199
and she is fantastic in it.
1294
01:04:15,721 --> 01:04:17,462
Stella Stevens is the
girl.
1295
01:04:17,810 --> 01:04:18,855
Are you disappointed?
1296
01:04:19,464 --> 01:04:20,291
No.
1297
01:04:20,465 --> 01:04:21,292
That's good.
1298
01:04:21,988 --> 01:04:22,859
To my health.
1299
01:04:24,686 --> 01:04:25,687
You want him, don't you?
1300
01:04:26,253 --> 01:04:27,037
Yes.
1301
01:04:27,167 --> 01:04:28,168
Yes, I want him!
1302
01:04:29,561 --> 01:04:32,694
Slaughter was a smash hit with
the black audience
1303
01:04:33,130 --> 01:04:37,786
and that gave her a tremendous
amount of fans
1304
01:04:38,178 --> 01:04:39,005
amongst black males.
1305
01:04:39,266 --> 01:04:40,311
I think in Slaughter,
1306
01:04:40,702 --> 01:04:43,357
that was probably one of the
sexiest roles I played,
1307
01:04:43,575 --> 01:04:47,666
but it was not a very popular
picture for me
1308
01:04:47,927 --> 01:04:50,451
and I don't think they have
played it very much on
television
1309
01:04:50,669 --> 01:04:53,454
- because there was a very
explicit love scene in it
- Right.
1310
01:04:53,585 --> 01:04:55,369
between me and Jim Brown.
1311
01:04:55,979 --> 01:04:57,806
Jim Brown is fantastic
in Slaughter.
1312
01:04:58,242 --> 01:05:00,766
He's just as strong
an embodiment
1313
01:05:01,941 --> 01:05:06,815
of king of cool masculinity
as McQueen is
1314
01:05:07,947 --> 01:05:09,122
in The Getaway.
1315
01:05:10,167 --> 01:05:14,388
So if you ask me, she didn't
suffer at all.
1316
01:05:15,607 --> 01:05:17,826
Stella had her share of
controversies in her career.
1317
01:05:18,218 --> 01:05:20,438
She did one of the first
interracial love scenes
1318
01:05:20,568 --> 01:05:23,789
with Jim Brown, which
unfortunately,
1319
01:05:24,050 --> 01:05:25,486
she didn't have a problem
with doing.
1320
01:05:25,704 --> 01:05:27,010
She thought it was great.
1321
01:05:27,140 --> 01:05:28,794
I mean, I don't think I would
have had a problem
1322
01:05:28,925 --> 01:05:30,274
doing a love scene
with Jim Brown.
1323
01:05:30,752 --> 01:05:34,104
She just dives in and
grabs hold of that material
1324
01:05:34,321 --> 01:05:38,543
with her teeth and she is great
playing opposite him.
1325
01:05:38,673 --> 01:05:40,806
She holds her own and
she is fantastic.
1326
01:05:41,546 --> 01:05:42,939
Unfortunately, she
was shunned for it
1327
01:05:43,069 --> 01:05:46,029
not only by her community,
but by her family.
1328
01:05:46,899 --> 01:05:48,683
And that takes a brave
woman to say,
1329
01:05:48,814 --> 01:05:50,990
"No, I'm going to
do the love scene
1330
01:05:51,121 --> 01:05:52,687
and I'm going to be
very proud of it."
1331
01:05:53,253 --> 01:05:54,733
At the screening of
the film,
1332
01:05:55,212 --> 01:05:57,518
a man in the theater
in Memphis stood up
1333
01:05:57,649 --> 01:06:01,653
and screamed at me, "You slut",
and walked out of the theater.
1334
01:06:02,219 --> 01:06:05,178
But later in the
year, Stella's fortunes
changed.
1335
01:06:05,526 --> 01:06:08,355
When she was cast in Irwin
Allen's hugely successful
1336
01:06:08,486 --> 01:06:11,663
disaster film blockbuster, The
Poseidon Adventure.
1337
01:06:12,011 --> 01:06:13,665
I was very proud I was
in that picture.
1338
01:06:14,231 --> 01:06:16,494
We spent 14 weeks working on it.
1339
01:06:17,103 --> 01:06:18,887
Everybody knew how good it
was going to be.
1340
01:06:19,497 --> 01:06:22,152
The Poseidon Adventure is an
imaginative melodrama
1341
01:06:22,500 --> 01:06:24,415
chronicling the struggle
of 10 passengers
1342
01:06:24,850 --> 01:06:27,809
to save themselves after an
ocean liner capsizes
1343
01:06:28,201 --> 01:06:29,637
when struck by a mammoth
tidal wave.
1344
01:06:31,378 --> 01:06:35,121
And there is Stella arguing
with her cop husband,
1345
01:06:35,252 --> 01:06:36,079
Ernie Borgnine.
1346
01:06:36,557 --> 01:06:38,516
She used to be a hooker
and she's the one
1347
01:06:38,646 --> 01:06:39,908
who's in control
of the marriage.
1348
01:06:40,866 --> 01:06:44,522
He's busting balls with
everybody through the entire
movie
1349
01:06:44,652 --> 01:06:45,697
and she busts his balls.
1350
01:06:47,220 --> 01:06:48,439
And she is terrific.
1351
01:06:48,569 --> 01:06:51,311
She's also the comedy relief
of that movie,
1352
01:06:51,442 --> 01:06:54,749
which was no easy task, but
she was up for it.
1353
01:06:55,272 --> 01:06:57,143
But I remember when
I was a little kid,
1354
01:06:58,710 --> 01:07:01,582
the moment when she actually
thinks he might've died
1355
01:07:02,235 --> 01:07:04,498
and then he's okay, and then
she yells at him
1356
01:07:04,629 --> 01:07:07,240
for scaring her, and then
I actually realized
1357
01:07:07,371 --> 01:07:08,894
that she actually
cared about him,
1358
01:07:09,938 --> 01:07:12,680
that it actually made me
feel pretty good.
1359
01:07:13,159 --> 01:07:14,639
But you know, when
I read the script,
1360
01:07:15,248 --> 01:07:17,337
I said, "The fat lady's gonna
get a nomination."
1361
01:07:17,685 --> 01:07:21,080
And sure enough, she did, she
did, she saved everybody.
1362
01:07:21,689 --> 01:07:25,258
I want you to give this to
our little grandson.
1363
01:07:27,043 --> 01:07:28,609
Why, I'm going somewhere
you are not going?
1364
01:07:29,436 --> 01:07:32,178
When they told me Shelley
Winters was doing the film,
1365
01:07:32,961 --> 01:07:34,354
I said I was not gonna do it.
1366
01:07:35,268 --> 01:07:37,314
Then they said I wouldn't have
to be in any scenes
1367
01:07:37,444 --> 01:07:39,838
with her one-on-one.
1368
01:07:39,968 --> 01:07:44,147
So I broke my vow and agreed to
do the film with her.
1369
01:07:45,061 --> 01:07:47,541
Poseidon Adventure was
nominated for eight Academy
Awards
1370
01:07:47,976 --> 01:07:50,675
and as Stella had predicted
Shelley Winters was nominated
1371
01:07:50,979 --> 01:07:52,068
for Best Supporting Actress.
1372
01:07:52,633 --> 01:07:55,462
The film has become a cult
classic because people loved it
1373
01:07:55,593 --> 01:07:58,509
and saw it so many times they
knew it by heart.
1374
01:07:58,944 --> 01:08:00,946
And it was still good
again and again.
1375
01:08:01,860 --> 01:08:04,428
Poseidon Adventure,
we thought,
1376
01:08:04,558 --> 01:08:06,604
oh, that'll give her a boost.
1377
01:08:06,908 --> 01:08:09,346
But when you're in a
film where the film
1378
01:08:09,476 --> 01:08:12,175
is really the star,
you know, I mean,
1379
01:08:12,305 --> 01:08:13,872
you had Shelley Winters and
you had all those
1380
01:08:14,002 --> 01:08:18,268
wonderfully talented actors, but
the film was the star.
1381
01:08:18,398 --> 01:08:21,749
So I don't think anybody really
got enormous recognition.
1382
01:08:22,272 --> 01:08:24,056
I was disillusioned
early by thinking
1383
01:08:24,187 --> 01:08:26,885
that I was gonna find great
stardom in one project.
1384
01:08:27,015 --> 01:08:29,453
Everybody kept saying, "one
picture is all you need
1385
01:08:29,583 --> 01:08:31,716
and that'll put you over the
top", but that's not true.
1386
01:08:32,630 --> 01:08:36,155
After Poseidon, there was
not a big uptick
1387
01:08:36,721 --> 01:08:39,593
in movie roles in
big productions,
1388
01:08:40,638 --> 01:08:44,468
but there was a lot of
opportunity for Stella
1389
01:08:44,772 --> 01:08:46,252
with independent producers.
1390
01:08:46,992 --> 01:08:49,081
I think that I am still
just starting out
1391
01:08:49,212 --> 01:08:50,865
and I hope I'll be
discovered soon.
1392
01:08:51,257 --> 01:08:53,172
35-year-old actresses
couldn't sustain
1393
01:08:53,303 --> 01:08:55,566
the career longevity
that they can today.
1394
01:08:56,262 --> 01:08:58,830
In her film career, an A-list
movies began to flounder.
1395
01:08:59,309 --> 01:09:01,267
So she turned more and more
to television.
1396
01:09:02,007 --> 01:09:04,052
Along with all the TV
movies, she guessed it on,
1397
01:09:04,444 --> 01:09:07,273
you know, all these TV shows.
1398
01:09:08,274 --> 01:09:11,364
No, yeah, you know, so Stella
Stevens with Banaceck,
1399
01:09:11,495 --> 01:09:12,844
with George Peppard's
Banaceck.
1400
01:09:13,061 --> 01:09:20,025
But if Stella Stevens was the
star of a Police Story,
1401
01:09:21,331 --> 01:09:22,984
no, it was about Stella
Stevens.
1402
01:09:23,246 --> 01:09:24,551
She was the female cop.
1403
01:09:25,813 --> 01:09:27,946
She wasn't the female dealing
with the male cop.
1404
01:09:28,076 --> 01:09:29,774
no, the episode was about her.
1405
01:09:30,601 --> 01:09:33,647
With fewer studio
offers, she was forced to take
on
1406
01:09:33,778 --> 01:09:37,869
caricature-ish roles in more
low-budget, independent films.
1407
01:09:38,522 --> 01:09:41,568
So these movies, Stella's
name was important,
1408
01:09:42,221 --> 01:09:44,441
not only for box office, but
it was important
1409
01:09:44,571 --> 01:09:46,921
that she be in these films
because very often
1410
01:09:47,052 --> 01:09:50,360
she was the one person
in the cast
1411
01:09:50,925 --> 01:09:53,319
who was really bringing
the goods.
1412
01:09:53,972 --> 01:09:58,281
Stella Stevens had a magnificent
career in the 70s
1413
01:09:58,411 --> 01:10:00,370
and did a ton of really
good stuff.
1414
01:10:00,631 --> 01:10:02,850
And by the way, if you like
Stella Stevens
1415
01:10:03,329 --> 01:10:06,811
and you get her resume and then
just start going down
1416
01:10:06,941 --> 01:10:09,988
in the 70s, you watched this TV
movie, you watched Arnold,
1417
01:10:10,249 --> 01:10:13,905
you watch any episode of any of
the shows she guest starred,
1418
01:10:14,035 --> 01:10:15,733
she's kicking ass
on those shows.
1419
01:10:16,168 --> 01:10:16,995
She's terrific.
1420
01:10:18,388 --> 01:10:21,565
When Stella's son, Andrew, was
a senior in high school,
1421
01:10:22,305 --> 01:10:26,178
he had been studying acting and
now he had been involved
1422
01:10:26,483 --> 01:10:31,662
with district, regional, and
statewide acting competitions
1423
01:10:32,489 --> 01:10:36,623
and had won every single one.
1424
01:10:36,754 --> 01:10:38,277
He did study very hard.
1425
01:10:39,322 --> 01:10:42,020
I don't know how much
I had an influence
1426
01:10:42,281 --> 01:10:43,848
in helping him in his career.
1427
01:10:44,109 --> 01:10:47,199
If I could have been of help, I
would gladly have done so,
1428
01:10:47,460 --> 01:10:49,854
but I never physically went out
of my way to do that.
1429
01:10:49,984 --> 01:10:51,029
Andrew did it on his own.
1430
01:10:51,769 --> 01:10:54,206
In a field that his mother
had warned him,
1431
01:10:54,641 --> 01:10:57,253
would either drive you crazy
or break your heart.
1432
01:10:57,862 --> 01:10:59,994
I graduated high school in 1973
1433
01:11:00,647 --> 01:11:04,390
and my mom asked me to come
visit her in Los Angeles
1434
01:11:04,521 --> 01:11:06,697
before I went away to college,
which I did.
1435
01:11:07,698 --> 01:11:09,482
And I went with some friends
to a party one night
1436
01:11:09,613 --> 01:11:12,659
and I met a man I had
no idea who he was.
1437
01:11:13,181 --> 01:11:14,792
The agent that Andrew
met was none other
1438
01:11:14,922 --> 01:11:16,402
than super agent Dick Clayton,
1439
01:11:16,924 --> 01:11:20,188
who'd represented everyone from
James Dean to Farrah Fawcett
1440
01:11:20,711 --> 01:11:22,278
and Jane Fonda to Harrison Ford.
1441
01:11:22,800 --> 01:11:24,976
Even the number one box office
star at that time,
1442
01:11:25,411 --> 01:11:26,456
Burt Reynolds.
1443
01:11:26,891 --> 01:11:29,589
So based on Dick Clayton telling
me if I stayed in LA
1444
01:11:29,720 --> 01:11:31,504
that he would put me
to work as an actor,
1445
01:11:32,723 --> 01:11:35,334
I moved to Los Angeles instead
of going away
1446
01:11:35,465 --> 01:11:36,335
to college in Florida.
1447
01:11:37,249 --> 01:11:40,078
Andrew always wanted his mail to
be able to come to him
1448
01:11:40,208 --> 01:11:42,515
saying "Andrew Stevens
Hollywood."
1449
01:11:42,646 --> 01:11:44,952
And so I expected all of this.
1450
01:11:45,257 --> 01:11:46,737
And when it finally came to be,
1451
01:11:47,477 --> 01:11:50,828
it was something that had
been inevitable.
1452
01:11:51,568 --> 01:11:52,873
So my name is Steven Seligman
1453
01:11:53,613 --> 01:11:59,445
and I am the trustee and
executor of Stella's estate.
1454
01:12:00,664 --> 01:12:04,363
She had a home in Beverly
Hills that was empty
1455
01:12:04,755 --> 01:12:05,625
most of the year.
1456
01:12:06,191 --> 01:12:09,977
So we made an arrangement for
me to be her tenant
1457
01:12:10,326 --> 01:12:16,984
and caretaker, which became a
lifelong relationship.
1458
01:12:17,158 --> 01:12:18,682
My mother smoked a lot of pot.
1459
01:12:19,465 --> 01:12:21,206
So she decided to grow
a lot of pot.
1460
01:12:21,946 --> 01:12:25,645
She was going to plant the
entire hillside
1461
01:12:25,776 --> 01:12:28,692
with buckets of marijuana so we
could move them around
1462
01:12:28,822 --> 01:12:30,520
and make sure that they got
plenty of sunshine.
1463
01:12:30,868 --> 01:12:33,479
And that was the beginning
of several years
1464
01:12:33,610 --> 01:12:36,569
of growing marijuana.
1465
01:12:37,483 --> 01:12:39,616
So then Stella finds a new
chapter for herself,
1466
01:12:39,833 --> 01:12:42,793
which makes her very popular in
the African-American community.
1467
01:12:43,054 --> 01:12:46,710
She does Cleopatra Jones
Casino of Gold.
1468
01:12:47,275 --> 01:12:49,626
And she's got some great fight
scenes in that.
1469
01:12:49,843 --> 01:12:51,367
And next thing you know,
she's very popular
1470
01:12:51,497 --> 01:12:52,846
with the brothers
and the sisters.
1471
01:12:53,107 --> 01:12:55,022
And at the very top of
this pyramid of blood
1472
01:12:55,153 --> 01:12:57,242
and dope and sin and gold,
1473
01:12:57,721 --> 01:12:59,418
the most evil woman
in the world,
1474
01:12:59,897 --> 01:13:00,941
the Empress of Pride.
1475
01:13:01,377 --> 01:13:03,466
It makes no difference
to me how you die.
1476
01:13:05,555 --> 01:13:06,817
The picture shot in
Hong Kong.
1477
01:13:06,947 --> 01:13:08,819
So it was nice to go there for
a couple of weeks.
1478
01:13:09,515 --> 01:13:12,562
I played the dragon lady and I
got to fight six foot Tamara
1479
01:13:12,953 --> 01:13:13,954
Dobson to the death.
1480
01:13:14,302 --> 01:13:16,130
But now she's met her
match and more
1481
01:13:16,653 --> 01:13:18,742
in six feet two of dynamite.
1482
01:13:29,753 --> 01:13:31,668
Stella retreated from Hollywood
once again
1483
01:13:32,146 --> 01:13:34,671
and bought a ranch in
Washington state
1484
01:13:35,454 --> 01:13:36,847
near the Cascade Mountains
1485
01:13:37,587 --> 01:13:40,546
and then opened an art gallery
and a bakery
1486
01:13:40,938 --> 01:13:42,809
in the small town of Twisp.
1487
01:13:43,767 --> 01:13:46,552
The film community believed she
was abandoning Hollywood
1488
01:13:46,900 --> 01:13:48,162
and retiring from the screen.
1489
01:13:48,685 --> 01:13:50,077
Well, it had nothing
to do with retiring.
1490
01:13:50,556 --> 01:13:52,166
Instead she was regrouping,
1491
01:13:52,297 --> 01:13:53,994
getting in touch with
the real world.
1492
01:13:54,778 --> 01:13:57,955
In Washington, I had
human contact
1493
01:13:58,172 --> 01:14:00,610
for the first time in
nine or 10 years.
1494
01:14:01,698 --> 01:14:03,351
There's a joke that
California people
1495
01:14:03,482 --> 01:14:04,440
don't know their neighbors.
1496
01:14:05,441 --> 01:14:06,616
I didn't know my neighbors.
1497
01:14:07,094 --> 01:14:09,923
I had no friends except those
I worked with,
1498
01:14:10,576 --> 01:14:12,665
those who told me to
keep my mouth shut,
1499
01:14:12,926 --> 01:14:14,667
to be careful and
not say anything
1500
01:14:14,798 --> 01:14:16,843
or my jobs would be
taken away from me.
1501
01:14:17,453 --> 01:14:19,890
Someone would go and rip it
all out from under me.
1502
01:14:20,978 --> 01:14:22,719
Eventually Stella
met a local man
1503
01:14:22,849 --> 01:14:24,547
in the small Washington
community
1504
01:14:24,808 --> 01:14:27,245
and they started a very normal
relationship.
1505
01:14:27,593 --> 01:14:29,639
In the days when I was
looking for a man,
1506
01:14:29,769 --> 01:14:31,292
I was looking for
a sense of humor,
1507
01:14:32,076 --> 01:14:35,340
someone that I could talk with
and exchange ideas with.
1508
01:14:35,732 --> 01:14:37,429
She also moved her
mother's brother,
1509
01:14:37,560 --> 01:14:38,952
whom she called uncle Mutt,
1510
01:14:39,213 --> 01:14:40,780
up to Washington to caretake
1511
01:14:40,911 --> 01:14:42,956
and help her with the ranch
and the animals,
1512
01:14:43,479 --> 01:14:45,045
two llamas and quarter horses
1513
01:14:45,219 --> 01:14:47,961
that she would trail ride
for hours at a time.
1514
01:14:49,223 --> 01:14:50,050
All right, Frank.
1515
01:14:50,703 --> 01:14:51,312
Crank.
1516
01:14:51,443 --> 01:14:52,270
Cranking.
1517
01:14:52,662 --> 01:14:54,011
We're going to make pictures.
1518
01:14:54,707 --> 01:14:57,275
Stella had hopes of
re-elevating her film career
1519
01:14:57,536 --> 01:14:59,277
and she received
an offer to join
1520
01:14:59,407 --> 01:15:01,453
the all-star cast
of Nickelodeon
1521
01:15:01,714 --> 01:15:03,499
directed by Peter Bogdanovich.
1522
01:15:04,456 --> 01:15:04,978
Cut.
1523
01:15:05,109 --> 01:15:05,979
That's it.
1524
01:15:06,284 --> 01:15:07,633
Nickelodeon was
his Valentine to
1525
01:15:07,764 --> 01:15:09,113
the glory days of Hollywood
1526
01:15:09,548 --> 01:15:11,550
with an all-star cast led
by Ryan O'Neill,
1527
01:15:12,290 --> 01:15:14,597
Burt Reynolds, Tatum
O'Neill, John Ritter
1528
01:15:14,988 --> 01:15:16,381
and Stella among others.
1529
01:15:17,034 --> 01:15:19,515
It was also not a great time
for Peter Bogdanovich
1530
01:15:19,776 --> 01:15:22,561
who told me that he had
horrendous battles with the
studio
1531
01:15:22,692 --> 01:15:24,563
because he demanded
a bigger salary
1532
01:15:24,694 --> 01:15:26,434
than Burt Reynolds
and Ryan O'Neill
1533
01:15:27,044 --> 01:15:28,480
and because they wouldn't
let him have
1534
01:15:28,611 --> 01:15:29,829
Cybill Shepherd in the film.
1535
01:15:30,134 --> 01:15:31,265
And he was just plagued
1536
01:15:31,396 --> 01:15:33,137
with nothing but financial
disasters
1537
01:15:33,572 --> 01:15:35,705
So unfortunately what
should have been
1538
01:15:35,835 --> 01:15:39,535
this wonderful boon for Stella
did not happen
1539
01:15:39,665 --> 01:15:41,014
because the movie bombed.
1540
01:15:41,885 --> 01:15:43,408
As her sex symbol
days were waning,
1541
01:15:44,061 --> 01:15:45,976
Stella's ambition was to
become a director.
1542
01:15:46,759 --> 01:15:49,414
But female directors were few
and far between at that time.
1543
01:15:49,936 --> 01:15:51,677
Her relentless attempts
at getting support
1544
01:15:52,025 --> 01:15:54,158
from industry executives
led nowhere.
1545
01:15:54,767 --> 01:15:57,030
I think one of the biggest
disappointments for Stella
1546
01:15:57,161 --> 01:16:00,773
was that she wasn't able to
fulfill her career dream.
1547
01:16:00,904 --> 01:16:01,818
She wanted to direct.
1548
01:16:02,253 --> 01:16:03,515
She wanted to produce.
1549
01:16:03,646 --> 01:16:06,387
But back in those days, the
studios didn't give
1550
01:16:07,127 --> 01:16:10,217
leading ladies an opportunity to
go into another chapter.
1551
01:16:10,914 --> 01:16:15,092
Stella had always expressed
the desire to direct
1552
01:16:15,309 --> 01:16:18,574
and she had discussed it with
agents, managers
1553
01:16:18,704 --> 01:16:20,706
and whatever and offered
her services
1554
01:16:21,054 --> 01:16:23,579
and no one was picking up on it.
1555
01:16:23,709 --> 01:16:25,972
I've had years of time when
I did not work a lot
1556
01:16:26,364 --> 01:16:29,802
and I have had one of the
hardest struggles
1557
01:16:30,020 --> 01:16:33,458
of anyone I've known to try to
go from acting to directing.
1558
01:16:34,067 --> 01:16:37,288
Because of starting out a sex
pot, a sex symbol,
1559
01:16:37,418 --> 01:16:39,507
Right.
1560
01:16:39,638 --> 01:16:42,510
this has been a detriment in
trying to have people
1561
01:16:42,641 --> 01:16:43,903
take me seriously as a director.
1562
01:16:44,121 --> 01:16:47,298
But I find that those clouds
are going away now.
1563
01:16:48,516 --> 01:16:51,868
I directed, I financed and I
starred in as the interviewer.
1564
01:16:51,998 --> 01:16:54,218
I was on the other side of the
camera as I am from you
1565
01:16:54,697 --> 01:16:56,568
in a film called The
American Heroine
1566
01:16:56,699 --> 01:17:00,790
which is about contemporary
heroic American heroines.
1567
01:17:02,052 --> 01:17:04,924
Women who are considered the
heroines of their communities
1568
01:17:05,098 --> 01:17:06,230
and of all who know them.
1569
01:17:06,883 --> 01:17:09,494
Stella worked
prolifically in episodic
television,
1570
01:17:10,060 --> 01:17:13,324
television movies and pilots
for The Love Boat
1571
01:17:13,454 --> 01:17:15,369
and Hart to Hart
demonstrating her range
1572
01:17:15,500 --> 01:17:16,588
from comedy to drama.
1573
01:17:17,328 --> 01:17:19,896
I had an agent who was very
strong in television
1574
01:17:20,505 --> 01:17:23,639
but I didn't do a lot of feature
films during this period.
1575
01:17:24,509 --> 01:17:26,903
As she matured, Stella played
a brothel owner
1576
01:17:27,033 --> 01:17:29,296
in the prime time soap opera
Flamingo Road
1577
01:17:29,557 --> 01:17:31,908
which ran for two seasons
in the early 80s.
1578
01:17:32,038 --> 01:17:35,346
I'm playing Morgan Fairchild's
illegitimate mother,
1579
01:17:36,347 --> 01:17:38,784
unbeknownst to her adopted
mother Barbara Rush
1580
01:17:39,002 --> 01:17:40,090
on Flamingo Road.
1581
01:17:40,830 --> 01:17:44,355
When I played a madam, the moral
majority got all upset.
1582
01:17:44,877 --> 01:17:49,403
They wrote letters to NBC and
the next year I was an ex-madam
1583
01:17:49,577 --> 01:17:52,711
and there were no girls around
and the show was cleaned up.
1584
01:17:53,190 --> 01:17:55,540
Her views of sex,
sexuality and genders
1585
01:17:55,801 --> 01:17:57,760
were far ahead of their time.
1586
01:17:58,543 --> 01:18:00,240
I've always been a rebel
about censorship.
1587
01:18:01,241 --> 01:18:02,895
I don't think children should
be able to see
1588
01:18:03,026 --> 01:18:04,592
the horrible things
that they do.
1589
01:18:05,506 --> 01:18:07,552
I don't think lovemaking
on soap operas
1590
01:18:07,683 --> 01:18:10,033
is as bad for children
as seeing killings
1591
01:18:10,250 --> 01:18:11,687
and murders and slashings.
1592
01:18:12,600 --> 01:18:17,344
Stella is one of those women who
I think people look to,
1593
01:18:17,562 --> 01:18:20,304
you know, someone who did speak
out but of course,
1594
01:18:20,783 --> 01:18:23,655
it had to be extremely difficult
back then.
1595
01:18:24,090 --> 01:18:26,136
They still say that there
are only two sexes
1596
01:18:26,266 --> 01:18:28,355
when there are definitely
more than two sexes
1597
01:18:28,486 --> 01:18:31,489
and to say that some sexes are
good and some sexes are bad,
1598
01:18:31,619 --> 01:18:33,317
it's just preposterous.
1599
01:18:33,970 --> 01:18:36,973
To bring that up, you know,
for her, you know,
1600
01:18:37,103 --> 01:18:39,236
it could have ruined her career
but she didn't care,
1601
01:18:39,584 --> 01:18:44,241
you know, she had a mission and
she said what was on her mind
1602
01:18:44,415 --> 01:18:46,156
and then she stood by it.
1603
01:18:46,678 --> 01:18:48,811
Definitely ahead of her
time in the 70s,
1604
01:18:49,246 --> 01:18:52,771
like to speak out
for gays, I mean,
1605
01:18:53,293 --> 01:18:55,426
you could get blacklisted
for speaking out
1606
01:18:55,556 --> 01:18:57,863
for both for racism and for gays
1607
01:18:58,429 --> 01:19:00,910
and she was brave to do both.
1608
01:19:01,911 --> 01:19:03,260
Stella was linked
in gossip pages
1609
01:19:03,390 --> 01:19:04,914
with many men over the years,
1610
01:19:05,044 --> 01:19:07,394
yet remained unmarried
throughout her adult life
1611
01:19:07,525 --> 01:19:08,526
and Hollywood career.
1612
01:19:09,092 --> 01:19:11,442
She did, however, in 1983,
1613
01:19:11,921 --> 01:19:14,619
start a relationship with
guitarist Bob Kulick.
1614
01:19:14,750 --> 01:19:17,056
formerly with Meatloaf's band.
1615
01:19:17,187 --> 01:19:18,666
After a little over a year,
1616
01:19:18,797 --> 01:19:20,625
she repeated her
familiar pattern
1617
01:19:20,930 --> 01:19:23,671
and moved Bob into her Beverly
Hills home.
1618
01:19:24,237 --> 01:19:29,068
Bob was a Jewish,
crazy musician
1619
01:19:29,939 --> 01:19:32,985
who loved to play music
and loved Stella.
1620
01:19:33,507 --> 01:19:34,595
How were they together?
1621
01:19:34,987 --> 01:19:37,511
He's a musician, he's a rocker
1622
01:19:37,773 --> 01:19:40,471
and there was a kind of a,
1623
01:19:40,601 --> 01:19:43,082
is the word juxtaposition?
1624
01:19:43,213 --> 01:19:45,650
But they went they went together
1625
01:19:45,781 --> 01:19:47,957
for a very, very long time.
1626
01:19:48,348 --> 01:19:49,872
And somehow it worked.
1627
01:19:50,002 --> 01:19:51,612
We've been together, it'll be
four years in Thanksgiving,
1628
01:19:51,743 --> 01:19:52,788
so it's a long time.
1629
01:19:53,397 --> 01:19:55,138
She basically, well, she
basically supported him
1630
01:19:55,268 --> 01:19:56,400
because he didn't have,
1631
01:19:57,096 --> 01:19:58,881
he couldn't have supported
himself in the lifestyle
1632
01:19:59,011 --> 01:19:59,838
that he was in.
1633
01:19:59,969 --> 01:20:01,187
When things were good with them,
1634
01:20:01,318 --> 01:20:03,363
they were really good and when
things were bad,
1635
01:20:03,494 --> 01:20:05,670
oof, you know, the roof
could blow off.
1636
01:20:06,279 --> 01:20:07,324
She was tough as hell.
1637
01:20:07,672 --> 01:20:11,415
She wasn't, she wasn't some
little, you know,
1638
01:20:11,545 --> 01:20:15,288
fainting, fainting little
girl, you know,
1639
01:20:15,419 --> 01:20:18,509
she was definitely tough and
she spoke her mind
1640
01:20:18,639 --> 01:20:21,120
and sometimes to her detriment,
1641
01:20:21,251 --> 01:20:23,079
but she definitely
spoke her mind.
1642
01:20:23,731 --> 01:20:27,300
In overview, I do feel here
are two really
1643
01:20:27,431 --> 01:20:29,563
incredibly gifted,
talented people
1644
01:20:30,129 --> 01:20:31,652
who really did love
what they did
1645
01:20:32,218 --> 01:20:33,916
and were great at it,
1646
01:20:34,438 --> 01:20:36,788
who I don't think got some
of the bigger picture
1647
01:20:36,919 --> 01:20:38,485
where you fit in in life
1648
01:20:39,008 --> 01:20:40,879
and how can you both
love each other
1649
01:20:41,097 --> 01:20:42,315
in a healthy manner.
1650
01:20:42,838 --> 01:20:45,318
During the 1980s, she
continued to work regularly,
1651
01:20:45,536 --> 01:20:47,538
guest starring on many
hit TV series
1652
01:20:47,930 --> 01:20:50,758
and 1983 was a prolific
year for her,
1653
01:20:51,020 --> 01:20:56,112
if not the quality film career
she had had in the 1960s.
1654
01:20:56,242 --> 01:20:59,855
Now we're talking about
a 20 year career
1655
01:20:59,985 --> 01:21:04,598
that extended into the 80s.
1656
01:21:04,729 --> 01:21:05,773
It extended longer than that,
1657
01:21:05,904 --> 01:21:07,340
but I'm talking about
where it's like,
1658
01:21:07,863 --> 01:21:10,474
where she's still 100%
Stella Stevens.
1659
01:21:10,996 --> 01:21:12,824
A general public misnomer
is that actors
1660
01:21:13,129 --> 01:21:15,044
make a fortune from residuals.
1661
01:21:15,174 --> 01:21:16,088
That's far from true.
1662
01:21:16,959 --> 01:21:19,048
Residuals generate a pittance
for most actors
1663
01:21:19,309 --> 01:21:21,920
who routinely receive checks
for less than $50
1664
01:21:22,529 --> 01:21:24,227
per rerun of the
film or TV show,
1665
01:21:24,662 --> 01:21:26,316
sometimes even less than $1.
1666
01:21:26,751 --> 01:21:30,276
In order to continue to survive
financially,
1667
01:21:30,973 --> 01:21:36,413
she took roles as cameos on
television shows.
1668
01:21:36,935 --> 01:21:40,199
So I may not be as successful
financially as some people
1669
01:21:40,373 --> 01:21:42,288
and I may not have as much
power as some people,
1670
01:21:42,636 --> 01:21:44,116
but I have a lot of happiness.
1671
01:21:46,249 --> 01:21:49,730
In 1989, Stella
finally realized her career
long dream
1672
01:21:49,861 --> 01:21:52,385
and was hired to direct her
very first film,
1673
01:21:52,733 --> 01:21:54,561
ironically titled The Ranch.
1674
01:21:55,127 --> 01:21:58,130
I went up to Canada and did a
film called The Ranch
1675
01:21:58,696 --> 01:22:01,786
and Andrew in it takes
the lead role,
1676
01:22:01,917 --> 01:22:03,092
which is a comedy role.
1677
01:22:03,396 --> 01:22:05,746
The Ranch was a low budget
independent comedy,
1678
01:22:05,877 --> 01:22:08,140
shot entirely in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada,
1679
01:22:08,619 --> 01:22:10,621
during a writers and director's
strike in the US.
1680
01:22:11,143 --> 01:22:12,449
Nobody in town was working
1681
01:22:13,102 --> 01:22:17,889
and I'd been offered a stage
play in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1682
01:22:18,455 --> 01:22:21,675
and I was up doing the Ellie
Greenwich musical,
1683
01:22:21,849 --> 01:22:22,763
Leader of the Pack
1684
01:22:23,329 --> 01:22:26,202
and a woman came up to me after
the show one night
1685
01:22:26,463 --> 01:22:27,943
and she introduced herself.
1686
01:22:28,160 --> 01:22:32,991
She said she was a producer and
she had a comedy film
1687
01:22:33,165 --> 01:22:35,385
that she was intending to
shoot in Calgary
1688
01:22:36,560 --> 01:22:39,302
and she wanted me to play
the lead in the film
1689
01:22:39,432 --> 01:22:41,521
and she wanted my mother
to direct it.
1690
01:22:41,652 --> 01:22:42,958
Did you tell him if he didn't
play the scene
1691
01:22:43,088 --> 01:22:45,612
the way you wanted him to,
that he was grounded?
1692
01:22:45,743 --> 01:22:47,919
No, I didn't resort to
that,
1693
01:22:48,050 --> 01:22:50,400
but I actually did pick up
a buggy whip one day
1694
01:22:50,530 --> 01:22:52,489
when everybody was trying to
tell me how to direct.
1695
01:22:52,750 --> 01:22:55,405
I said, there are too many
directors on this set
1696
01:22:55,535 --> 01:22:57,059
and I sent a wrangler
for a buggy whip
1697
01:22:57,189 --> 01:22:58,364
and walked around for
a couple hours.
1698
01:22:59,975 --> 01:23:01,541
Stella commented that
Andrew seldom
1699
01:23:01,672 --> 01:23:03,021
got to do comedy roles,
1700
01:23:03,152 --> 01:23:05,284
much less the sort of
slapstick comedy
1701
01:23:05,458 --> 01:23:06,677
that she put him through.
1702
01:23:07,330 --> 01:23:08,679
In fact, he called
one of his scenes
1703
01:23:08,809 --> 01:23:10,289
a Jerry Lewis type scene
1704
01:23:10,681 --> 01:23:13,249
and he is not known
for his comedy,
1705
01:23:13,379 --> 01:23:15,033
but I enjoyed working with
him in that genre.
1706
01:23:15,164 --> 01:23:18,341
- Did he listen to
you?
- He did actually very much
1707
01:23:18,471 --> 01:23:19,559
and I think we grew closer
1708
01:23:19,690 --> 01:23:21,387
from the experience of
working together.
1709
01:23:21,518 --> 01:23:23,911
She really made this opportunity
happen for herself,
1710
01:23:24,477 --> 01:23:26,784
but after The Ranch, which
was a comedy,
1711
01:23:28,655 --> 01:23:31,223
chances for her to direct
another movie
1712
01:23:31,441 --> 01:23:32,790
just were not forthcoming.
1713
01:23:33,965 --> 01:23:36,054
I've gone into despair
many times
1714
01:23:36,228 --> 01:23:38,274
and the only thing that
has kept me going
1715
01:23:38,404 --> 01:23:39,927
has been working as an actor.
1716
01:23:41,277 --> 01:23:43,453
She always went full
force
1717
01:23:43,583 --> 01:23:45,542
in every one of these
independent movies,
1718
01:23:45,672 --> 01:23:47,196
which she could have very
easily blown off,
1719
01:23:47,326 --> 01:23:48,240
but she refused to.
1720
01:23:48,501 --> 01:23:50,286
Her ethic would not
let her do it.
1721
01:23:50,634 --> 01:23:53,898
I realized how shallow
the business is
1722
01:23:54,681 --> 01:23:57,075
and when I got to
be 45 years old,
1723
01:23:57,206 --> 01:23:58,990
I didn't think anybody would
ever hire me again.
1724
01:24:00,165 --> 01:24:02,950
So now when they hire me,
1725
01:24:03,168 --> 01:24:07,346
it's just gravy on a wonderful
career I already have.
1726
01:24:07,694 --> 01:24:12,786
If the idea of being an actress
is to work, she worked.
1727
01:24:13,787 --> 01:24:14,832
She worked a lot.
1728
01:24:15,615 --> 01:24:18,444
The enormous growth of home
video in the 1980s
1729
01:24:18,705 --> 01:24:20,577
created a market
for fresh titles
1730
01:24:20,707 --> 01:24:22,361
that people could rent or buy
1731
01:24:22,709 --> 01:24:24,581
once they'd seen the movies
they already knew about.
1732
01:24:25,277 --> 01:24:27,714
This led to a boom in
production of quickie films
1733
01:24:27,975 --> 01:24:29,412
that made an equally
quick profit.
1734
01:24:29,760 --> 01:24:32,328
So long as there was at least
one recognizable star
1735
01:24:32,458 --> 01:24:33,285
in the cast.
1736
01:24:34,417 --> 01:24:36,419
Andrew directed Stella in his
directorial debut,
1737
01:24:36,897 --> 01:24:38,029
The Terror Within 2.
1738
01:24:38,725 --> 01:24:39,683
And Andrew, of course,
is your son
1739
01:24:39,813 --> 01:24:41,032
who we had on recently,
Andrew Stevens.
1740
01:24:41,163 --> 01:24:42,555
Oh, I understand you did, yes.
1741
01:24:42,773 --> 01:24:44,383
Talented actor, director, producer.
1742
01:24:44,775 --> 01:24:46,777
Yes, he's going to direct
his first movie
1743
01:24:46,907 --> 01:24:48,387
and I'm going to be in it.
1744
01:24:48,518 --> 01:24:49,214
How neat.
1745
01:24:49,345 --> 01:24:50,085
Yes.
1746
01:24:50,215 --> 01:24:51,042
What's it gonna be called?
1747
01:24:51,173 --> 01:24:53,175
It's going to be called The
Terror Within 2,
1748
01:24:53,305 --> 01:24:55,220
which is a sequel to a film
he did last year
1749
01:24:55,351 --> 01:24:56,482
called The Terror Within,
1750
01:24:56,743 --> 01:24:58,223
and it's for Roger Corman.
1751
01:24:58,745 --> 01:25:00,443
But Andrew has written
the script
1752
01:25:00,704 --> 01:25:03,707
and is directing it
and starring in it.
1753
01:25:04,795 --> 01:25:05,752
Why don't you go get some sleep?
1754
01:25:06,318 --> 01:25:07,885
I'll stand watch down
here for a while.
1755
01:25:08,755 --> 01:25:10,409
You know I can't sleep
without you.
1756
01:25:14,196 --> 01:25:16,937
It's the first time a mother
has directed her son
1757
01:25:17,242 --> 01:25:19,026
in the first film she directed
1758
01:25:19,679 --> 01:25:21,768
and her son has directed
his mother
1759
01:25:21,899 --> 01:25:23,335
in the first film he directed.
1760
01:25:24,293 --> 01:25:26,251
It was a major breakthrough
in our relationship.
1761
01:25:27,383 --> 01:25:28,601
As his career took off,
1762
01:25:28,819 --> 01:25:30,299
Andrew would go on
to hire his mother
1763
01:25:30,734 --> 01:25:33,998
in 11 films and television shows
over the coming years.
1764
01:25:34,607 --> 01:25:37,654
Stella was so busy
in 90s television.
1765
01:25:37,784 --> 01:25:39,395
I mean, it was just incredible,
1766
01:25:39,873 --> 01:25:41,875
just going from show to show
to show to show,
1767
01:25:42,528 --> 01:25:45,792
but also independent producers
came to Stella
1768
01:25:46,315 --> 01:25:49,709
over and over and over again
and she wanted to work.
1769
01:25:50,536 --> 01:25:54,149
And the opportunity to work
just was never ending.
1770
01:25:55,193 --> 01:25:56,629
You're doing a soap opera.
1771
01:25:56,760 --> 01:25:57,717
You're on Santa Barbara now.
1772
01:25:58,022 --> 01:26:00,024
It's amazing, yes I am
on Santa Barbara.
1773
01:26:00,503 --> 01:26:04,985
And how many people in a career
can work for 30 years
1774
01:26:05,116 --> 01:26:06,857
and find something totally new?
1775
01:26:06,987 --> 01:26:08,859
She came on to the soap operas
1776
01:26:08,989 --> 01:26:10,643
and she worked on General
Hospital
1777
01:26:10,817 --> 01:26:12,950
and she was a true professional,
1778
01:26:13,080 --> 01:26:14,038
even though it was
a different medium
1779
01:26:14,517 --> 01:26:16,780
because it was three cameras and
it was live kind of.
1780
01:26:16,910 --> 01:26:19,870
And she took right to it and
everybody that worked with her,
1781
01:26:20,218 --> 01:26:23,265
I asked them about it and they
have very fond memories
1782
01:26:23,395 --> 01:26:25,919
because she was very
professional and was very good.
1783
01:26:26,268 --> 01:26:27,443
The difference in daytime,
1784
01:26:28,270 --> 01:26:30,315
strangely enough it scared me
to death to begin with
1785
01:26:30,446 --> 01:26:33,492
and now I think I'm
thriving on it.
1786
01:26:34,145 --> 01:26:37,583
In 1998, Stella sold her
ranch in Washington
1787
01:26:37,801 --> 01:26:41,631
and moved her quarter horses
down to the San Fernando Valley
1788
01:26:42,109 --> 01:26:44,111
where she could groom them
and take care of them
1789
01:26:44,242 --> 01:26:45,417
and ride them at her leisure.
1790
01:26:46,288 --> 01:26:47,419
You know, it's kind
of interesting.
1791
01:26:47,550 --> 01:26:49,247
I think Bob rose to the occasion
1792
01:26:49,378 --> 01:26:53,208
because when Stella brought the
horses to Los Angeles,
1793
01:26:54,252 --> 01:26:56,776
for some unknown reason,
1794
01:26:57,429 --> 01:27:02,042
Bob just loved going out to
be with the horses
1795
01:27:02,608 --> 01:27:03,740
and be with Stella.
1796
01:27:03,914 --> 01:27:07,787
Bob had said to me, at some
point in time,
1797
01:27:07,918 --> 01:27:11,574
I think I might've said
something about her repeating
things
1798
01:27:11,704 --> 01:27:14,490
and him saying, "Oh, well, she
just always does that.
1799
01:27:14,620 --> 01:27:16,796
She forgets things, that's
just who she is,
1800
01:27:16,927 --> 01:27:19,190
but she'll remember the
important things".
1801
01:27:19,582 --> 01:27:21,410
But I didn't believe that.
1802
01:27:21,801 --> 01:27:26,502
In 2005, I moved my family from
Los Angeles to Texas
1803
01:27:27,285 --> 01:27:29,200
to raise my kids in a different
environment.
1804
01:27:30,201 --> 01:27:32,116
And there was some discussion
with Bob,
1805
01:27:32,682 --> 01:27:34,858
some of Stella's friends
and some relatives,
1806
01:27:35,641 --> 01:27:38,905
that my grandmother's great
aunt and her mother
1807
01:27:39,471 --> 01:27:41,647
both had early onset dementia
1808
01:27:42,344 --> 01:27:45,216
and both later succumbed from
Alzheimer's disease.
1809
01:27:46,086 --> 01:27:49,351
And there was some conjecture
that potentially my mother
1810
01:27:49,481 --> 01:27:52,005
might have a propensity
for the illness.
1811
01:27:53,224 --> 01:27:54,443
Despite memory
issues,
1812
01:27:55,008 --> 01:27:57,359
Stella continued to work in
independent film.
1813
01:27:57,620 --> 01:28:00,797
It was back to the
direct-to-video market movies.
1814
01:28:01,232 --> 01:28:02,973
And she continued along
those lines.
1815
01:28:03,539 --> 01:28:05,236
I worked with Stella
one more time
1816
01:28:05,715 --> 01:28:07,673
on a movie called
The Glass Trap,
1817
01:28:08,195 --> 01:28:10,023
which was about giant ants
1818
01:28:10,154 --> 01:28:12,243
invading a high-rise
office building.
1819
01:28:12,983 --> 01:28:17,944
She was already entering into
some kind of memory loss.
1820
01:28:20,164 --> 01:28:23,123
You know how you can tell when
you talk to somebody
1821
01:28:23,254 --> 01:28:25,517
that they kind of know you,
but they don't?
1822
01:28:26,126 --> 01:28:28,433
I remember picking her up
for lunch one day
1823
01:28:28,564 --> 01:28:29,913
and she opened the
door and she said,
1824
01:28:30,043 --> 01:28:31,393
"Oh, did we have plans?"
1825
01:28:31,523 --> 01:28:33,743
And I had spoken to her about
an hour before that
1826
01:28:33,873 --> 01:28:36,528
to remind her that
I was on my way.
1827
01:28:36,833 --> 01:28:40,271
And so it got to be pretty clear
1828
01:28:40,750 --> 01:28:42,404
that this was something
more serious.
1829
01:28:43,013 --> 01:28:46,321
In 2006, Stella
appeared in the Crying Game
episode
1830
01:28:46,451 --> 01:28:48,279
of the series Twenty
Good Years.
1831
01:28:48,975 --> 01:28:51,761
Twenty Good Years starred John
Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor.
1832
01:28:52,588 --> 01:28:53,980
Stella's guest star appearance
1833
01:28:54,546 --> 01:28:56,287
would be her television
swan song.
1834
01:28:56,809 --> 01:28:59,943
I want everyone to hear what
I'm about to say
1835
01:29:00,073 --> 01:29:01,292
to this beautiful woman.
1836
01:29:01,423 --> 01:29:03,816
Oh, Henry, you're being silly.
1837
01:29:04,426 --> 01:29:07,080
50 years ago, you married a
skinny, love-struck boy.
1838
01:29:07,951 --> 01:29:11,128
Well, I'm not so skinny now, but
I'm even more love-struck.
1839
01:29:11,911 --> 01:29:13,304
So I want to ask you something.
1840
01:29:15,567 --> 01:29:17,700
Martha, will you marry me again
1841
01:29:17,874 --> 01:29:20,311
and make me happy for
the next 50 years?
1842
01:29:20,442 --> 01:29:21,791
Of course I will.
1843
01:29:22,182 --> 01:29:23,488
You sweet, wonderful man.
1844
01:29:24,054 --> 01:29:24,881
Mm.
1845
01:29:30,060 --> 01:29:31,757
Man, I'm glad that's over with.
1846
01:29:33,585 --> 01:29:36,153
After five years of
no work as an actress
1847
01:29:36,371 --> 01:29:38,547
and now struggling with
severe dementia,
1848
01:29:39,243 --> 01:29:40,766
Stella somehow managed to work
1849
01:29:40,897 --> 01:29:44,291
on the low-budget sci-fi
comedy, Megaconda.
1850
01:29:44,422 --> 01:29:48,165
She had aged noticeably
in the years
1851
01:29:48,383 --> 01:29:49,906
since I'd seen her
on Glass Trap.
1852
01:29:50,733 --> 01:29:54,214
And she had a very difficult
time getting through the role
1853
01:29:54,345 --> 01:29:57,304
to the point that we laid the
script on the bar
1854
01:29:57,740 --> 01:29:59,089
and she would hold her
head in her hands
1855
01:29:59,219 --> 01:30:00,525
and just look down
and see the line
1856
01:30:00,699 --> 01:30:02,919
and she would come back up and
she would do the line.
1857
01:30:03,310 --> 01:30:05,661
And we got through it and
everybody was very
understanding,
1858
01:30:05,791 --> 01:30:07,314
but it seems to me at that time
1859
01:30:07,445 --> 01:30:12,189
that we kind of hit the end of
what she was able to do.
1860
01:30:13,103 --> 01:30:14,844
Unfortunately, dementia just
sucks the life force
1861
01:30:15,061 --> 01:30:16,454
out of somebody.
1862
01:30:17,107 --> 01:30:19,370
After Megaconda, I don't
believe Stella
1863
01:30:19,544 --> 01:30:20,502
ever worked again.
1864
01:30:21,154 --> 01:30:25,550
As far as I know, that was the
end of her acting days
1865
01:30:25,898 --> 01:30:27,944
and maybe it was for the best
1866
01:30:28,074 --> 01:30:30,381
considering the struggles
that she had.
1867
01:30:30,512 --> 01:30:32,209
As my mother's disease
progressed,
1868
01:30:32,949 --> 01:30:37,606
I was living in Texas, had Bob
and a very close-knit group
1869
01:30:37,736 --> 01:30:40,478
of friends and caretakers
were very hands-on
1870
01:30:40,609 --> 01:30:43,655
with my mother and made sure
that she was well taken care of,
1871
01:30:44,134 --> 01:30:45,396
particularly when
Bob was working.
1872
01:30:45,918 --> 01:30:47,790
It was hard for Bob
to handle that
1873
01:30:47,920 --> 01:30:51,141
because all of a sudden
her partner
1874
01:30:51,271 --> 01:30:53,143
was turning into a father figure
1875
01:30:53,448 --> 01:30:55,145
and she's turning into a child
1876
01:30:55,275 --> 01:30:58,888
and he was not a patient
father figure.
1877
01:30:59,366 --> 01:31:01,717
Bob and I started speaking
on a regular basis
1878
01:31:02,500 --> 01:31:06,504
and it became more apparent
that we really needed
1879
01:31:06,635 --> 01:31:08,898
to collaborate on
putting my mother
1880
01:31:09,115 --> 01:31:12,423
into a good memory care facility
1881
01:31:13,076 --> 01:31:17,472
because it became untenable both
practically and financially
1882
01:31:18,168 --> 01:31:20,213
for her to remain at home.
1883
01:31:20,344 --> 01:31:21,388
Stella was a wanderer,
1884
01:31:22,346 --> 01:31:28,091
so periodically she would go out
onto Coldwater Canyon
1885
01:31:28,221 --> 01:31:31,094
where she lived and would wander
away from the home.
1886
01:31:31,486 --> 01:31:35,533
I think it was the firemen
on Coldwater Canyon
1887
01:31:35,881 --> 01:31:38,623
found her and brought her
after she'd fallen
1888
01:31:38,754 --> 01:31:41,496
and she was bruised on her
whole left side,
1889
01:31:42,061 --> 01:31:44,716
her face and everything
was bruised.
1890
01:31:45,848 --> 01:31:48,241
But that was the kind of thing
that they were trying to
prevent,
1891
01:31:48,372 --> 01:31:51,027
was her doing those
kinds of things.
1892
01:31:51,375 --> 01:31:52,594
You know, we tried
to keep her busy
1893
01:31:52,898 --> 01:31:56,685
and we tried to keep her mind
off what was happening
1894
01:31:56,946 --> 01:31:59,165
because those are
the tough times
1895
01:31:59,601 --> 01:32:04,301
when dementia is in its
early-ish stages
1896
01:32:04,693 --> 01:32:09,001
and the poor person knows that
something's wrong.
1897
01:32:09,654 --> 01:32:11,308
After moving into the
care facility,
1898
01:32:11,438 --> 01:32:14,267
my mother's cognitive abilities
continued to decline.
1899
01:32:15,312 --> 01:32:16,879
She can no longer take
care of herself.
1900
01:32:17,357 --> 01:32:21,666
She had no memory of having a
son or grandchildren.
1901
01:32:22,667 --> 01:32:26,149
She had no recognition
of her friends.
1902
01:32:27,063 --> 01:32:30,414
Occasionally there'd be a spark
of a vague familiarity,
1903
01:32:31,676 --> 01:32:38,030
but she ultimately lost language
and lost the ability to speak.
1904
01:32:38,683 --> 01:32:41,120
The very last time I saw her
at an autograph show,
1905
01:32:41,817 --> 01:32:44,428
she really did not
know who I was
1906
01:32:45,037 --> 01:32:47,649
and that was really kind of sad.
1907
01:32:49,955 --> 01:32:51,957
That was sad.
1908
01:32:52,088 --> 01:32:54,569
Even though everyone was very
patient with her,
1909
01:32:54,873 --> 01:32:57,180
but I think it was extremely
hard for my brother,
1910
01:32:57,354 --> 01:33:02,664
who again just saw her as a
strong, domineering woman,
1911
01:33:03,273 --> 01:33:06,319
turn into a child and it had
to break his heart.
1912
01:33:06,668 --> 01:33:11,150
I was seriously concerned about
the handling of the money by
Bob.
1913
01:33:11,498 --> 01:33:13,631
Out of the blue, I got a call
from Steven Seligman,
1914
01:33:14,023 --> 01:33:15,590
whom I hadn't spoken
to in years.
1915
01:33:16,503 --> 01:33:18,549
He told me that Bob had
moved to Las Vegas
1916
01:33:19,332 --> 01:33:22,640
and was stepping down as the
trustee of my mother's estate
1917
01:33:22,858 --> 01:33:25,034
and as her primary caregiver
1918
01:33:25,904 --> 01:33:27,645
and that he was turning
everything over to Steven,
1919
01:33:27,906 --> 01:33:32,171
who was the second named
successor to be trustee.
1920
01:33:32,998 --> 01:33:37,786
I told Steven that I would, of
course, help in any way possible
with the transition
1921
01:33:38,700 --> 01:33:42,442
and the next day I got another
call from Steven,
1922
01:33:43,269 --> 01:33:45,837
who said that Bob had
mysteriously passed away.
1923
01:33:46,621 --> 01:33:51,277
It seemed like, because of
Stella's condition,
1924
01:33:51,408 --> 01:33:57,196
that she would pass
sooner than Bob,
1925
01:33:57,980 --> 01:34:04,508
the situation being Bob passed
before her and it was a shock.
1926
01:34:05,117 --> 01:34:08,251
We all knew what happened
to Bob, really.
1927
01:34:09,121 --> 01:34:12,908
It was not put out, what Bob...
what happened to Bob.
1928
01:34:13,822 --> 01:34:15,867
His cause of death
was not released.
1929
01:34:17,956 --> 01:34:21,481
But there was no question in any
of our minds what had really
happened.
1930
01:34:22,700 --> 01:34:24,876
Remarkably, Stella
sustained a career
1931
01:34:25,007 --> 01:34:27,096
that spanned over six
decades,
1932
01:34:27,705 --> 01:34:29,489
starring in over 60 films and
hundreds
1933
01:34:29,620 --> 01:34:31,013
of hours of television.
1934
01:34:31,578 --> 01:34:34,233
But her greater contribution
was as a proponent
1935
01:34:34,364 --> 01:34:37,193
for equality and human rights.
1936
01:34:38,150 --> 01:34:41,284
All in all, I've had an
excellent adventure in my life.
1937
01:34:42,285 --> 01:34:46,158
If there's anything that I stand
for, it's peace and harmony
1938
01:34:47,116 --> 01:34:51,033
and trying to make the most of
every moment of our lives.
1939
01:34:51,163 --> 01:34:53,818
I believe that love
can conquer hate.
1940
01:34:55,428 --> 01:35:01,217
I saw Bob Hope at 83 cracking
jokes and having fun.
1941
01:35:01,347 --> 01:35:03,132
I said then that I never
wanted to quit.
1942
01:35:04,263 --> 01:35:07,266
I wanted to be like this man.
I want to go on forever.
1943
01:35:09,616 --> 01:35:11,053
I want to die on a movie set.
1944
01:35:12,619 --> 01:35:15,884
She has a career to be admired
1945
01:35:16,014 --> 01:35:21,150
and that there's damn few
actresses
1946
01:35:21,498 --> 01:35:24,544
that can say that they
had the career and
1947
01:35:24,675 --> 01:35:29,027
the impact and just the
consistent good work
1948
01:35:29,985 --> 01:35:30,855
that Stella Stevens did.
1949
01:35:31,987 --> 01:35:33,466
Stella recently passed away and
1950
01:35:33,597 --> 01:35:36,382
we don't know whether or not it
was the timeline,
1951
01:35:36,600 --> 01:35:39,951
but her passing wasn't
recognized at the Oscars.
1952
01:35:40,386 --> 01:35:42,171
In last night's Oscar telecast,
1953
01:35:42,301 --> 01:35:44,695
film stars Paul Servino, Tom
Sizemore,
1954
01:35:44,956 --> 01:35:46,828
Anne Heche and Stella Stevens
1955
01:35:46,958 --> 01:35:49,308
were among those whom the
Motion Picture Academy
1956
01:35:49,569 --> 01:35:52,747
of Arts and Sciences failed to
honor in its In Memoriam
segment.
1957
01:35:54,009 --> 01:35:56,228
More than an iconic movie star,
Stevens,
1958
01:35:56,359 --> 01:35:57,969
who passed away on
February 17th,
1959
01:35:58,100 --> 01:36:00,276
was a staunch advocate for
women's rights
1960
01:36:00,406 --> 01:36:02,278
decades before
the Me Too movement.
1961
01:36:02,713 --> 01:36:05,760
She was very outspoken against
racism in an era of segregation
1962
01:36:06,238 --> 01:36:10,025
and a champion for human rights
and people of all sexual
identities.
1963
01:36:10,895 --> 01:36:13,811
Her contribution to cinema,
however, was often underrated
1964
01:36:14,203 --> 01:36:15,682
and sadly she never received
1965
01:36:15,813 --> 01:36:17,902
her star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame.
1966
01:36:19,425 --> 01:36:21,645
After a long battle with
Alzheimer's disease,
1967
01:36:21,776 --> 01:36:23,212
Stella Stevens has died.
1968
01:36:23,647 --> 01:36:24,953
She was 84 years old.
1969
01:36:31,742 --> 01:36:32,569
Two, ten, six.
1970
01:36:33,439 --> 01:36:34,266
Speed.
1971
01:36:34,832 --> 01:36:35,790
All right, action...
1972
01:36:36,965 --> 01:36:37,792
Professor?
1973
01:36:38,096 --> 01:36:38,880
Yeah.
1974
01:36:40,185 --> 01:36:41,012
Go.
1975
01:36:42,361 --> 01:36:44,624
Are you all right, Professor?
1976
01:36:44,755 --> 01:36:45,582
Go ahead.
1977
01:36:45,712 --> 01:36:46,583
Are you all right, Professor?
1978
01:36:47,149 --> 01:36:49,804
Well, I have these hemorrhoids
that happened today.
1979
01:36:51,022 --> 01:36:52,937
Oh, you need a shave.
1980
01:36:53,155 --> 01:36:53,938
All right, cut.
1981
01:37:00,684 --> 01:37:05,471
♪ Stella means celestial star ♪
1982
01:37:08,997 --> 01:37:13,828
♪ Che bella, the loveliest by
Far ♪
1983
01:37:17,483 --> 01:37:20,791
♪ The moon and the stars give
Their heavenly light, ♪
1984
01:37:21,531 --> 01:37:26,579
♪ But none in the firmament
Shine as bright as Stella ♪
1985
01:37:29,887 --> 01:37:33,412
♪ Stella, her star with its
Glow burning white ♪
1986
01:37:34,152 --> 01:37:38,940
♪ None in the heavens are
Shining as bright tonight ♪