Inger Stevens

Biography

Inger Stevens (born Ingrid Stensland; October 18, 1934 – April 30, 1970)[1] was a Swedish–American film, television, and stage actress. Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the eldest child of Per Gustaf and Lisbet Stensland. When she was six years old, her mother abandoned the family (taking her youngest son Peter with her). Soon afterwards Stevens' father moved to the United States, leaving Stevens and her brother, Ola, in the custody of the family maid—and then later with an aunt in Lidingö, near Stockholm. In 1944, she and her brother moved to the United States and lived with their father and his new wife in New York City where he was teaching at Columbia University. At age 13, Stevens moved with her family to Manhattan, Kansas, where her father taught at Kansas State University. Stevens attended Manhattan High School. At 16, she ran away from home to Kansas City, and worked in burlesque shows. At 18, she left Kansas City to return to New York City, where she worked as a chorus girl and in the Garment District while taking classes at the Actors Studio. Stevens appeared on television series, in commercials, and in plays until she received her big break in the film Man on Fire, starring Bing Crosby. Roles in major films followed, including a starring role opposite Harry Belafonte in 1959's The World, the Flesh and the Devil, but she achieved her greatest success in the television series The Farmer's Daughter (1963–1966), with William Windom.