Hollywood actress, Stella Stevens has passed on at the age of 84 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The news of the actress’ passing was confirmed by her son, Andrew Stevens on NNN.
The actress is most known for her roles in The Poseidon Adventure and The Nutty Professor. According to her manager and close friend, Maria Calabrese,
It was an honor and a privilege to work with Stella, who was one of the most wonderful and gifted people I have ever worked with.
While I truly wish I could have done more for her toward the latter years of her career and shared in her frustration as she so wanted to make the leap from a triple threat American icon to producer-her wish, never realised, was to have three original Western scripts produced.”
Maria further revealed that:
She was an amazing animal lover, horse wrangler, rock and roller, so ahead of her time and so much more than a sex symbol – which her adoring fans admired her for and understood.
What a tremendous body of work and loss. She was the OG of strong Hollywood women.”
Stella Stevens was said to have “nurtured her talent for performing while studying at college” and made her film debut in 1959 in Say One For Me, starring alongside American singer, Bing Crosby.
The actress was married to Noble Herman Stephens in 1954, when she was 16 years old and together they welcomed their son, Andrew, the following year. However, they were divorced by the time she was 17 as she had told revealed to Deadline,
I was a divorced mom with a toddler by the time I was 17,
Stella Stevens is survived by her son, Andrew and three grandchildren. We do hope that they find comfort in this difficult time.
