Inger Stevens

About Inger Stevens

Inger Stevens was a Swedish-American star of film, stage, and television with (alas!) all too short a career.

Lest millennials somehow think they are the only ones familiar with certain forms of drama, take note of Inger's life story. When she was 6, her mother abandoned the family, taking only a son, Peter, with her. Soon thereafter, her father moved to the U.S., leaving Inger and her brother Ola in the custody of the family maid(!), then later to an aunt in Lidinga.

In 1944, (presumably when better "heeled") her dad brought them to the United States to live with him and his new wife. By this time, he had completed his PhD work and we presume he commanded a significant salary. My sources go into no details on the family dynamics, but by the end of the next couple paragraphs I think you can draw your own conclusions.

When Inger was 13, she moved with her family to Manhattan, Kansas (I'm not making that up!), where her dad taught at Kansas State University and Inger attended Manhattan Hight School. At the age of 15, Inger had apparently had enough, and ran away to find her own path. She worked in burlesque for a time, in KC, and then moved back to the ACTUAL New York City, where she worked as a chorus girl and in the Garment District while she attended classes at the Actors Studio (this of course was well before James Lipton's heyday).

Inger eventually worked her way into stage and TV series roles, which is precisely how she merits any attention from us today. Her first "big break" was appearing in MAN ON FIRE with a then-obscure singer and actor by the name of Bing Crosby.

Awards and Honors: She was voted Best TV Star, Female, by TV Guide, in 1964 for her role in THE FARMER'S DAUGHER.

(TBC, more than likely)

Sources: wikipedia, bodysize.org