Stella Stevens dead at 84: Nutty Professor & Poseidon Adventure star dies after Alzheimer’s struggle, son Andrew says
ACTRESS Stella Stevens has died at the age of 84 after a battle with Alzheimer’s, according to her family.
The Poseidon Adventure star was known as a 1960s screen siren who worked alongside entertainment legends such as Elvis Presley and Jerry Lewis.
She worked alongside Elvis in Girls! Girls! Girls! and next to Lewis in The Nutty Professor.
Her son, actor-producer Andrew Stevens, as well as her friend John O’Brien, confirmed her passing in Los Angeles to Deadline on Friday.
Stevens, originally from Mississippi, was discovered in Memphis, Tennessee, by 20th Century Fox after being noticed in one of her college’s stage productions.
She was then hired by Paramount and Columbia, which made her a star in some of the 1960s’ most popular films.
The 60s icon was also famously a centerfold for Playboy and went on to direct, write, and produce films.
In 1989 she directed her son Andrew in the film The Ranch. She also directed a documentary in 1979 titled The American Heroine.
Stevens also starred in various TV shows in the 70s including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Flamingo Road in 1980.
She had one of her most recent roles in 2005’s Popstar, which her son executively produced.
Andrew told The Hollywood Reporter the star “had been in hospice for quite some time with Stage 7 Alzheimer’s.”
She is survived by Andrew and her grandchildren Amelia, Aubrey, and Samuel.
Her partner of almost 40 years, Bob Kulick, a successful rock guitarist, died in 2020.