Inger at the 1959 Academy Awards

Inger onstage at the 1959 ceremony.

In April 1959, three months after a heavily publicized suicide attempt, Inger made her first public appearance at the 31st Annual Academy Awards ceremony. The event took place at the Pantages Theater on April 6th. Inger's film The Buccaneer was nominated for Best Costume Design, but lost to Gigi. In fact, Gigi dominated the awards, winning nine categories: Best Motion Picture, Director, Screenplay from Another Medium, Score, Song, Art Direction, Costume Design, Color Cinematography, and Film Editing.

Inger participated in an opening dance routine along with Lori Nelson, Jean Wallace, Terry Moore, Carolyn Jones, Erin O'Brien, Arlene Dahl, Connie Towers, Joanna Moore, and Barbara Rush. She also wore costume and hair from The Buccaneer in an onstage fashion show of the year's Best Costume Design nominees. You can view a clip of the fashion show on Youtube.

Inger with other actresses for the opening dance number.

A close-up of Inger from the group photo.

Inger had flown from New York City (where her suicide attempt and recuperation took place) to Los Angeles in early March, which signaled to the press that "her health's O.K. again." Hedda Hopper remarked that Inger was "looking like her old self again" and Inger assured Louella Parsons that she was thinking of the future and that her troubles were behind her. Gossip columnists and fan magazine writers speculated on which married man had caused Inger's anguish and led her to suicide. Several years later, a couple of writers would correctly identify the man as Harry Belafonte. Inger redirected the questions about her personal life to focus on her career aspirations, letting everyone know that she'd love to play Holly Golightly in the upcoming film production of Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Inger was kindly welcomed back into Hollywood. Columnist Sheilah Graham wrote, "Inger Stevens was hard to recognize. The last time I saw her, Inger's hair was a drab shade of blond and she was a worried gal. This time she looked gay, very French with her soft, scattered, very blond and becoming hairdo." 

Bob Thomas wrote that Inger's appearance at the ceremony received an "unusually warm reception...like an outstretched hand of sympathy for a girl who has undergone emotional stress." 

After that welcome, Inger returned to television work. Audiences would see her Inger in Playhouse 90 in May, Bonanza in September, and Sunday Showcase in December. But Inger would not be seen in a movie for another five years. Unhappy with loanouts, bad scripts, and a suspension, Inger surprised everyone by buying out her contract with Paramount by the end of the year. After her contract buyout in December 1959 and before landing the lead role in The Farmer's Daughter series in August 1963, hardworking Inger would star in twenty-two television productions and three plays.

Several years later, Inger would reflect on the year of heartbreak, survival, and independence. She said:

I don’t think I’m the least bit jaded. Life goes on for me in a very happy fashion. I’ve just gone and had, of course, mistakes and certain unhappiness, but that’s all part of it. You can’t be expected to always be making the right decisions. That’s what makes you grow up, and I don’t regret anything. I’m the sum total of all those things. But I know I’ve learned a lot – and changed. I’m more realistic about people now. I don’t think I’m living in a dream world. I don’t expect too much.

Sources:

Buffalo-Courier Express. March 17, 1959.

The Evening Star. April 10, 1959.

The Ledger-Star. April 10. 1959.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 5, 1959.

San Francisco Examiner. March 9, 1959.

Solano-Napa News Chronicle. February 13, 1959.

House of Cards (1968) and its International Locations

House of Cards is a 1968 suspense thriller starring George Peppard, Inger Stevens, and Orson Welles. It is my personal favorite of Inger's movies for several reasons. First, Inger is given a mysterious and modern role fit for a leading lady. Second, she is dressed impeccably by Edith Head. Third, Inger gets to fall in love with George Peppard in the most beautiful locations in Paris and Rome. Finally, it's an intriguing plot with excellent acting from all players. 

This post is an entry in Hometowns to Hollywood's Celluloid Road Trip Blogathon: International Edition. The film's key scenes take place by the Seine in Paris, at the Trevi Fountain in Rome, and at the Colosseum in Rome.

The Film

Reno Davis (George Peppard) is an American boxer whose career is in decline. After an unsuccessful fight in Paris, Reno is shot at by a young boy, Paul (Barnaby Shaw). Returning the boy to his mother Anne de Villemont (Inger Stevens), Reno is immediately struck by the strange behavior and ornate surroundings of Anne and her son.

On the day he plans to leave Paris, Anne offers him a live-in position tutoring her son. She explains that Paul’s father was killed in the war and that she’d like an American man to guide her son. Reno agrees due to the substantial pay and his curiosity about her situation.

He quickly learns that the elder members of the family live to revel in past military glories and heavily monitor the actions of Anne and her son. Reno continues to notice the strange, secretive behavior within the house and the contrasting contained warmth that seems to exist within Anne.

Dr. Morillion (Keith Mitchell) maintains a firm grip on Anne’s physical and mental health and is extra observant of Paul’s actions. At parties within the house, Reno meets Leschenhaut (Orson Welles), whom he later discovers is leading a global fascist movement to overthrow the government. Reno begins to see that Anne, who has been presented to him as a mentally fragile alcoholic, is actually right to believe nefarious activity is afoot. 

When Paul is kidnapped and a murder plot on themselves revealed, Reno and Anne must work together to travel from Paris to Rome to rescue Paul while exposing the fascist plot.

The Locations 

The beginning of the film focuses on views of Paris, particularly set around the Seine. Multiple attacks take place on the bridge and in the Seine itself.

The castle from which Reno and Anne escape is located at Odescalchi at Bracciano, outside of Rome.

An enjoyable scene takes place in the Fountain of Trevi. Anne and Reno are stealing coins from the fountain in order to refuel their car. When a policeman approaches, they quickly embrace as lovers so that the cop does not notice their thievery. 

The scene was shot in the evening and the water was freezing.  A large crowd gathered to watch the filming of this scene and ended up ruining several takes. At one point, a three-year-old child jumped into the fountain and Inger had to pull the child out and return her to her mother.

Fittingly, House of Cards' final scene in which the hero Reno battles the villain Leschenhaut happens at the Roman Colosseum.

The Reception

The film was positively received. Don LaBadie with the LA Times wrote that the film, "may well be more in the vintage Hitchcock tradition than anything the master himself has done in years." LaBadie praised the film's "shrewd blend of Hitchcockian ingredients" and Inger's character: 

Miss Stevens is a distressed, ambiguously worldly lady—a figure reminiscent of that played by another Swede Ingrid Bergman in Hitchcock's Notorious—who only seems to be a tramp. 

Inger Stevens was thrilled to get the chance to play a true leading lady role. Always self-deprecating about her beauty, she said:

I'm playing a super-sophisticated lady who might mistake a milk pail for a champagne bucket. And, for the first time in my career, I'm getting a chance to wear really beautiful clothes. You cannot imagine what a great lift it gives an old Raggedy-Ann type like me to get into some sparkling fashions. You know, Universal sent Edith Head all the way over to plan my fashion parade. She didn't have to bring along all those Oscars—I know I'm in the best of hands!

Orson Welles loved his villainous role and appreciated the film's clear definition of good and evil characters. Orson said: 

I was attracted to this role for several reasons. I've admired the work of Stanley Ellin, who wrote the novel. He's done some marvelous short stories, wild and brilliant. There was one I wanted to make a film of, a story about a company whose business it is to get rid of the old people in your home. Terrifying. Unfortunately, Hitchcock had already bought it.

Then I found that, for a change, House of Cards was a melodrama that had a villain and a hero. Much more than half of all the films made and all the plays produced are melodramas. Shakespeare's tragedies have great tragic elements and great tragic moments, but they're all pure melodramas. What's being forgotten at present is that melodramas are based on a conflict between good and evil. Nowadays, the villain is disappearing because the hero is a villain, too. You take on a part and you discover that all the pleasure in being a villain is being usurped by the leading man. The morality of the melodrama is becoming flabby under the guise of being tough. In too many films, there are no longer the bad guys and the good guys. There's just the guy who wins.

George Peppard was exhausted throughout the filming and called it, "The Running, Jumping, and Never Standing Still Film." He respected Inger, telling reporters: 

I think Inger Stevens is the most courageous actress I have ever met in this business. She has had a series of physical ailments that would have downed most fullbacks, but she has never complained. As for myself, I've never worked so hard on a film in my life. I just got up from a 19-hour sleep.

Behind-the-Scenes Facts

Filming took place in August-November 1967. Inger joined the cast as Anne after German actress Eva Renzi left the production.

In one scene, George Peppard cut his thumb with a knife—requiring six stitches. 

Inger gave Orson Welles a collection of Happiness books by Charles Schultz as a gift. Orson later remarked, "It may sound corny, but I've become an ardent Peanuts fan."

Inger spent Thanksgiving with Rock Hudson, Shelley Winters, Shelley's boyfriend John Stroud, and the George Segals at Chuck Painter's apartment in Rome. 

Inger lived at the Piazza San Salvatore during filming and told reporters that she loved Rome so much she planned to buy an apartment building there. In typical Inger fashion, she also playfully poked fun at Italian living and the less-than-glamorous life of a movie star, saying:

Oh, the noise. I live in an old palazzo in a marvelous duplex. When you run the vacuum, you have to disconnect the refrigerator or you blow a fuse, that’s how old the place is. At 5:30 every morning, the bells in the church next door start clanging and the Italians start gunning their motors. I cook myself a steak and go to work.

I have to have my hair washed and set every evening. But with the electric current so weak in my apartment I’m afraid of fusing everything so I go to a beauty parlor. The beauty parlor is usually filled with principesses and their dogs. I’m usually dressed in jeans and sandals and the principesses and their dogs look at me suspiciously. The dogs, usually tiny, growl ferociously. 

Hours later I exit from the salon with my hair in enormous curlers looking like a science fiction character. Because of the curlers, I can’t go out to a restaurant. So I trundle home, eat a cold dinner and drink a hot glass of milk. I watch the news on television to improve my Italian and at 9:15 I get into bed, happy as a clam to be living in glamorous Rome. Oh, I forgot. Before I clock out, I dial 114 and have a call with the wake-up service. You never know, one morning the church bells won’t ring, and the Romans will renounce their damn cars and I might even oversleep!

Due to some copyright issues with the music, as I understand the issue to be, House of Cards has not been issued on Region 1 DVD. However, it is available as an import, which plays perfectly on my Blu-ray player.

You can read all of the entries in Hometowns to Hollywood's The Celluloid Road Trip Blogathon: International Edition by clicking here.

Sources: 

LA Times 23 Nov 1967. 

The Missoulian. September 21, 1967.

The Missoulian. November 3, 1967.

The Pensacola News-Journal. October 29, 1967. 

Pittsburgh Press 16 Jan 1968

Inger Stevens in Sweden (1965)

I had the chance to watch the 1965 documentary Inger Stevens in Sweden in the Library of Congress archives last year. Actually, I watched it twice—once for pleasure and once more for pleasure and note-taking so that I could share a full summary with you. To be honest, I would have enjoyed watching it a thousand times. Some of the photographs from my collection that I'm using in this post are in full color, but the video itself is in black and white. I have added some of my own observations and extra information and placed those in parenthesis throughout the summary.  Following the summary, you'll find behind-the-scenes facts and press responses.

The Documentary

Inger exits a plane and remarks that "the world is smaller than ever. Our understanding between people is more important now than ever before." As she introduces the film, Inger says she was only twelve years old when she left Sweden. (She was actually nine years old when she arrived in America in July 1944.)

Inger takes direction from Don Taylor during filming.

Walking down the cobblestone streets of the old town, Inger says, "People say these streets put their arms around you. I agree." Inger hears the chimes of St. Gertrude and travels down Priest Street. She notices that many of the businesses have closed so that the owners can go fishing and explains that in Sweden, "Time to live is more important than time to make money." Inger then has coffee with a local woman named Vera Siocrona, who helped preserve the town's history. As they sit at an outdoor cafe, they discuss Queen Christina and how she gave away houses to her lovers. On the street, the camera zooms in and Inger humorously reflects on the conservative fashion choices of the male and female residents.

Next, Inger is sitting poolside with boxer Ingemar Johansson outside of a Stockholm hotel. She asks him for his opinions on America and American women. When Ingemar responds that American women are "spoiled", Inger asks "In what way?" "Now you really got me!", Ingemar laughs as he explains that he finds it odd that men must wait for women to exit elevators first and that women expect men to open their car doors. When Ingemar says women shouldn't wait for a man to open the door, Inger smiles and responds much like Katy Holstrum with a Swedish "Ja? Why not?" She lights up and responds, "That's right" about women exiting elevators first. Showing she enjoys American customs, Inger states, "I like that you wait. I mean there are so few nice things left." (A girlish and charming Inger saying "I mean there are so few nice things left" is my favorite line of the film. I cannot tell you how many times I've used it in my own conversations since. I cannot emphasize just how charming, kind, and friendly appears in each of her conversations throughout the documentary.)

Inger and Ingemar talk about American and Swedish customs.

When asked whether he prefers Swedish or American girls, Ingemar answers that Swedish girls are superior. Inger quickly asserts that she is very much a Swedish girl. (Later, Inger would say that she “would’ve preferred to discuss Swedish men but that wasn’t in the script.”) Inger says, "It's wonderful to be back in Sweden...a peaceful feeling. Sweden represents all the inside feelings." Curiously, Inger also shares, "My family is here. I have no family that live in the United States." (Inger, of course, had many relatives including her mother and siblings in Sweden. But she also had a father, stepmother, brother, and half-sister that lived in America. Though she had strained relations with her father and stepmother, it was still shocking to hear her erase her connection to her family in America.)

In the hotel scene with Ingemar, Inger recalls her Swedish childhood. She says that she lived just three blocks from the hotel as a child and thought that the hotel was enormous, too grand for her. She shares that she was more comfortable in the farm and country and always "longed to be up in the woods."

At one point, Inger asks Ingemar if he thinks "In US they say things they don't mean or words become meaningless?" (Inger often brings this point about insincerity up in interviews throughout her career. Typically, she remarks on this insincerity permeating the culture of entertainers.)

Inger waits to shoot a scene.

In the scene that follows, Inger looks at sculptures in Millesgården. (She later remarked, "The day we spent filming there is one I’ll never forget. It’s almost incredible loveliness is difficult to put into words.") Inger then boards a water taxi. The boat's tour guide is sixteen-year-old Peter who works on his summer break. Peter takes a seat by Inger and tells her he would like to become a psychiatrist. Inger asks if he hopes to help people and he answers that he does plus he'd like the money associated with it. The money answer makes Inger laugh. Inger is amused when Peter tells her he has ten girlfriends, all in different locations and unaware of each other's existence.

Inger amused with tour guide Peter's answers

Actor Max von Sydow joins Inger for a car ride to the Royal Palace. We learn that the royal family only lives in the palace during the Christmas season. They stroll through a garden then enter the Drottingholm Theater which Max explains is now "used as storage for a lot of unimportant things." Inger is awed by the theater. As they speak, Inger cannot keep her eyes from taking in the magnificent ceiling, exclaiming breathlessly, "Oh, it's amazing!" (Inger was equally awed by Max, writing in a letter that he was "that kind of man, a Prince Charming, but nothing put on. He is entirely simple, gentle and direct and interested in you. There is a wonderful purity to him. He's terribly sexy, too.")

In a brief transition, Inger can be seen eating a hot dog while wearing an evening gown as she talks about nightlife in Sweden.

In daylight, Inger watches kids play in a park. All the kids gather round as Inger shares a story in Swedish (months before, she had told reporters that she hoped to read a Swedish fairytale) and teaches them to say in English, "I want a drink of water."

Inger visits the workshop of artist Bo Besko. Besko shows Inger his stained glass and they remark that making your own glass is like making pancakes. Inger tells Bo that they have a special connection: Bo's father, when a clergyman, actually confirmed her mother. Inger and Bo take a look at fish being sold from the fish peddler's truck and discuss Sweden's history. They look at a castle's ruins and Bo asks, "You want to keep Sweden the way it is, don't you?" and Inger answers, "Oh, yes."

Inger with Bo Besko

Following the art segment with Mr. Besko, Inger sits down with Prime Minister Tage Erlander who served as the country's leader from 1946 to 1969. They converse about his policies and hope for the future. Erlander states that he regrets Inger left the country and Inger, almost apologetically, relays the oft-told story, "My father received a Fulbright scholarship and went to America. I was only twelve years old." (In truth, Inger's father did come to America for academic study, but the Fulbright scholarship did not exist until several years after his arrival. As mentioned earlier, Inger often changes her age of arrival in America. In this documentary, Inger says that she was twelve. In reality, she was just nine years old.) As she speaks with the Erlander, Inger stands by her decision to remain in the United States, stating, "I think it is very nice that Swedes are all over the world."

Inger in Sweden

Dalarna

Inger explores her home county of Dalarna. Admiring children in traditional garb, Inger trades in her high heels for a pair of wooden shoes. She rides a bicycle through the woods, where, as a child, she learned "the wonder of nature. I loved the sounds and music of the forest." Inger passes a waterfall that she recalls was "her sanctuary" and then enters the school she attended as a girl. In an emotionally moving scene, Inger walks into a small church and recalls Christmas services she attended with her family. She remembers that there was "always an inner warmth, a warmth I'll never forget of the whole family being together at Christmas." The documentary ends with Inger concluding that home will always be Dalarna.

Inger in the Dalarna nature scenes at Lake Siljan.

Behind the Scenes

The shoot was exhausting for Inger. In letters, she wrote of her lack of sleep, that they filmed seven days a week, and that everything seemed to go wrong. Rain ruined much of the shooting schedule and any fun that could have taken place on the weekends. Scenes with Max von Sydow had to be reshot when they realized there had been no film in the camera. Her professional hair dryer mysteriously disappeared from the hotel and a mouse kept her awake.  In letters, Inger wrote:

Life after work is rather normal—shove food down, fall exhausted into bed, get up and sit in the living room since you can't get to sleep and boom!—there's a mouse behind the wastebasket.

Most things that can go wrong have gone wrong, including the worst offense in "filmdom"—no film in the camera. 

It's no wonder that an exhausted Inger was sick with pneumonia as soon as she returned to the U.S. She was a trooper though, calling the situations "exasperating, but you learn to shut yourself off. And when you really boil, hunt for something funny—it's the only saver."

Much of the travelogue focuses on the interesting personalities of the Swedish people. This pleased Inger, who said she felt "more like a peasant girl than a sophisticated American." She said, "I really want to tell about the people. I think some Americans still believe we're going about in costumes at home. We hope to get away from that level if possible."

Inger speaks to her mother upon arrival in Sweden.

Inger had serious reservations about the reception she would receive by her family, who she'd only visited a handful of times since her childhood, and the Swedish people. She said:

I felt a little funny about it, too. After being in America for so long and then coming over to do a special on Sweden—they could have resented that, I think, but they didn't. I cried a little when I saw my mother. Then all the photographers wanted me to cry for them. How do you cry when you have already finished crying?...I was hoping to take my mother to Paris or London on weekends, but bad weather forced us to work whenever the sun came out, so there wasn't any vacation.

While I was walking with Max von Sydow at the old theater the other day, I looked up and saw a young man with two children. He was pushing a baby carriage. "Hey!" I hollered and jumped over a hedge and grabbed him. It was my brother. I've been so busy I haven't had time to see him. He was just on his way to the market and didn't know I was anywhere around. Whenever my family wants to see me, they wander around until they see the lights and they know that's where I am. The other day we were shooting at one of the big squares and a woman came up and said, "Hello, Inger." I didn't know her, of course. She turned out to be a lady who used to be my baby sitter—that is, she sat with me when I was a baby.

The nature scenes in Dalarna included the unique challenge of wooden shoes: 

It is not easy to ride a bicycle in wooden shoes. The guy driving the camera truck didn't know what he was doing and I had to pedal like the very devil and keep up with him and then slow down and smile and contemplate nature and then pump like crazy to catch up again. This went on for four days. 

Also, there was a slight misrepresentation of location in the Dalarna scenes. The scenes of Inger's hometown were filmed in Boda and Tällberg, but Inger actually grew up in Mora, a city in the Dalarna province. Boda and Tallberg are both in Dalarna County but on different points of Lake Siljan. Inger lived in Bromma, Stockholm until 1938 when her family relocated to Mora, Dalarna.

Hometown scenes were shot in Boda and Tallberg,
but Inger actually grew up in Mora.

The Response

The travelogue was a trend at the time and Inger's tour of her homeland followed Jackie Kennedy's White House tour, Elizabeth Taylor's exploration of London, and Princess Grace's tour of Monaco. The documentary was well-received by critics, who deemed it a "beautifully photographed travelogue” worth watching for its “picture postcard views” and “brought to life by the lovely Miss Stevens in short, interesting interviews." Inger was called a "perky guide" and praised for highlighting modern Sweden as equally as its historical monuments.

For me, viewing the TV special confirms several points. One, that my admiration for Inger is reaffirmed (though it was never doubted). The charm and intelligence Inger shows in the varied interviews are unique. Her voice modulates to reflect the wonder, excitement, and warmth she experiences throughout her Swedish exploration. In fact, Inger is so poised and appealing, a person can’t help but imagine her hosting a successful talk show or writing clever bestsellers. She is utterly lovable. 

Secondly, I realize more than ever how isolated Inger must have felt throughout her life. A Swedish girl whose parents left her behind while pursuing their own lives and making new families with other partners. A child pushed from her homeland to be reunited with a father who she'd not seen for years, far away, in a strange country. A child eager to please her father but never able to feel the closeness she desired. A Swedish teenager desperate to shed her traditional, dated clothing to be accepted by her American peers. And, in a matter of years, an independent woman, outwardly American in accent and prospective, traveling back to her European birthplace to visit with family she hadn't seen since childhood. Not wholly belonging in either Sweden or America; not feeling a desired kinship with either parent in their separate places. 

Inger's favorite aspect of filming the show was the positive response she received from the Swedish people. Inger would later say:

The nicest thing about the show for me personally is that when I arrived there the people treated me as one of their own.

Inger in Sweden

Sources:

Daily Press. February 21, 1965.

Inger Stevens in Sweden.  Associated Arts, N.V. ; 1965. Reference print 2 reels : sd., b&w ; 16 mm.

Patterson, William T. The Farmer's Daughter Remembered. 2000.

Portland Press Herald. February 26, 1965.

The Reporter Dispatch. February 26, 1965.

The State February 26, 1965. 

Inger Stevens: No Hayseed

The article "Inger Stevens: No Hayseed" was written by Susan Smith and originally published in the Miami Herald on December 10, 1963. Here are excerpts:

Actress Inger Stevens gets irritated with lazy actors, dislikes drinking beer from cans and thinks women who wear high heels with slacks look terrible.

When she has free time, Inger takes long walks and paints. "And I read everything, even J. Edgar Hoover. I just finished Jessica Mitford's book about the high cost of dying and I was horrified. What a racket, and those people having 'vaultburgers.' Vaultburgers! What kind of taste is that?"

Her own taste includes simple, tailored clothes. She thinks "junk" jewelry is "for the birds."

Unlike most amateur painters, she won't keep a painting of her own. "If I did, I'd sit and look at it and think of all the ways it could be improved." Her paintings are mostly impressionistic and most given away to friends. 

She denies being a perfectionist, but friends say Inger remembers to a fraction of an inch exactly where she should stand for each line of a scene. 

"In movies you have more time, especially between scenes, to knit or read or make paper dolls or whatever, but in TV we are doing one show per week now, and the pace moves."

Every two years or so Inger returns to her native Sweden for a visit. "All my family is over there now, and they all want to come live with Inger," she says ruefully.

Inger's "First Impression"

Inger was featured in numerous game and quiz shows during the 1960's, including The New Truth and Consequences, Your First Impression, You Don't Say, and Personality. Inger was known for her quick, clever responses and she learned much about her fellow man through observation. In August 1962, Inger was a guest columnist for UPI and wrote about what she'd learned through her appearances as a panelist. The complete essay by Inger reads:

In the last several months I've learned that actors are selfish people (as if I didn't already know that); that some of the happiest married couples really hate each other; that hardly any stimulating conversation exists anymore.

This possibly startling data comes from some on-the-job training as an analyst-panelist on television shows. My analysis sans couch should have provided me with enough experience to hang out my own shingle and start psyching people. Heaven help them.

It isn't easy to guess the mystery guest on "Your First Impression," the show that throws questions and gets answers back with the speed of a computer. Once, I did get a clue to a guest's identity. She said a word that I knew was a unique part of her vocabulary. 

Actors are the hardest to guess. They're trained to react quickly to say at times what they wish to believe instead of what might be the strict truth. One of the prime traits that come out in this free association quiz is—selfishness. Some actors reveal, without knowing it, a trait which makes you feel sorry for them—their loneliness.

Another segment of "Your First Impression" deals with husbands and wives. From the answers they give such as "If we had to do over again, we'd never get married," you wonder how they've stayed "happily" married for 20 years. It's mostly the men who seem to wish they were free souls. 

I find it stimulating to do panel shows because I'm out there on my own fending for myself against some very sharp wits and it gives me a fine mental workout.

It makes me realize that people don't really know how to talk anymore. Everybody is so busy talking about his own work or being so diplomatic that the conversation has no bones to it. If you start a discussion, all the straw people run away because they think you're trying to start a fight.

There's a paradox here somewhere. The very medium which has stifled, nay killed, conversation is the only place left where one can get a chance to talk.

Note from Emily:

Although I've found some clips of the game shows online, I've yet to find a clip featuring Inger. I remain eternally optimistic that I will unearth one of Inger's episodes in time. 

Source:

"Inger Stevens Discovers Actors are Selfish People." Portland Press Herald. August 30, 1962.

George Maharis and Inger Stevens: An Enduring Friendship

George and Inger during the filming of the
1961 Route 66 episode "Burning for Burning".

When asked about the great actors and actresses he worked with in the past, actor George Maharis listed Inger first. In 2021, Maharis told Rock Goldschmidt of ReMIND Magazine, “I got to work with some wonderful actors and actresses including Inger Stevens, Boris Karloff and Buster Keaton."

George, who recently died at the age of 94 on May 24th, became close friends with Inger after she guest starred in "The Beryllium Eater" episode of Route 66 in 1960. I cannot help but think that Inger would have lived much longer had she possessed more friends as true as George during her lifetime.

George told Inger's biographer William Patterson:

I liked her humanness and warmth. But, at first, she seemed almost afraid of me. Knowing I was a bachelor, she thought that I might be on the make, eager to make a conquest rather than a friend.

George was attracted to Inger's "stubby nose, a crooked mouth, freckles, and listening eyes." Three years after their first episode together (the second would be 1961's "Burning for Burning"), George described Inger as "a marvelous woman, really" and added:

I like Inger. She has a heart as big as the world. I've always had the feeling she needs me. She's the kind of girl who haunts you. You get up in the morning thinking of her and how sweet she is. You want to do things for her. It's a great feeling. Inger and I never went out to fancy places, we just sat around and talked. She's the kind of girl who listens with her big, blue eyes. She gives me the feeling that's she's a sort of trusting child to whom you can say, 'I have four legs,' and she'd believe you. 

George and Inger in the 1960
Route 66 episode "The Beryllium Eater".

After filming "Burning for Burning" in 1961, Inger and George didn't work together again until 1970, but the two remained good friends due to their mutual respect for and understanding of each other. In 1964, George and Inger attended Young Citizens for President Johnson' barbecue party for Luci Baines Johnson in Beverly Hills, California. The photos below show them speaking with Steve McQueen.

George and Inger had many traits in common. As George said after Inger's death in 1970, a major shared characteristic was "falling in love with the wrong people...it's usually harder on a woman, though." 

Both lived without regrets. In 1970, George said:

Everything I do is on the spur of the moment. I've made a lot of rash decisions and mistakes in my lifetime. But I don't regret any of them for one minute. I've never lost any sleep over them. My creed is, do what you think is right, do the best you can, and the heck with it.

Years earlier, Inger shared a similar philosophy:

I hate the word mistakes...I regard life as a series of steps. Maybe I've stumbled on some of those steps. Lots of young people do. But I don't regret it. Everything that has happened to me has helped make me the person I am.

Although both Inger and George valued the artistic rewards of acting, neither were smitten with the business itself. George stated:

I'm only interested in artistic endeavors. The rest you can have. I don't care about business. I don't want to be a millionaire. I tell my manager just to put the money working so people won't tread on me and I won't be a nuisance to other people or to the state when I get old, if I do.

Inger talked about the business of Hollywood, too, sharing:

I was afraid of the people who were handling me at the time. They gave me so much advice contrary to my own ideas...The more I tried to follow their advice, the less inner peace I found.

This town has a tendency to swallow you up...Sometimes people here do everything for the mythical career. Some people sacrifice everything to get on top of the heap. They sacrifice friendship, their own individuality, and become a slave to a career.

Like George, Inger, in 1969, insisted she would never be a nuisance to others. She said:

They'll never hold a benefit for me. And the only reason I'll ever go to the motion picture country home is to entertain the old timers out there.

To maintain privacy surrounding their individual romantic lives, George and Inger cited their busy work schedules on popular television shows.

George answered why he hadn't settled down by stating:

This TV series has given me countless opportunities for that sort of thing but the heavy work schedule, the constant moving around have prevented me from doing very much about it.

Though she was already married to Ike Jones at the time, Inger responded:

Yes, I want to get married, but it will take a very special understanding man to put up with my schedule. I have to be up at 5 a.m. to leave for the studio, and I usually don't get home until 8:20 at night. I never have a day off in the series, and when I do, I have to shoot commercials or photographs.

If they found themselves hemmed in by their public images, Inger and George turned to painting as an outlet of free expression. 

Inger commented:

I like to paint for relaxation. I think the reason that actors and actresses paint is that it's the one thing that they can do that other people really don't tamper with.

George echoed this sentiment in 2021:

I have always loved painting, as you are free to do what you want to do. Just me, the paint and the canvas!

In 1970, after starring in Aaron Spelling's television movie Run, Simon, Run, Inger signed on to costar with George Maharis and Ralph Bellamy in the forensic crime drama Zig Zag (soon renamed The Most Deadly Game). Inger and George worked together preparing promotional videos of the show in the months leading up to her death. 

George recalled learning of Inger's death:

I heard about it at home. Aaron Spelling phoned me. Inger had appeared to be in good spirits, in good health. We had had several conferences on the series. We had just made some promotional films together. It was a great shock...Inger was a personal friend of mine. I loved her and the idea of working with her. We both liked all the elements. It was going to be a great combination. 

After Inger's death, the female lead in The Most Deadly Game was played by Yvette Mimieux and the show did not last its first season. Though we were robbed of watching Inger and George costar once more, the promotional video still exists. 

Zig Zag (1970)

Zig Zag (1970)

Zig Zag (1970)

Thank you, Mr. Maharis, for the indelible mark you left in the world of television and movies. Thank you for enhancing the soundtrack of the 1960's with your smooth, swinging recordings. Thank you most of all for treating our Inger with the kindness and respect she deserved from all of her peers and for continuing to speak her name and share her talents until the end of your life.

Sources:

Boston Globe. October 4, 1970.

Cincinatti Enquirer. October 23, 1970.

Daily News. December 18, 1960.

Miami Herald. August 26, 1962.

Orlando Evening Star. July 3, 1970.

Photoplay. January 1962.

San Francisco Examiner. July 26, 1970.