Inger in Family Weekly (1970)

Inger's final cover story was published by Family Weekly, an insert that appeared in Sunday newspapers across the United States, on March 8, 1970.

 

 

 

 

Inger's Thoughts on Broken Homes, Personal Appearance, and Speaking Voices

The following are quotes from Inger to columnist Lydia Lane in February 1961:

Broken homes leave scars that take time to heal. And I speak from experience. But if you don't indulge in that destructive emotion, self-pity, you come out of your problems toughened and prepared to handle what faces you in life more constructively. When you are able to find peace within yourself, it reflects in everything about you.

No matter how many obligations you may have, you must find time to take care of your appearance. It goes much deeper than vanity, and it is as important for the nonprofessional as for an actress. I personally don't have a sense of completion if I am not well turned out. If my hairstyle is unbecoming or if I'm wearing a dress I'm not comfortable in, it affects how I feel toward myself and how others feel and act toward me.

I find it very disturbing to be around someone with a strident voice—one without modulation. So many people talk much too loudly. They shout when they are right next to you. And unfortunately children are mimics and carry on this bad habit. When I was in school, I was voted the girl you most wanted to listen to. We really don't know how we sound to others, but it is so simple to have a tape recording made to listen to yourself objectively. Having someone listen to you never has the same impact as finding out your faults for yourself. Then you know exactly what you want to correct. 

The Danny Kaye Show (1966)

 

Inger performs on The Danny Kaye Show

Inger was a guest on The Danny Kaye Show on February 23, 1966. She appeared with other guests, including Harvey Korman, Woody Herman and The Herd, and The Clinger Sister and Brother Aaron. 

In the episode, Inger sang "The Lass from the Low Country" and did a song-and-dance routine with Danny to "Let Me Entertain You".  In a separate skit, Inger played an American teacher who visits Giovanni the tailor, an older Italian widower (Kaye). Giovanni and his pal Carlos (Harvey Korman) convince themselves that the young teacher is aiming for a date with the older tailor. 

Jazz great Woody Herman teamed up with The Herd for performances of "After You've Gone" and "Caldonia". The Clinger Sisters and Brother Aaron, a family group featuring youth, sang "Do-Re-Me" and "Old MacDonald". Also, Danny portrayed President George Washington to honor Washington's birthday.

A year before the episode, in 1965, Inger was seated next to Danny at an event at the Cocoanut Grove.

 

The episode is not commercially available at this time. I do have audio recordings of Inger's songs which I will share with you as soon as possible.

 

Source:

"Inger Stevens, Herman Herd Join Kaye." The South Bend Tribune. February 19, 1966. 

Inger, A Dream of Kings, and the Hairstylist

 

Inger in a hair and makeup test for A Dream of Kings

Hairdresser Ginger "Sugar" Blymyer was responsible for the hairstyles of the cast in the 1969 drama A Dream of Kings. In her book, Sugar revealed the atmosphere on the set and what it was like working with Inger, who had been romantically linked with Sugar's husband Pat before Sugar became involved with him. When Sugar told her husband she would be working with Inger, he "was embarrassed. It was sweet. I wasn't jealous. After all I hadn't known Pat when he had slept with her. It was before my time. I thought his response was very funny, but I decided I probably shouldn't tease him anymore and I was sure he regretted sharing his experience."

Sugar recalled that most of the filming was cold, often outdoors on the streets of Chicago and downtown Los Angeles. Sugar also got to know the cast very well. She spoke of Anthony Quinn and Inger Stevens, "Anthony Quinn was a big powerful man, full of energy and could be scary at times. I could imagine he might have a quick temper if he wasn't pleased and I certainly wanted to avoid his anger, if possible. Irene Papas, the Greek actress, was lovely. Inger Stevens was perfect. She was warm, sexy, and easily communicated her feelings. We became friends immediately."

Sugar found Anthony to be "impatient and intimidating" while she worked on his hair. (She used an eyebrow pencil to fill in areas of his head that were balding.) Sugar knew that Anthony and Inger had engaged in an affair during the filming of The Buccaneer (1958) which, like most of her romantic entanglements, resulted in heartbreak for Inger. Sugar noted that ten years after her affair with Tony, Inger was a "nice woman and this was a difficult period for her...it was a real challenge for her to work with Tony in a film that was so similar to her own past experience...it was cathartic for Inger. She had described Tony as a steamroller, but now she felt able to deal with him."

When the shoot ended, Sugar "was sorry to finish working with Inger. I had grown to love her. She was so cute, never mentioning that she knew Pat before or that anything had happened between them. At the end of the film, she gave me a lovely gift and said to give her love to Pat any way that I wanted to. He liked that."

Sugar had a difficult time accepting Inger's death a year later because Inger "seemed so sane and wonderful, like she had done the necessary work to live a full life." 

I purchased Sugar's book mainly because of her seventeen year association with actress Natalie Wood and was very pleasantly surprised to discover a chapter on A Dream of Kings and such insight on Inger during the making of what would become her last theatrical release. 

If you'd like to read more about A Dream of Kings, please check out a post I wrote a while back on the film. It includes interesting quotes, photographs, and details from Inger as well as a film summary. The post can be accessed here: A Dream of Kings.

Source:

 Blymyer, Ginger Sugar. Hairdresser to the Stars. Infinity Publishing. 2002.

Inger's Debut on Broadway (1956)

After gaining experience performing in summer stock and television, Inger made her Broadway debut in a play fittingly titled Debut at the Holiday Theatre in late February 1956. Sadly, the play proved to be a flop but Inger had a sense of humor about it. She told Louella Parsons, “I was on Broadway for six months without actually being there. I opened in a play at the Holiday Theatre called Debut. It lasted four days and was a dismal failure. The theatre closed, but my name remained in lights on the marquee until the theatre reopened six months later.”

Directed by John Gerstad and written by Mary Drayon, the play's stars were Tom Helmore (who was also married to Ms. Drayton) and Inger. The cast and crew had traveled to Boston early on in the month for try-outs at the Wilbur Theatre and one critic asserted that Inger was “a born actress and she shines all over the stage.”. In the play, a Southern belle falls for a newspaperman who doesn’t match her family’s social standards. 

Leading up to the play’s Broadway opening, Inger was the star of a multi-page spread in This Week magazine. She posed with animals in the Central Park Zoo and shared acting techniques she’d learned from Strasberg during her classes at the Actor’s Studio. 

Walter Winchell assured readers that Inger was far from fault for Debut’s failure, stating, “Locals still gab about the fine performance of newcomer Inger Stevens…most critics raved about her.” Though Winchell was a good guy to have in your corner, it is certain that his positive take was not enough to strengthen Inger against the negative reviews of her performance. 

Brooks Atkinson called Inger’s acting “a problem” and her performance “high-strung, aggressive…shallow, frantic.” This complaint of franticness was echoed in Hal Eaton’s assertion that Inger “bounces around like a rubber ball”, Viola Jenning’s reflection that Inger was imitating a “human being shot from a cannon.” Inger’s harshest critic was Isabel Dunn, author of the book Maria and the Captain on which the play was based, who summed Inger up as “absolutely incompetent.” 

Several critics saw promise in the Broadway newcomer, however. John McClain called Inger “extremely lisson” and wondered what she might be able to accomplish with a more realistic role. Noel Mostart was grateful that Debut “brought forward one of the prettiest girls since…well, since Marilyn Monroe gave her press conference a week or two back. The girl is Inger Stevens. She was the only reason I kept my seat until the end.” 

One reason Debut was not a success was due to uncomplimentary comparisons to the recent stage success The Ponder Heart. The Ponder Heart was praised for its imagination and humanness while Debut was deemed humorless and unoriginal. It seems that the main cause of the play’s downfall was its failure to seem authentic in its Southern setting. Critics slammed the exaggerated accents of the performers and found the play dull and completely unconvincing.

Although Debut did not propel Inger to Broadway stardom, it did provide her with invaluable experience which she applied to future theatrical performances. Though disappointed in the failure of Debut, Inger was resilient and continued to move forward with her acting career. By the end of the year, Inger would be living in Los Angeles, signed to a film contract, and preparing for her first major motion picture Man on Fire. 

Empire: Duet for Eight Wheels (1963)

 

Empire was a western series that aired on NBC from 1962 to 1963 then was retailored as Redigo for the 1963 to 1964 season. The show revolved around ranchmen in New Mexico and starred Richard Egan, Charles Bronson, Ryan O'Neal, and Warren Vanders.

Inger Stevens made a guest appearance on the Duet for Eight Wheels episode that aired on April 30, 1963. (Full episode is available on Youtube. This post contains spoilers.) In the episode, Redigo (Egan), Garret (O'Neal), Moreno (Bronson), and Chuck (Vanders) are capturing wild mustangs. Jim Redigo becomes paralyzed after being trampled by one of the horses. 

Redigo's pride makes him struggle to accept his new condition. While Garret is with Redigo in the hospital, Moreno and Chuck are watching the elusive stallion. Moreno says, "Well, there's one sure thing about kings. Titled or untitled, they've got a lot of pride. And, man, that pride...it can be a throne or a trap depending how you use it."

The doctor recommends that Redigo have another wheelchair user with the same condition to advise him on daily functions.Redigo rejects help and is angry when the fellows try to help make his home more accessible. He's even angrier when he realizes his therapy coach is a paraplegic woman named Ellen Thompson (Inger Stevens).

Redigo: This is a ranch. It takes men to run it and it takes men to run the men who run it. A ranch is a contest with nature and nature is built on strength. Your Dr. Karr can't expect men to listen to a man who has to listen to a woman.

After Ellen explains that he's more likely to listen to a woman than a man in his situation, Redigo questions her.

Redigo: Is it always this sort of a contest?

Ellen: Contest? Contest with this. It's always a contest with this [wheelchair]. At first, it's like being born with a number of left hands. Everything seems numb and pointless. And then you adapt. That's the great part of being human. When you run up against something, you find a way around it and this is ours.

Redigo: Yours.

Ellen: Ours.

Redigo submits to the therapy. Ellen shows him how to do indoor tasks, drive, and swim. Redigo learns how much strength it takes to do the smallest of tasks on his own. He's frustrated, but determined.

 

Redigo insists that the stallion be shot, but his men refuse. 

[The following exchange can also be viewed in a clip on the Inger Blog Youtube channel.]

Ellen: Please don't do it.

Redigo: Has Moreno been talking to you about this?

Ellen: Yes, but only because he...

Redigo: Helping to run the ranch is one thing you don't have to worry about. 

Ellen: Only because he was concerned about you.

Redigo: And he's confused about his duties, too. I already have a nurse maid.

Ellen: Why do you want to shoot the stallion? For revenge?

Redigo: No! For something like that...wild and free...in a trap?

Ellen: Oh, you didn't think that way about the trap...

Redigo: But nobody's gonna keep me in this for the rest of my life.

Ellen: Do you think his life will be worthless that way?

Redigo: Worse! When an animal is suffering or injured, then we do away with it out of kindness. For that horse captivity would be torture.

Ellen: That's rather God-like, isn't it? To make the decision about the worth of a life other than your own? You think it would be true for that wild, free thing. You think it would be true for yourself, but you believe you will escape. Well, I've been in this thing six years, Mr. Redigo. Is that what you think of my life? Worse than worthless?

She attempts to throw herself from the wheelchair but he catches her, pulls her close, and they kiss.

The pair falls in love. After seven weeks, Redigo is approved for an experimental surgery but will not undergo the operation unless Ellen does, too. He doesn't realize that Ellen's chances of surviving the operation are slim. 

Knowing he must undergo the surgery and hoping that taking the risk will be a success for her as well, Ellen agrees to the procedure without revealing the danger. As is frequently the case for Inger's television characters, Ellen suffers a tragic fate.

Press photo for the show

The Voice of the Turtle (1962)

The Voice of the Turtle is a comedic play written by John William Van Druten set in New York City during World War II. In the play, aspiring actress Sally Middleton is new to the city, quickly dumped by a married Broadway producer, and feeling conflicted about her own sexual morality. When he is stood up by Sally's friend Olive, army sergeant Bill Page (left bitter by a past relationship) ends up spending time with Sally over the weekend. By the end of the play, Bill and Sally must face their growing attraction to each other.

The play first debuted on Broadway at the Morosco Theatre in December 1943. The first cast included Margaret Sullavan (Sally), Elliott Nugent (Bill), and Audrey Christie (Olive). In 1947, Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Parker, and Eve Arden starred in the film adaptation.

In June 1962, Inger Stevens took on the role of Sally in a production of the play at O'Hare Inn Theater in Chicago. Anthony George performed as Bill and Toni Gilman played Olive. The show opened on June 21st and closed on July 3rd.

Chicago Tribune reviewer Thomas Willis found "something lacking" in the play. He wrote:

Sally is determined to smother a stiff-necked past, though here it is Joplin, MO., which is the culprit. Her aim is to act, her fear is that letting nature take its course again will hurt. Miss Stevens, in every way qualified for the role, takes her about half way. The tension, the nail-biting anxiety, and the sweetness born of part bewilderment are all there, but not yet the gaiety which makes sense of mutability, and which the playwright made so much of, nor the underlying charm.

She is not helped much by Mr. George. His Sgt.—now oddly promoted to Lt.—Page is a very sincere young man, perfectly willing to let things take whatever course they will until the very last moment. The predatory masculinity, only for the moment under the skin, which keeps the duel of the sexes always in mind, is missing altogether. The results--a few moments of tension, several of tenderness, but little of the parry and riposte which is the stuff of the play.

Nor is she helped by Toni Gilman's Olive, blunt vulgarian instead of the case hardened veteran of cocktail parties whose prime weapon is veneer.

The summer of 1962 was a busy one for Inger. She'd been a guest on multiple Tonight Shows with Mort Sahl hosting (listen to a clip on the Inger Youtube channel) and it was highly believed she would join Johnny Carson as a regular guest when he took over that fall. Instead, The Farmer's Daughter received financial backing and Inger focused on preparing to take on the starring role in a sitcom for the following year.

Inger and Mort grew close while working together on The Tonight Show and he visited her several times while she was in Chicago for The Voice of the Turtle. Gossip columnist Herb Lyon reported that Inger had turned "totally turtle over Mort Sahl" and that they were keeping the telephone lines hot. Mort visited Inger during rehearsals, but did not attend the opening night. Mort flew in to visit Inger and dined with her at Singapore restaurant the weekend before the show closed.

While in Chicago, Inger stayed at the Ambassador East hotel and enjoyed many after-show dinners at La Bistro with costar Anthony George, with whom she'd worked on the Checkmate television series in 1960.

The Voice of the Turtle would be Inger's ninth and final performance in a professional play, but she was always open to returning to the live stage. In late 1969, Inger expressed hope that she would one day be cast in a Broadway musical.  

 

Sources:

Denton, Charles. "Television Tidbits." The Blade. July 22, 1962.

Lyon, Herb. "Tower Ticker." Chicago Tribune. June 18, 1962. 

Lyon, Herb. "Tower Ticker." Chicago Tribune. June 22, 1962.  

Lyon, Herb. "Tower Ticker." Chicago Tribune. June 27, 1962.  

Lyon, Herb. "Tower Ticker." Chicago Tribune. July 3, 1962.   

Willis, Thomas. "Something Lacking in New 'Turtle'." Chicago Tribune. June 23, 1962.