Inger Stevens' Hollywood Hairdos by Leslie Blanchard

Inger Stevens was featured in a striking color cover of the November 1963 edition of Latest Hollywood and TV Hairdos. I hoped that the "five dazzling do's" promised within the magazine's pages would feature more Inger in full, glorious color. Instead, the hairstyles are in the form of sketches by Maning. The article is interesting in that it talks about the contrast of the simple styles worn as Katy Holstrum on The Farmer's Daughter in comparison to the "unbelievably lavish offstage coiffures ever created" that Inger donned offscreen. Those hairstyles and brilliant hair color were all the work of Inger's friend and hairstylist Leslie Blanchard, and were also highlighted on the Clairol ads the two worked on together during the run of the show. More on Leslie and Inger's friendship with quotes and photos after this photo break!

TV-Picture Life magazine highlighted Leslie and Inger's friendship and working relationship in February 1965. The cover of the magazine revealed that the article was titled, "Inger and the Bachelor: TV's Most Whispered-About Affair" and I expected it to be a teaser about Inger's fictional character Katy and Senator Morley on The Farmer's Daughter; I was pleasantly surprised to find it was an article on Leslie and Inger's friendship. The two met at a beauty salon on West 56th Street where Leslie was the color specialist. He recognized Inger immediately and recalled that they shared a common bond and were both discontent with their careers at that time:

We looked at each other and we both felt as if we had known each other for years. We had respect for each other, almost from the first moment...She told me I was strong enough to be on my own. She wasn’t even my client then, but she insisted I go with her, and she kept encouraging me. When I came back to New York, I did strike out on my own...I think she feels her troubles also provided a wonderful awakening for her. She did a lot of thinking and she realized that she didn’t have to be part of the Hollywood whirlwind and that she could succeed by hard work, talent, and just being herself. 

They were frequent travel companions, exploring Colombia, Jamaica, and Europe. Blanchard commented:

We did the tourist bit. We visited museums, went nightclubbing, went to the theatre, and just walked around. 

When the chance to star in The Farmer's Daughter came up, Inger was torn. She was concerned about being tied down to a weekly sitcom. Blanchard said:

I told her she’d have to do what she felt was best for herself. All a friend can do really is be a good sounding board and be a good listener and not a talker. When you listen, they make up their own decision. Well, Inger made up her mind to do the pilot. She is a very sensible, very logical, a very positive thinker, like I am. 

It was when Leslie took Inger to a Clairol press show that Clairol executives found her to be "wholesome and vivacious" and sponsored The Farmer's Daughter, making Inger their spokeswoman due to the fabulous impression made on them. When Inger was shooting a television documentary in Sweden, Leslie traveled with the crew and took care of Inger and her hair. He elaborated:

It’s remarkable because Inger has no Swedish-speaking close friends in America, yet she remembers the language she spoke up to the age of 13. We were together almost all the time. I’d see her at 5:30 am to do her hair, and then while it was drying, I’d fix her breakfast of soft boiled eggs, for her. I kidded her that I wanted more than hairdresser credit on the tv screen, and that I wanted credit as valet and cook. I colored it once, set it once, and combed it three or four times a day in Sweden.

Leslie Blanchard's career continued to rise long past Inger's untimely death and he was renowned the world over as a highly demanded and uniquely skilled hair stylist. 

Finally, here are the gorgeous Clairol ads featuring Inger and Leslie.

Sources: 

"Inger and the Bachelor: TV's Most Whispered About Affair." TV-Picture Life. February 1965. 

Latest Hollywood and TV Hairdos. November 1963.