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.