Inger's Friend Robert Redford

Inger and Robert Redford in The Last of the Big Spenders

Inger Stevens considered Robert Redford (1936-2025) a true friend among the Hollywood crowd she encountered. Like Inger, Bob spent considerable time in New York City in the late 1950s and that's where they first became acquainted. He'd studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts from 1957 to 1959. They both were dedicated to the craft of acting, turned off by Hollywood phoniness, and drawn to the Broadway stage. Additionally, they were both artists, Bob having studied art at Pratt Institute prior to attending the Academy.

Following his graduation in 1959, Bob auditioned with the Actor's Studio but ultimately found it to be "contrived". He signed with MCA talent agency in 1959, the same year that Inger also signed with MCA to represent her in both her theater and film work.

In addition to his Broadway career, Bob performed in many television shows before becoming a major film star. Although not featured in the same episodes, Inger and Robert made the rounds in the same classic shows: Playhouse 90, Moment of Fear, Route 66, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Alcoa Premiere, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. 

Fortunately, in 1963, the two friends were able to costar in the same television production. The Last of the Big Spenders was an episode of The Dick Powell Theatre that starred Dana Andrews, Robert Redford, and Inger Stevens. In the teleplay, Dana Andrews plays Paul Oakland, an ailing writer who receives a visit from his estranged son Nick (Robert Redford). Nick has a difficult time understanding his father or his father's relationship with the younger woman Adele Hughes (Inger Stevens). A reviewer for The Sentinel wrote, "If you're in the mood for a literate play with interesting characters and absorbing dialogue, this one easily fills the bill. It's almost all talk, but in the capable hands of Dana Andrews, Robert Redford, Inger Stevens, and Herschel Bernardi, it has the quality of a live TV play." 

Here is a clip from the show that I've shared on the Inger Stevens Blog Youtube channel: 

Inger, Robert, and Dana in a LOTBS scene

You can watch the full episode (colorized) through an external Youtube channel:

Colorized LOTBS 

Several years later, Robert Redford was headed for film stardom and shooting interior scenes for Barefoot in the Park. Inger thought it would be funny to surprise him with a gag gift so she imprinted her footprints in a large cement square and decorated the square with palm trees. Inger's secretary Chris delivered the gift to Robert, who cracked up at the sight of it and Inger's ability to poke fun of revered Hollywood traditions.

Chris told biographer William Patterson that Inger was very impressed with Bob's faithfulness to his wife and that, on one occasion, Bob had driven Inger all the way to Palm Springs for dinner, but didn't make a pass. The two had a nice dinner, enjoyed good conversation, then he drove her home. Inger confided in Chris that she and Redford had never been lovers and that she looked up to him as if he were a trusted brother.

Sources:

Callan, M. F. Robert Redford: The Biography. 2014.

"The Last of the Big Spenders." The Sentinel. April 16, 1963. 

Patterson, William. Farmer's Daughter Remembered. 2000.

One Girl Unafraid in Filmland—Now

Inger in a publicity portrait for The New Interns

As Inger simultaneously filmed the television series The Farmer's Daughter and the film The New Interns, the film's producer remarked, "She's not only the first one on the set—she's the most professional."

Inger reflected on the change in her approach to Hollywood and how it had changed since she first entered the business in the 1950s. She said, "Hollywood doesn't frighten me anymore. I better understand the people and the business, and I no longer take either very seriously."

Although she once lamented being typecast as fragile women in television, Inger embraced the role of Nancy, a traumatized social worker in The New Interns, stating, "I guess I was signed for this because I've acquired a reputation for playing troubled characters. If I played them with any degree of conviction, it's due to the fact that I've had a problem or two during my own lifetime."

Sources:

Archerd, Armand. "One Girl Unafraid in Filmland—Now." Evening Herald. January 18, 1964.

Birthdays for Inger

 

Inger on her 30th birthday in 1964.

A Timeline of Inger's Birthdays

1934: Inger is born on Thursday, October 18th in Stockholm, Sweden.

Inger's entry in the Swedish Birth Index

1953: Inger takes a quick trip back to Manhattan, Kansas, to visit friends on her 19th birthday before returning to New York City

1955: Inger films an episode of Crunch and Des entitled "Salt Water Daffy" in Bermuda. One week shy of her 21st birthday, she writes to a friend about her struggle to find age-appropriate parts:

When I am in the office I must be very mature and businesslike. Here I am twenty, and going to be twenty-one next week, but I have to behave like I'm twenty-eight...then I must dash home and transform myself into a sixteen-year-old (which is getting more complicated everyday) for a theatrical reading. Glamourous one minute and sans makeup, a youngster the next...I wish I could read for a part that suits me. I am not a teenager and I feel terribly uncomfortable when I have to read for teenage parts. For some reason I am not of the young leading type either. I'm what you might call in-between and it's a God-awful fix to be in.

1956: Two weeks before her 22nd birthday, Inger signs a one year contract with Paramount Pictures.

1957: Gossip columnists report that Inger receives a gift certificate for her 23rd birthday from Bing Crosby. Inger sends the certificate as a wedding gift after he eloped with Kathy Grant just six days after Inger's birthday.

1958: Two days after her 24th birthday, Inger is in New York City shooting exterior scenes on The World, The Flesh, and The Devil.

1960: Four days before her 26th birthday, Inger's episode "Pearl Flower" of Hong Kong airs on television.

1961: Inger travels to Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania to appear in the Route 66 episode Burning for Burning. Ike Jones, whom she would soon marry, sends her a telegram to mark her 27th birthday.

With friend George Maharis on the set of Route 66

1963: Inger turns 29 while shooting The New Interns in October.

1964: 30-year-old Inger is celebrated with cake on the set of The Farmer's Daughter. (Photo at top of post.)

1966: A Guide for the Married Man begins shooting six days before Inger's 32nd birthday. Five days after her birthday, Inger appears on The Andy Williams Show.

1967: Inger spends her 33rd birthday in Rome while filming House of Cards.

Inger in Rome in 1967

Sources:

Miller, John J. "Confidential Memo." San Francisco Chronicle. November 24, 1957.

Patterson, William. Farmer's Daughter Remembered. 2000.

Frisbee-Friendly Inger

The Southwest Regional and United States Western Sectional Frisbee Championships were held at the Conejo Recreation and Park District in Thousand Oaks, California, on Saturday, October 4, 1969. The regional competition took place in the morning and then that competition's winner faced five other competitors in the afternoon. Throughout the demonstration, the boys showed off their curves, skip flights, behind-the-back catches, and distance tosses. 

This is an Inger Stevens site and not a frisbee enthusiast blog, you say?  Well, you'll never guess who served as the guest of honor for the competition and awarded the trophy to the winner at the celebration banquet that followed. 

 

Inger even gave frisbee throwing a shot herself! A trio of lucky fellows received trophies from Inger since there was a three-way tie for first place. 

As a gregarious person full of gratitude for her fans, Inger made personal appearances at many community events. You might enjoy reading about some other events at which Inger appeared that have been featured on this blog.

Blue Ribbon 400 - 1969 

Bonanza Celebration in Reno - 1959 

Lions Bowl - 1964 

Fort Worth Publicity Tour - 1963 

Desert Circus Queen - 1967 

Guide for the Married Man Cruise - 1967 

 

Inger Stevens, Student Nurse

In preparation for her role in the Playhouse 90 production "Diary of a Nurse", Inger worked as a student nurse in a local hospital. This was not a requirement, but something Inger felt would make her portrayal more convincing. Inger said, "They wanted to hire a technical advisor to teach me enough to get by, but I needed the emotional impact that a nurse goes through every day to be convincing on the screen."

While on the job, Inger answered bells for assistance which led to her changing beds, delivering dressing trays, feeding patients, and giving baths. She spoke with the nurses and they gave her insight into how the job made them feel during their daily rounds. Inger reflected on the experience:

I had to bathe a 10-year-old girl who was due to undergo a heart operation the next day. It was heartbreaking. She didn't know what was happening. The first thing I thought about the next morning was how she was pulling through. Fortunately, she is recovering beautifully. Right now I feel very much like a nurse. I'm still thinking about my patients and their lives. 

 

In the teleplay, Inger's character is a student nurse named Gail Lucas who becomes so emotionally involved in the lives of her patients that, as one reviewer said, "life for her becomes sadder with each new admission." Inger remarked on those attachments:

The transition from actress to student nurse seemed natural and normal. I didn't have time to be frightened. As I went my rounds, I heard the problems of each patient, and I learned you can't get too involved emotionally with them. Otherwise, all nurses would break down. 

Certainly, Inger was all too familiar with the routines and relationships discoverable within a hospital by the spring of 1959. She'd spent 16 days as a patient at Columbus Hospital in New York City in January of that year. Inger had survived a suicide attempt, but faced several medical setbacks that required the lengthy stay. Although a Paramount Pictures spokesman predicted that she would vacation in a warm climate to recover, Inger had no plans to take a break. In reality, surviving the attempt seemed to recharge Inger and spur her on to an even busier acting schedule and gave her the independence and confidence to break away from the studio, be more vocal about her desires, and embody the frail yet indestructible characters she so often played with a more knowing approach.

"Diary of a Nurse" would be Inger's first job following her recovery and her hands-on preparation as a student nurse indicates just how dedicated she was to the task. Inger enjoyed the experience, saying:

No, I don't want to become a nurse now. But I realize how badly they're needed. And I do plan to do some volunteer nursing work in the future. It was very pleasant being called 'nurse.' I was proud of it.

True to her word, Inger would go on to volunteer at Kedren Community Health Center and work with children with disabilities in hospitals for the rest of her life. But she also proved herself as a dependable, quality actress by performing in poignant episodes of Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Route 66, and 19 other shows between her role in "Diary of a Nurse" in 1959 and starring in her own sitcom The Farmer's Daughter in 1963.

The production ran 1 hour and 30 minutes and was deemed a "well-knit show" with great performances by Inger, Mary Astor, Victor Jury, Mildred Dunnock, and Suzanne Pleshette. It aired on CBS on May 7, 1959. Unfortunately, the show is not available online or on physical media. Fortunately, a copy of the episode does exist and is preserved in the Paley Archive.

 

 

 

Sources:

"Inger Stevens." Los Angeles Mirror. May 7, 1959. 

"Inger Stevens, Student Nurse." TV Guide. June 1959. 

"Overdosed Actress Leaves Hospital." Guam Daily News. January 22, 1959. 

Scott, Vernon. "Inger Stevens Totes Bedpans." The Duncan Banner. May 7, 1959. 

"Talking TV by Jack Miller." The Hamilton Spectator. May 9, 1959.  

"TV and Radio Program Guide." Toledo Blade. May 7, 1959. 

An Early Modeling Job for Inger Stensland

Following her high school graduation in Manhattan, Kansas, Inger briefly settled in Kansas City before pursuing acting in New York City. Eagerly accepting any modeling opportunities, eighteen-year-old Inger even modeled medical equipment! On April 16, 1953, Inger Stensland was featured in the Kansas City Star. Inger demonstrated an oxygen machine at the Mid-West Hospital Association's convention. Inger would make her television debut in a Vel detergent commercial and reluctantly accept the stage name Inger Stevens just one year later.

Five Card Stud (1968) Now on BluRay!

Vinegar Syndrome released a Blu-ray of the 1968 western Five Card Stud earlier this year. VS restored the film into 4K from its 35 mm camera negative and the results are stunning! The Blu-ray includes a commentary track with film historian Brian Hannan and short features on Henry Hathaway and Marguerite Roberts. The movie has always been an enjoyable western but the enhanced quality of the Blu-ray gave me a new appreciation for the love scenes between Dean Martin and Inger as well as the action scenes featuring Dean and Robert Mitchum.