American actress, Stella Stevens, who starred in such films as The Nutty Professor, The Poseidon Adventure and alongside Elvis Presley in Girls! Girls! Girls!, has passed away at the age of 84.
According to reports, Stella died Friday in Los Angeles following a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Stella Stevens began her career as a model and Playboy Playmate, featuring on the centerfold page in January 1960, before making a name for herself in the entertainment industry. She was discovered while modeling in Memphis, Tennessee, which led to roles in films such as the 1962 music comedy Girls! Girls! Girls! and the 1963 sci-fi comedy The Nutty Professor, where she starred alongside comedy legend Jerry Lewis.
Stella also star in several other films, including the 1966 spy spoof The Silencers, starring Dean Martin, and the 1972 disaster film The Poseidon Adventure, featuring an all-star cast including Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters and Ernest Borgnine.
The model and actress, who won a Golden Globe in 1960 for New Star of the Year — Actress following her 1959 film debut in Say One for Me, also lent her talent behind the camera, as a producer and director of the 1979 documentary The American Heroine and The Ranch in 1989.
Some of her TV credits include Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Murder, She Wrote, Magnum, P.I., The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!, Santa Barbara, and General Hospital.
Stella was born Estelle Eggleston on 1st October 1938 in the tiny Mississippi town of Yazoo City. Her family relocated to Memphis when she was four years old.
She’s survived by her son, actor-producer Andrew Stevens, and three grandchildren.
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