A native of Hot Coffee, Mississippi. While attending Memphis State College, Stella became interested in acting and modeling. Her film debut was a bit part in _Say One for Me . In the 1970s and 1980s, Stella became a fixture in movies made for television and appeared in a number of television series. Her big screen career may have slowed during that time, but she has appeared in a number of movies in every decade since she debuted.
Mother of Andrew Stevens.
Some sources list her birthplace as Hot Coffee, Mississippi.
Voluptuous figure reported to be a perfect 36C-24-36 as a starlet (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine).
She was discovered modeling in the tea room of Goldsmiths Department Store in Memphis, Tennessee, where a press-agent from United Artists told her if she could get to New York while he was there, he could introduce her to the executives at 20th Century Fox.
Recently, she was voted one of the 100 sexiest women of the century; she was No. 27.
In July 2004, she was a guest at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte, North Carolina, along with Andrew Prine , Heather Lowe , Lane Bradbury , Sonny Shroyer and Jeremy Slate.
Ex-mother-in-law of Kate Jackson.
Nude model, actress and adult film star Kitten Natividad worked for Stevens as a maid during the mid-1960s before herself breaking into the movies.
In 1983, she began a long-term relationship with rock guitarist Bob Kulick ; they share her home in Beverly Hills, California.
In 1981, she produced and directed a documentary profiling a variety of women from many walks of life, entitled The American Heroine . Her film crew was comprised largely of film students from the University of Texas at Arlington. They had first worked with Stella in 1979 when she traveled to Texas to act for them, free of charge, in a short class film they were making, entitled "Lewis", directed by film student Tim Hatcher.
Did not want to appear in the film Girls! Girls! Girls! and was nearly suspended by Paramount. Her protests hurt her relationship with the studio. She has stated several times that she refuses to watch this film.
Has appeared with her son Andrew Stevens in four films: Las Vegas Lady , Down the Drain , The Terror Within II and Illicit Dreams .
She was considered for the role of the mythic being Ardra in the fourth season episode "Star Trek: The Next Generation" {Devils Due (#4.13)} , which went to Marta DuBois.
In 2005, she was awarded the Reel Cowboys Silver Spur Award for her notable contribution to the Western genre.
Thomas Burnett Swann dedicated two of his novels to her: "Lady of the Bees" and "Will-o-the Wisp".
Viv Thomas Babe of the Month February 2006.
