LIFE
1934
On Thursday, October 18, 1934 in a Stockholm hospital, Inger Stensland was born to parents 21-year-old Per and 20-year-old Lisbet. Inger was the first child of Per and Lisbet, who were married six months prior to her birth. According to Patterson, Inger was named for the Norse princess Ingebjørg.
1944
Following a separation from Lisbet, Per traveled to America as an academic fellow in 1940. (Inger and her brother Ola would be left behind in the care of their family maid before moving in with their aunt and uncle.) Per would not return to Sweden. In 1944, Per, with a new bride and a baby on the way, would request that his two eldest children join him in America.
9-year-old Inger and younger brother Ola arrived in America from Sweden in July 1944. The children were chaperoned by a family friend and traveled on the SS Margaret Johnson for six weeks before docking in New Orleans on July 15, 1944. Leaving family and country would be difficult for a person of any age, but little Inger and Ola's journey included additional challenges that would remain painful memories for Inger for the duration of her life. For example, all freighter passengers were inspected by German troops during a stop in Denmark and the freighter was even followed by a German U-boat during a portion of the journey.
To make the experience even more frightening, Inger's father Per was not in New Orleans to meet his children. Biographer Patterson writes that Per was too busy working on a thesis paper to meet Inger and Ola, neither of whom could speak English. Instead of being reunited with the father they had not seen in four years, the Stensland siblings were met by the Travelers Aid Society and escorted by a Salvation Army representative on a train to New York City. When they reached New York City, Per was still not there to greet his children. Inger was told he was busy with his academic work in Cape Cod and the children were placed in separate rooms of a New York City hotel. The next morning Inger and Ola boarded a train for Cape Cod where they were finally reunited with their father.
1944-1948
While her father Per and stepmother Carol (pictured above) succeeded as a Columbia University lecturer and state education representative, respectively, Inger struggled in New York.
In New York City, I felt like a real foreigner...My English was still broken and the atmosphere was so strange.
When she was 13 years old, Inger was assaulted by the elevator operator in her apartment building.
I was alone in the elevator with him and suddenly he tried to attack me. I was terrified! I screamed in panic and tried to fight him off...I never took the elevator again...I'd see the man who tried to attack me, and he would just look at me. It was awful! He would just look at me.
Inger was so traumatized by those four years in New York City that she skipped over them altogether in most interviews. She often would indicate that she came to America at 13, not the correct age of ten, and only spoke about her time in Kansas.
1948-1952
Inger, her father Per, stepmother Carol, brother Ola (now called Carl) and half-sister Lucy relocated to Manhattan, Kansas from New York when Per was offered the position of Assistant Professor at Kansas State University in 1948. At this time, Inger had only been in America for 4 years. She spoke very good English, but a hint of her Swedish accent remained. Living at 1200 Kearney Street until Per left Kansas for a professorship in Lubbock, Texas in the 1950s, Inger's activities and accomplishments were often noted in the local newspapers The Manhattan Mercury and The Manhattan Republic.
Inger competed for the title of Blue M Queen in February 1952 but lost to classmate Joyce Steele. To the left is Inger's competition photo. During her time at Manhattan High School, Inger was interested in music, dramatics and art, interests she would pursue for the rest of her life. Inger performed the songs, "Three Queens," "Eight Spades," "Three Hits and a Miss," "The Showboat Ensemble," and the "Deep South Dixieland Band" with an ensemble at the high school to raise money for the Sunset Fund. She acted in "The Balcony Scene" with other students in competition at the District Speech and Play Festival and participated in the "Voice of Democracy" speech contest sponsored by the National Junior Chamber of Commerce and the National Broadcasting Association. Inger served as head of refreshments for Teen Town Student Council and sang at the Hi-Y and Y-Teens program.
Despite all of her social involvement, Inger's friends—when interviewed by Inger biographer William Patterson—remembered her as being quite shy, with a strong sense of wrong and right, and relegated to the frumpy, outdated clothes her parents allowed her to wear. Although she walked to school for blocks in the cold each day, Inger did not have a winter coat. Per and Carol were considered by Inger's classmates to be incredibly strict and lacking in affection for their two oldest children. One friend recalled, to Patterson, that Inger had confided that she'd even been pushed down the stairs once by Carol.
I witnessed an awful lot of fighting in my family. I got used to keeping things to myself and never really said what was on my mind. I was always afraid of hurting somebody.
15-year-old Inger packed her bags and ran away to live with relatives in Chicago. Disappointed in her relatives' cool reception and determined not be a burden to anyone, Inger immediately got a factory job in Chicago. A month later, in August, Inger was planning to return to her parents but at the last minute, boarded a train to Kansas City instead. She needed a job in Kansas City and sought work in the box office of the Folly Theatre but ended up performing under the name of Kay Palmer in a burlesque chorus line at the theatre instead.
In December, the now 16-year-old Inger was horrified to look out in the audience and see her disapproving father Per, having been notified by someone of her whereabouts, watching her burlesque routine. Inger was swiftly packed up and returned to Manhattan.
1953
After graduation, Inger saved enough money to move to Kansas City, where she takes a modeling course before moving to New York City for modeling jobs. Inger is pictured demonstrating a cooling and oxygenated machine at the 1953 Midwest Hospital Convention in Kansas City. By the end of the year, Inger had moved to New York City and signed a three-year contract with agent Anthony Soglio.
1954-1956
Inger works various jobs while going to countless auditions in New York City. She served as a model, telephone operator, dancer, movie theater usher and cashier. Working to better her craft, Inger studies at the Actors Studio and takes singing lessons. After landing a Vel detergent commercial, Inger appears in summer stock and television productions.
Inger's agent Tony Soglio changes her name from Stensland to Stevens. They are married in Connecticut on July 9, 1955. They will separate six months later.
On February 22, 1956, Inger makes her Broadway debut. A month later, she flies to Hollywood for multiple screentests. She signs a contract with Paramount Pictures in October and begins production on her first film Man on Fire in December.
1957-1958
Man on Fire wraps up shooting in January and premieres to audiences in May. Inger's romance with costar Bing Crosby fizzles out by summer
Inger files for divorce from Anthony Soglio, who is still acting as her agent, in July. She begins her second film Cry Terror and her second love affair with a costar, James Mason, in August. While shooting the final scenes of the film which take place in a rail tunnel, a faulty generator leads to carbon monoxide poisoning for Inger, costar Rod Steiger and 11 crew members. Fortunately, all survive this serious, life-threatening incident.
In 1958, Inger works on The Buccaneer with Claire Bloom, Charlton Heston, and Yul Brynner. While filming the World, The Flesh, and The Devil, Inger begins a serious affair with Harry Belafonte and believes he will divorce his wife to marry her. When he ends the romance at the end of the year, Inger is despondent.
In June, Inger travels to Sweden to visit her mother and family for the first time since she left as a child. After such a long separation, Inger will later say that although she loves her mother, she does not feel the close bond that a mother and daughter should have.
Inger's divorce from Anthony Soglio is final in August, but only after agreeing to pay him five percent of her earnings until 1965.
1959
As others celebrated the new year, Inger attempted suicide on the first day of 1959. Five years later, Inger would explain:
At that moment I thought it was the most rational thing I'd ever done in my life. For a long time I had nobody to talk to, including the man I had been with. When I began trusting the analyst, everything came out too fast. I felt lonely and sorry for myself. I felt like I didn't quite belong in the film world, that I wasn't good enough. I was constantly getting depressed. I had made a complete mess of my emotional life by trying to be very giving to a man because I was hoping he would do the same to me. I was just screaming out for somebody to love me.
1960-1962
Inger stars in the play Roman Candle at the Cort Theatre in February 1960. She appears in episodes of Hong Kong, Zane Grey Theatre, Moment of Fear, Checkmate, Route 66, and Twilight Zone. During her free time, Inger spends time with her sealyham terrier named Pirate. At a party in September 1960, Inger meets Ike Jones, a producer for Nat King Cole, and begins a relationship with him.
In 1961, Inger treats herself to a European vacation and visits her family in Sweden. The Boeing 707 Inger had just exited at a Lisbon airport exploded. Although she was not seriously hurt, Inger told one reporter that being that close to it was a "shattering experience." She appears in episodes of Follow the Sun, Route 66, Adventures in Paradise, The Aquanauts, The Detectives, and Dupont Show of the Month. Inger and Ike Jones secretly marry in Tijuana on November 18, 1961. Although their union is known to family, friends, and some industry insiders, Inger and Ike will never publicly confirm their interracial marriage.
In 1962, Inger is nominated for an Emmy for "Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role" in the Dick Powell Show. She appeared in episodes of Golden Showcase, Sam Benedict, and The Eleventh Hour. She also appeared in the plays The Voice of the Turtle and Mary, Mary. Inger is happy to receive a visit from her Aunt Karin from Sweden to her home with Ike Jones.
Following her recovery, Inger performed in the 31st Academy Awards ceremony and quickly jumped into television work. Audiences would see Inger in Playhouse 90 in May, Bonanza in September, and Sunday Showcase in December. But Inger would not be seen in a movie for another five years. Unhappy with loanouts, bad scripts, and a suspension, Inger surprised everyone by buying out her contract with Paramount by the end of the year. She would later sign with MCA and then the William Morris Agency.
1963-1965
Inger and Ike live at 8000 Woodrow Wilson. At home, Inger enjoys painting, making her own lamps, reading, playing chess, and practicing guitar. Inger participates in a conference on mental health and records public service announcements for the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. After a brief summer vacation in Hawaii, Inger begins work on her own starring series The Farmer's Daughter which airs in September 1963.
In 1964, Inger wins the Golden Globe for Best Female Television Star of 1963. She also wins TV Guide's award for Favorite Female Performer of the Year. Inger receives a second Emmy nomination, this time for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series Lead for The Farmer's Daughter. Inger organizes her first celebrity art show to benefit the California Council for Retarded Children (CCRC). In September, Inger travels to Sweden with a Screen Gems television crew to film the television special Inger Stevens in Sweden. Inger visits with her family and films educational segments around Sweden and with notable people of Sweden.
In 1965, the much anticipated wedding episode "To Have and to Hold" airs in November. Inger is nominated for the Golden Apple Award by the Hollywood Woman's Press Club.
1966-1967
In 1966, The Farmer's Daughter ends after three seasons and Inger is eager to return to films. She films The Borgia Stick, Guide for the Married Man, and A Time for Killing.
Inger is appointed to the Advisory Board of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at UCLA and continues her volunteer work with the CCRC and Kedren Health Center.
In 1967, Inger films Hang 'Em High, Firecreek, and Madigan. She travels to Rome to film House of Cards in the fall. Inger produces more art shows to benefit the CCRC.
1968
Inger begins filming Five Card Stud in Durango, Mexico. While there, Inger cements her footprints in the town's min version of Graumann's Theatre. After a serious affair with Dean Martin, Inger separates from Ike but they remain involved.
In June, Inger is with friends at the Ambassador Hotel celebrating Robert Kennedy's primary victories when he is assassinated on site. After Robert Kennedy's assassination, Inger campaigns for Hubert Humphrey.
In November Inger travels to Chicago to film A Dream of Kings.
1969
Inger is heartbroken following the end of her romance with Dean Martin. She and Ike continue to have an on again-off again relationship and travel to Sweden to visit her relatives. Inger starts a new business venture with friend Leon F. Cardini. They open Stevens & Cardini Interior and Design in Hollywood. Inger serves as a judge for the 6th Annual Hugh O'Brien Awards, which support young acting students, at UCLA.
Inger shoots Mask of Sheba in Mexico in November and promotes A Dream of Kings in December.
1970
After years of a tumultuous relationship, Inger separates from Ike and contemplates divorce.
Inger travels to Arizona to film the television movie Run, Simon, Run with Burt Reynolds. In March, Inger goes on vacation with costar Burt Reynolds in Florida.
On April 18, Inger attended the local Emmy Awards at the Hollywood Palladium.
It is announced that Inger will costar with George Maharis and Ralph Bellamy in the series The Most Deadly Game. This is a surprising move as Inger repeatedly swore she would never tie herself down to another series and because her film career has been successful in recent years.
On April 27, Inger joined Aaron and Candy Spelling and Burt Reynolds for dinner at La Scala.
On April 29, Inger attends the funeral of Gypsy Rose Lee. Inger cooks dinner for Burt Reynolds and herself. After dinner, the two argue and Burt leaves. Inger chats on the phone with her publicist and her assistant, friends Lola and Chris (in whom Inger confides that she and Burt argued and that he hit her and cut her chin). Each person who chatted with her found her to be cheerful, clear-headed and like herself.
On April 30, after not being able to get in touch with Inger, Lola goes to Inger's house and finds her on the kitchen floor in her nightgown. Inger was pronounced dead when she arrived at the hospital a mere 30 minutes after being found. The autopsy indicated that Inger had the laceration on her chin and several abrasions and bruises on her forearm. The cause of death was acute barbiturate intoxication and ingestion of overdose.
Following her death, Inger's marriage to Ike is publicly exposed.
On May 4, a private memorial for Inger is held in publicist Ben Irwin's backyard. Ben delivers the eulogy. Inger's close friends, Ike and his family, and a small group of others (including actor Peter Falk) attended.
In December, Inger's final film Run, Simon, Run airs on ABC.