K. T. Stevens
Stevens in Harriet Craig, 1950
Born
Gloria Wood

(1919-07-20)July 20, 1919
DiedJune 13, 1994(1994-06-13) (aged 74)
Occupation(s)Film and television actress
Years active19211994
Spouse
(m. 1946; div. 1968)
Children2, including Chris Marlowe
Parent

K.T. Stevens (born Gloria Wood;[1] July 20, 1919 June 13, 1994) was an American film and television actress.

Early years

Born in Hollywood,[2] Stevens was the daughter of film producer and director Sam Wood.[3] She made her first film appearance when she was just two years old in her father's second silent film, Peck's Bad Boy (1921).

As an adult, she changed her name to K.T. Stevens to distance herself from her father's fame. She initially called herself Katherine Stevens, which people often shorted to Katie, leading to the final version with the initials K.T.[4]

Stage

Stevens gained theatrical experience by doing summer stock theatre in Skowhegan, Maine.[4] Her Broadway credits include The Land Is Bright, Yankee Point, Nine Girls and Laura.[5]

Film

Stevens appeared in a number of films in the 1940s and 1950s, including Kitty Foyle (1940, directed by her father) with Ginger Rogers, The Great Man's Lady (1942) with Barbara Stanwyck, Address Unknown (1944), Port of New York (1949) with Yul Brynner, Harriet Craig (1950) with Joan Crawford and Vice Squad (1953) with Edward G. Robinson. She also appeared as Phyllis in the 1969 hit movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. Her last film role before her death from lung cancer was in the 1994 Whoopi Goldberg film Corrina, Corrina.

Television

Stevens acted on episodic television in such series as Crossroads, The Rebel, The Brothers Brannagan, and appeared on the daytime soap operas General Hospital as part of the original cast (1963–1965), portraying Peggy Mercer who was engaged to Dr. Steve Hardy, Julie Olson's mother-in-law Helen Martin (1966–1967, 1969) on Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless (1976–1981) as the veiled, facially burned Vanessa Prentiss. In the episode "New Neighbors" of the sitcom I Love Lucy, she played opposite Hayden Rorke as television actors who Lucy Ricardo mistakenly believes are foreign secret agents.

Stevens appeared in 1957 and again in 1961 in different roles on The Real McCoys. In 1959, she made her first of three guest appearances on Perry Mason as murder victim Ethel Garvin in "The Case of the Dubious Bridegroom." In 1962, she played Margit Bruner in "The Case of the Ancient Romeo," and in 1965, she played Alice Munford in "The Case of the Hasty Honeymooner." In this episode, she was featured as the wife of murderer Guy Munford, played by her then husband Hugh Marlowe. In 1961, she played Ada Kihlgren in "The Broken Wing", one of the latter episodes of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. The same year, she appeared as Lorraine Miller in "A Great Day for a Scoundrel" on The DuPont Show with June Allyson. Between 1960 and 1963, she guest-starred five times on The Rifleman.

She portrayed Lieutenant Harriet Twain in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century episode "Return of the Fighting 69th".

Personal life

Stevens married actor Hugh Marlowe on May 7, 1946, in San Francisco.[6] They had two sons, Jeffrey and Christian.[1] The couple divorced in 1968.

Stevens and Marlowe acted in the Broadway production of Laura in which, credited as "A Girl" so as not to alert the audience, she played the title role (acted by Gene Tierney in the 1944 film Laura).

Stevens died at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, on June 13, 1994, aged 74, after battling lung cancer.[1]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1921Peck's Bad BoyHenry's Sweetheart
Don't Tell EverythingCullen's nieceLost film
1940Kitty FoyleMolly
1942The Great Man's LadyGirl Biographer
1944Address UnknownGriselle Eisenstein aka Griselle Stone
1949Port of New YorkToni Cardell
1950Harriet CraigClare Raymond
1953Vice SquadGinny
TumbleweedLouella Buckley
1956Alfred Hitchcock PresentsLiza(Season 2 Episode 5: "None Are So Blind")
Jungle HellDr. Pamela Ames
1958Missile to the MoonThe Lido
1962The Alfred Hitchcock HourAlice(Season 1 Episode 10: "Day of Reckoning")
1969Bob & Carol & Ted & AlicePhyllis
1970Adam at 6 A.M.Uncredited
1973PetsMrs. Daubrey
1984They're Playing with FireLillian Stevens
1994Corrina, CorrinaMrs. Morgan

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "K. T. Stevens, 74, Actress and Unionist". The New York Times. June 22, 1994. Retrieved May 26, 2018.
  2. Willis, John (March 1, 2000). Theatre World 1994-1995. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-55783-250-4. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  3. "Son Born to K. T. Stevens". The New York Times. United Press. July 8, 1948. p. 19. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Little Rich Hollywood Princess". Albuquerque Journal. New Mexico, Albuquerque. King Features Syndicate, Inc. June 15, 1941. p. 18. Retrieved July 10, 2016 via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. "("K.T. Stevens" search)". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  6. "K.T. Stevens Wed on Coast". The New York Times. United Press. May 8, 1946. p. 42. Retrieved June 2, 2023.
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