HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY: INGER STEVENS

Inger Stevens led a troubled life. Broken relationships and depression clouded her career in Hollywood. She died tragically in 1970 at the age of 35. In her short life she made countless memorable appearances on television and movies, and we have some great photographs of this fallen Hollywood beauty...

COOKING WITH THE STARS: INGER STEVENS

With summer just about here, I thought this recipe by the beautiful Inger Stevens (1934-1970) would be a perfect summer dish...

Inger Stevens' Bean Salad

1 pound string beans
Boiling salted water
2 cups canned kidney beans, drained
1 cup diced celery
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 cup vegetable oil (half safflower oil, half olive oil)
3 tbsps. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tbsps. fresh dill
2 tbsps. fresh parsley
1 small red onion, cut in thin rings

1. Cook string beans in boiling salted water until barely tender. Drain, cut in 2 or 3-inch pieces. Place cut cooked string beans in large salad bowl with kidney beans and celery.

2. Prepare marinade by mixing together crushed garlic, vegetable oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in small screw-top jar. Cover, shake well.

3. Pour marinade over vegetables in salad bowl. Toss lightly adding fresh herbs. Cover bowl tightly. Refrigerate overnight (or at least 6 hours). Garnish with red onion rings. Serve as relish or side dish for meat dish or as a salad garnishing with crisp iceberg lettuce. Serves 4-6.

FORGOTTEN ONES: INGER STEVENS

Watching an episode of "The Twilight Zone" this weekend, I was reminded of what a wonderful actress Inger Stevens was. She died way too young in 1970 at the age of 36.Inger Stevens was born Inger Stensland in Stockholm, Sweden. She was an insecure child and often ill.

When she was nine, her parents divorced and she moved with her father to New York City. At age 13, she and her father moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where she attended Manhattan High School. At 16, she worked in burlesque shows in Kansas City. At 18, she left Kansas for New York City. She worked as a chorus girl and in the Garment District while taking classes at the Actors Studio.

Stevens appeared on television series, commercials and in plays, until she got her big break in the movie Man on Fire starring Bing Crosby. Inger would later date Bing, but he would break up with her when she refused to become a Catholic.

Roles in major films followed, but she achieved her greatest success in the ABC television series The Farmer's Daughter, with William Windom. Previously, Stevens appeared in episodes of Bonanza, Route 66, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Eleventh Hour, Sam Benedict and The Twilight Zone.

Following the cancellation of The Farmer's Daughter in 1966, Stevens appeared in such movies as A Guide for the Married Man (1967), with Walter Matthau, Hang 'Em High, with Clint Eastwood, 5 Card Stud, with Dean Martin, and Madigan, with Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark, all in 1968. Stevens was attempting to make a comeback on television with the detective drama series The Most Deadly Game when she died.

Her first husband was her agent, Anthony Soglio, to whom she was married from 1955 to 1957. From 1961 until her death, she was secretly married to Ike Jones, an African-American actor. She was also romantically linked with Bing Crosby, Anthony Quinn, Dean Martin, Clint Eastwood, Harry Belafonte, Mario Lanza, and Burt Reynolds.

On the morning of April 30, 1970, a house guest found Stevens lying face down on her kitchen floor, having overdosed on Tedral (a combination drug of theophylline, ephedrine and phenobarbital, commonly prescribed in the treatment of breathing disorders such as asthma, emphysema, and bronchitis), washed down with alcohol. After an autopsy, her body was cremated and her ashes were scattered over the Pacific Ocean...