Eldergays, tell me about Connie Stevens

Connie invented disco.

I always wanted to look like her.

Her Hank Williams recording is fab. Truly.

Connie with her kids, Lorna and Joey.

After Elizabeth Taylor left him for Richard Burton, Eddie Fisher married Connie Stevens in 1967.

She kicked him to the curb 2 years later

I love this photo of Connie and Eddie. They were both headliners in the 1960s

Another Hollywood hard core republican up to her neck!

They should have let her sing in Grease 2.

I didn't know that John Megna was her little brother

Co-starred with Anthony Perkins and Richard Benjamin at the Plymouth Theatre in "The Star Spangled Girl."

Connie Stevens IS Scorchy!!

Connie invented onscreen nudity AND breast implants.

She was no Connie Francis! It's obvious from this pic that Connie F. is and always has been the classy one, while Connie S. is the the trashy, bimbo-ey one.

You're being very generous in your use of the term "actress" OP. She is a person who has appeared in quite a few on-camera entertainments...

I was wondering when someone like R13 would come along and show a pic of that stumpy, thickwaisted, mannish, moonfaced dwarf MGM tried to make into a star for a while in the 60s.

Connie lived through Shelley Winters. And she's here!

Connie und snout.

Downward dog was Eddie's favorite position for Connie.

Connie Stevens was the Joey Heatherton of Sandra Dees

Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingoglia in case you didn't know.

They gave her a non ethnic name, but she did play a girl of Italian heritage in a film with Jerry Lewis way back in 1958.

Connie was as Irish as she was Italian.

The Sex Symbol!

Cannot STAND her speaking voice! Not quite sure why.

She was always cutting edge.

Lou Reed and John Cale cited her as a major influence for the Velvet Underground.

Connie invented pop-soul.

She made the unforgettably campy "Susan Slade" (with unconvincing burning baby (doll) and that was the height of her acting career which began with something called "Dragstrip Riot".

She somehow remained employed for many years and then went into the lucrative cosmetics by infomercial business. She was a regular on Bob Hope USO shows well past the point where anyone would have known who she was. Given her lousy luck with men---Eddie Fisher and future child molester Jim Stacy, I would imagine that she let Hope enjoy her pleasures.

Connie signed with Warner Bros in 1959, and as WB did with all their players, they put her on a $300 a week contract, and squeezed every last penny out of the Connie machine. They gave her her own TV series, "Hawaiian Eye," put out Connie Stevens records on their music label, and churned out successful but critically reviled teen dramas with Troy Donahue--"Parrish," "Susan Slade" and "Palm Spring Weekend."

She wasn't the star of Hawaiian Eye, she was the female eye candy/comic relief (Robert Conrad was the male eye candy). All of their detective shows had a character like that except 77 Sunset Strip who had the exotic Jacqueline Beer as a receptionist. Basically she was the singing Diane McBain.

John Megna died of AIDS. Oddly he seemed to make a career of being weird looking and probably unfunckable.

Did she get on with Eddies other ex wives Elizabeth Taylor and Debbie Reynolds?

[Quote] John Megna died of AIDS. Oddly he seemed to make a career of being weird looking and probably unfunckable.

He raped someone to get his AIDS!?

How did John Megna ever get a career as a child actor? He was unfortunate looking.

Are you seriously asking that?

I just loved her episode of Murder, She Wrote, where she's part of a sister act including Anne Francis and DL fave Elaine Joyce.

After DataLounge icon Frances Farmer was 'discovered' again (after years of obscurity) she made a quickie B movie with Connie Stevens called The Party Crashers in 1958.

She went through bankruptcy the same time as daughter Joely. Connie refused a buyout for her cosmetic firm by Revlon and instead invested in a spa to sell the cosmetics in house which overetended her. Joely trusted her business manager who defaulted on bills and taxes. Joely writes it up in her bio.

I always got her mixed up with Stella Stevens, and so I was always confused which one was Andrew Steven's mother (it's Stella Stevens).

She had such a memorably pillowy voice.

Stella Stevens came along later. Shorter career, more of a glamour buildup. Connie was more the girl next door.

I didn't realize she went broke with her cosmetics. I wondered why her informercials disappeared. She should have licensed her name like Liz or learned how to be a good business person like Polly Bergen.

I always get her confused with Stella Stevens.

Palm Springs Weekend was campy fun. Loved the set decorations and Robert Conrad was sex on wheels, my god.

r4 Very funny, Lorna and Joey. Where's Liza?

Connie had two girls by Eddie Fisher -- Joely and Trisha. They both are actresses.

That picture is of Connie with her half-brother John Megna and his sister, I assume.

See link below with her from the "Hawaiian Eye" intro where she played Cricket Blake.

I believe she was in the show from the beginning, which started in 1959.

Dates for her work before 1959 seem to have been appearances on lots of those Warner Brothers shows.

Susan Slade and Parrish are both listed as being from 1961.

So, I think her breakthrough was in "Hawaiian Eye".

Robert Conrad and Connie Stevens talk about "Hawaiian Eye".

She was great as Cricket.

I remember sometime in the late '70s going to Six Flags Magic Mountain with my parents, and there on the concert stage performing was Connie Stevens. My parents were thrilled to have been graced by the presence of a movie star, especially my dad, who thought she was sexy. I didn't know who she was, but I thought she was beautiful and funny. She had guys in the audience join her on stage for a quick song and dance routine.

The makers of the Avengers tried for a new vehicle for Patrick Macnee, Mr Jericho. Connie was his co-star. It never got a series order, only a pilot movie.

Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Connie Stevens. One of those is not like the others.

R40 1958

Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!!

She road to fame on the coat tails of Connie Francis.

R47 No, not at all.

No, she was a bargain basement Marilyn Monroe and that's particularly evident when she tried to play Marilyn.

She was more of a bargain basement Debbie Reynolds trying to be a sexpot. And she was way too old for the Monroe role.

I think she was smarter than people think and managed to fight her way through some financial challenges with success. Celebrity Net Worth pegs her at $50M.

What was so great about Eddie Fisher that he was able to get Debbie Reynolds , Elizabeth Taylor and Connie Stevens?

Carrie said he made you feel like the only person in the room, which was great, until you left the room.

Honestly, to me she is best known for her Ace Hardware commercials. I always wanted a Helpful Hardware Man.

[quote]Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Connie Stevens. One of those is not like the others.

Well, excuse ME!

She was a bargain basement Debbie Reynolds with some Sandra Dee thrown in.

But "Susan Slade" and Parrish" did well at the box office, and she was able to keep her career going for another 15 years or so.

I think I should have ended my post at R56 with: "Sort of"

She wasn't as truly sweet as Debbie but was perkier than Sandra Dee (though basically just as inadequate an actress). Marilyn, though, was the one who cast a shadow over the blondes through 50s and 60s with sex appeal and no apparent brains, and so that's why she seems like a bargain basement Marilyn---she was a t a cheap cookie cutter studio (Warners) so the low status fits. The smart blondes, usually more subtle sexuality became the "cool blondes", a different species from the Marilyns and unobtainable for some one like Stevens.

Connie was cute.

Marilyn was never cute.

Comparing the 2 because they were both blonds during those years makes no sense.

Beside, Marilyn was a huge star when Connie was starting out so MM was more mature while Connie's roles were aimed at a more youthful audience.

Cute was a cornerstone of Marilyn Monroe's appeal - the whole child-woman thing.

Sex was a cornerstone of Marilyn Monroe's appeal.

Well, duh.

"Two On a Guillotine" is quite fun for a schlocky horror movie.

Hawaiian Eye made her a star but she was in William castle knockoff territory by the mid-60s. I'm surprised she never worked for Roger Corman, although he usually went for people on the way up rather than those on the way down.

I wonder if she and Angie Dickinson know each other and/or get along?

I think Dickinson mixed with more of an A-list crowd.

Talent free

[quote]She made the unforgettably campy "Susan Slade" (with unconvincing burning baby (doll) and that was the height of her acting career which began with something called "Dragstrip Riot".

John Waters once said that "Susan Slade" was his favorite movie of all time.

R65, Angie was under contract with Howard Hawks, who then sold her contract to Warner Bros without her knowledge. So she was with Connie at Warner Bros, begrudgingly, from 1960 to around 1964, when she left for Universal Pictures.

She appears Republican.

Connie Stevens couldn't sing her way out of a paper bag. She would always be showcased as a nightclub singer on Hawaiian Eye. Cricket Blake I think? She was never on key, always flat. Her singing was absolutely cringeworthy.

[quote]Hawaiian Eye made her a star but she was in William castle knockoff territory by the mid-60s.

That's really not true.

She starred in "Star Spangled Girl" with Tony Perkins on B'way. It didn't have a long run but it was a new Neil Simon play so it was prestigious. "Never Too Late" did well. And she did lots of TV all through the 60s including a years run in a series with George Burns. She wasn't an A List star but she was a popular celebrity.

You weren't lying about the singing...

RIP Connie Stevens. What did she die of? She was Debbie Reynolds mother in law, so she must have been ancient.

[Quote] What did she die of?

There were multiple reasons...

Connie's career tanked after she refused to sleep with Harvey.

R74 She isn't dead. Still alive at age 82.

According to imdb, there were big gaps in her career even in the 60s and later on she did most of the "they aren't dead yet" shows like Fantasy Island and Murder, She Wrote, which pretty much meant she was finished. Neil Simon was considered by many to be a hackish sitcom playwright even when his stuff was popular--I wouldn't call a flop during the nadir of Broadway musicals to be a prestige vehicle. Beyond her camp value, she was pretty C or D-list.

She sang OK. Had some hit songs.

The Hank Williams stuff is phenomenal.

In the 70's, I always thought she was a strikingly beautiful woman for her age - with her feathered blonde hair.

She kept trying to get Kookie to lend her his comb.

I only know her as Miss Mason in Grease 2. And it was only recently that I realised Mr Stuart was played by Tab Hunter.

Why didn't Tab Hunter get a primetime soap gig in the 1980s?

There was a memo to all directors of Hawaiian Eye to watch doing scenes in which Connie Stevens had to walk a lot.....they were warned the she "picks them up and puts them down like an elephant" and to keep her standing still as much as possible.

Neil Simon wrote in his memoirs that her voice was so small that she couldn't be heard beyond the first few rows in the theatre when she was doing "Star Spangled Girl"..... She also stopped the curtain call one night to announce to the audience that she and Eddie Fisher had just been married....to great indifference....

R72

From what one has read Star Spangled Girl was not a hit on Broadway, nor one of Mr. Simon's best efforts. That it got picked up to be made into a film is still a wonder for many.

"Star Spangled Girl" wasn't a hit but that is something you only know after the fact. Announcing an up coming "New Neil Simon Play" in 1966 was a BIG deal. Simon's previous two productions were "Barefoot in the Park" and "The Odd Couple". Massive commercial hits. You were not going to be cast in a new Neil Simon play if you were considered to be washed up.

[quote]Neil Simon was considered by many to be a hackish sitcom playwright even when his stuff was popular

That is so beside the point.

[quote] she "picks them up and puts them down like an elephant"

Huh?

By the same token, if "The Star Spangled Girl" was a better script, they would have got a better lead actress than Connie Stevens...

R89 That is so dumb. Any actress would have jumped at the opportunity to do a new Neil Simon play. Directed by George Axelrod. Costarring with Tony Perkins.

Furthermore, at first reading everyone knows that plays are worked on and will change before opening. Neil Simon was the hottest playwright on B'way, he had a reputation as a hit maker. The show wasn't a hit but it wasn't a total flop either, but that is not something that anyone could have predicted at first reading.

[quote]By the same token, if "The Star Spangled Girl" was a better script, they would have got a better lead actress than Connie Stevens...

You mean someone like me?

Well, you did steal "The Boyfriend" from Judy Carne, Sand.

[Quote] That is so dumb.

You think Connie Stevens was #1 on their list?

R93 Tell, us who else did they want for the role?

Simon, Axelrod and Stubber were as sterling as can be. I'd love to know what actress said "no".

always thought she was pretty and still looks good for 82...

i remember on a episode of baywatch, she played pamela anderson's mother who was coming to visit and met anderson's character's boyfriend fellow lifeguard played by david chokachi!

TALK ABOUT BLOND HOTNESS ALL AROUND FROM STEVENS, ANDERSON AND CHOKACHI! CAN'T THINK OF a more pretty blond trio in one scene, one episode of tv ever!..all that perfect blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, perfect white teeth, perfect tans of all three!

Anderson was already past her best even then.

If Simon was such a great playwright, how did his play wind up with someone who couldn't sing beyond the first row. Max Steiner's last composition for Warner's was "Two on a Guillotine" which he described s an abortion. When someone goes from being a middling tv stardom and making campy, but successful B movies to doing sub-William Castle schlock, they don't have much going for them. John Waters did not enjoy "Susan Slade" because it was Cannes-worthy, but because it was utter camp.

The Lange troll is almost more credible about extolling Jessica and trying to sell Stevens as a singer is less convincing than anything the Connie Francis troll could do---at least that Connie could project and sing on key even if she was basically a novelty act who could sing anything in phonetic Aramaic.

What was this 'do called?

She looks like she's auditioning for the Debbie Harry role in hairspray.

Even as an 8 year old I found her schtick quite tiresome...

She had a shop on La Brea, I think, and the proceeds went to animal welfare. She remained popular in the Hollywood enclave. I don't know why so many jealous bitches are trashing her--she was beautiful, talented and classy. Too much for you?

[quote]If Simon was such a great playwright, how did his play wind up with someone who couldn't sing beyond the first row. Max Steiner's last composition for Warner's was "Two on a Guillotine" which he described s an abortion. When someone goes from being a middling tv stardom and making campy, but successful B movies to doing sub-William Castle schlock, they don't have much going for them.

Man you are tedious.

Connie Stevens went to "Star Spangled Girl" on the success of "Never Too Late" which was released AFTER "Two on a Guillotine".

BTW I never ever cared for Connie Stevens. I find her to be pretty talentless and her shtick creepy. Her "singing" is cringe worthy. But whether you like her or not, to say she was washed up by the mid 60s is simply untrue.

[quote]What was this 'do called?

Not sure, but I'd call it a "don't."

[quote]If Simon was such a great playwright,..

Good God you are stupid.

Does she have a birthmark on her nose or she always forgets sunscreen?

Simon was a sitcom writer, not a playwright.

Funny how a mere sitcom writer winds up with the most Tony award nominations of any writer, had four plays running on B'way simultaneously and is the only living writer with a B'Way theatre named after him.

Life isn't fair.

I caught the end of Two on a Guillotine a couple of weeks ago. It was quite funny.

Well, he married Elaine Joyce. That was some sort of punishment.

What did she die of? She was pretty looking. There were lots of fluffy blondes around, but Connie did look sexy AND healthy. Farrah Fawcett had that appeal too. Few others. They are either too beauty queen or too slutty looking. Blondes starlettes. Connie was dumb though right?

.

[quote]and is the only living writer with a B'Way theatre named after him.

He's no longer a "living writer."

Connie and George Burns starred in a TV sitcom, Wendy and Me, in the mid-60s in which Connie played a screwball newlywed and George was her landlord. Like his show with Gracie Allen, he would break the fourth wall to talk to the audience.

It barely survived one season, but Connie was actually believable as a young and pretty Gracie Allen-type. Not a stretch, however.

****

Connie & George

Connie Stevens seems to have been abysmal at everything. Even Lola Hetherington could sing and dance.

[quote]Lola Hetherington

Oh, dear.

Liza Felana? All the same. Bad. So was Ann-Margaret. But the ancient white fags of Datalounge seem to think she was some sex kitten great performer too - when she was just S L U T T Y and sad. RIP.

Lola Hetherington is before my time. I don't know what the Oh Dear was about R117. Katherine O'Hara is also overrated. But at least she could bare children.

Lola HEATHERTON was a take off on Joey Heatherton and Lola Falana

[quote]But at least she could bare children.

She'd get arrested for that.

Warners really wanted both Connie and Robert Conrad to be acting and singing stars and gave them opportunities most people would die for. Neither was really good enough but Conrad at least had a long, successful albeit strange tv career (he really only had three successful series at best). I once met Connie and asked her about Bob; she was one of the few people who had nice things to say about him although she said most of their time on set he spent grooming himself (his most common comment to her was, "Don't mess up my hair in this scene" and boxing (eventually CBS forbid him from doing any more of it). She was actually a lot of fun to talk to and much brighter than you might think from her screen persona.

Lola Hetherington used to do commercials for being a human mattress. My granny told me so. Liza Felana was a dark skin girl who fucked Richard Burten. Liz let her stay, because she was good at cleaning up.

The late Conny Stevens was unknown to people born at any time. Her daughter Joey once date Ellen Degeneris. So there's that.

[quote]John Waters did not enjoy "Susan Slade" because it was Cannes-worthy, but because it was utter camp.

I'm pretty sure we all knew what the movie's appeal was for John Water, but thank you so much for enlightening us.

^^ Waters. ^^

John Water is correct.

Fun fact: Tab Hunter was responsible for the creation of Warner Bros. Records.

R122: well if you spend all your time that contrarian act---vociferiously defending thgis dim no talent and professing not to care for her.

[quote] well if you spend all your time that contrarian act---vociferiously defending thgis dim no talent and professing not to care for her.

I'm sorry, I only speak English.

And Roaring '20s had Miss Dorothy Provine as Pinky Pinkham, r71.

By far the best in that chanteuse role was Miss Lola Albright on Peter Gunn

Connie Francis was the best...great pitch, great intonation, great style!

She was no Connie Ford.

Love "Parrish" With Troy 😍

Connie Ford = dour.

She was no Connie Bennett.

She was no Connie Francine. Not on her best day.

She was no Connie Casserole!

She was no Connee Boswell!

She was no Con Jarrett!

"Connie Stevens IS Scorchy!!"

They told us that in middle school health class when we were learning about herpes.

r98 asked "What was this 'do called?"

A: Terrible.

R98 I called that a palm tree

Neither Connie Francis nor Connie Franklin played a chanteuse on an early '60s detective show, r130.

She was the poor man's Shelly Winters, r133.

Connie had a stroke in 2016

How could they tell?

[Quote] Talent free

You never had her in the bedroom.

R144 = Dorothy Parker

Connie was taught how to stroke by the Princeton crew.

[quote] Neither Connie Francis nor Connie Franklin played a chanteuse on an early '60s detective show, R130.

Miss Francis did "Connie and Clyde".

R148 Connie Francis always a day late and a dollar short. The photo and graphics look cheap and she's sitting there smiling like a dope as if she's in the Rose Bowl Parade.

That cover is copied from Peter Paul & Mary. Their Bonnie & Clyde themed cover was released on the same day as the movie.

This is how pros do it:

Peter Paul & Mary copied Connie Francis. Yes, their album was released a few months before her, but they had seen advance photos of her and stole the idea.

Awww leave her alone, she never hurt anyone.

Connie Francine had one of the greatest nose jobs of all time. She's renowned. Watch her in the Fabulous Baker Boys. She was deserving of a nomination.

R148 Magnificent LP arranged and conducted by Don Costa. Brother Can You Spare A Dine is a masterpiece.

Connie Stevens was a name I heard my parents and their friends mention in the early 1960s, or late 1950s.

I know absolutely NOTHING about Connie Stevens !

I grew up in Rock n' Roll, and I am still a follower to this day.

I'm more partial to Connie's twin sister, Stella. I didn't much care for their older sister, Inger, though.

Connie Stevens died in 1997. It was an accident they say. My grandma told me that Connie had a bad hairdresser who fed her dope! Connie was once a featured player on the Young and Restless. She was too underdeveloped to play a countess and too old to be the vixen. They made her a motel clerk. It didn't really go anywhere because no one could hear her when she spoke. She was part of a large plot line that they dropped. But her hair was nice. Why did Connie always whisper? Her son - Andrew Stevens grew up to marry Melissa McCarthy. Connie didn't that troubled a life - she was someone who got lucky in fucks and marriage early. She learned from the fourth best men in showbiz. Never had enough talent to take her further. She should have gone on QVC and sold wigs - but she was too proud. The way that man left her in the hotel room, torn apart inside - was more than sad. RIP Connie.

I remember when that bitch, Connie, stole the Juul Haalmeyer Dancers away from Lola Heatherton for her musical revue at the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre, sending poor Lola into a meltdown from which she never quite recovered. Vile hussy!

Back when I was working retail (early 80s), Connie used to come in to the store all the time. She was invariably charming, lots of fun, and very unpretentious. Absolutely one of the most delightful people to wait on. We built up a bit of a rapport and shared a few laughs together. I have nothing but good memories of my interactions with her.

Connie was on drugs all through the 80s and half the 90s, R158. I'm sure she remembered you fondly. RIP.

R157

Juul Haalmeyer dancers belong right up there with Dusty Towne...

For those who never had the pleasure, presenting the Juul Haalmeyer dancers....

They just don't make good TV like this anymore......

A thread about Connie Stevens is no longer about Connie Stevens.

R162: That's fine given that beyond some camp, two brief marriages to walking disaters, and a bankrupt cosmetics company, there wasn't much to her.

You can still order cosmetics online from the "Forever Spring" website, which looks like it hasn't been updated since 2001.

R158, exactly. That's why she was respected in Hollywood.

But you and I and some others are wasting our key strokes, because the majority on this thread is determined to the death that she was a slut. Okay, but then we're all sluts. I'll buy that!

Was "Two on a Guillotine" the last project she did with her original nose?

That was already after her first nose job, R166. Here is a before.

The original.

Eddie Fisher called her "the best fuck I ever had!" Which I guess is really saying something, since he supposedly fucked everybody.

She starred in an ABC Movie of the Week called "The Sex Symbol" , where she played a thinly veiled version of Marilyn Monroe. Here's a review of it:

Every once in a while the swamp of prime‐time entertainment gurgles up a product that sets its own memorable standards for trashiness. Tonight at 8:30, ABC performs the double edged honors with “The Sex Symbol,” an overwrought drama based loosely but unmistakably on the career and death of Marilyn Monroe.

Originally scheduled for last season, the program was abruptly postponed, reportedly because of the character's involvement with a politician bearing a thinly veiled resemblance to either John or Robert Kennedy. It has since been carefully reedited, but the point is still being made with what the producers must believe is clever subtlety.

“The Sex Symbol” is about as subtle as freshly minced garlic. Kelly Williams, just dismissed from her latest film, takes to popping pills and swilling tequila in preparation for a self‐pitying review of her life in flashback. We learn that she was an orphan, won a Miss Blowtorch 1945 beauty contest, became a sexy starlet and even sexier star, and along the way dabbled in unfulfilling marriages with a famous football player (read: baseball) and artist (read: playwright).

It's not that the Hollywood machine can't furnish fodder for a decent script. It has, in films such as “A Star Is Born” or “The Goddess” with Kim Stanley. It's only that some observers, most recently and notoriously Norman Mailer, insist on elevating the grubby reality to an exalted level of mythic significance. Hollywood's mixture of fantasy and slime is supposed to tell us something profound about ourselves and our country. The message is usually as profound as a gossip column.

Connie bares her tits in "The Sex Symbol" so it must have been made for theatrical release.

If that's the case, Connie had at least three rhinoplasty operations.

This pic is DL gold!