Joanna Venetia Invicta Stevenson (10 March 1938 – 26 September 2022) was an English actress.
Early life
Born in 1938 in London, England, as Joanna Venetia Invicta Stevenson, she was the daughter of film director
Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to:
* Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician
* Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer
* Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engl ...
and actress
Anna Lee
Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was a British actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell".
Early life
Anna Lee was born Joan Boniface Winnifrith in Ightham, (pronounced 'Item'), Kent, the ...
. The family moved to Hollywood within a year of her birth after her father signed a contract with film producer
David O. Selznick. When her parents divorced in 1944, she stayed with her father and new stepmother, Frances.
["Film's Venetia Stevenson Wins Divorce", ''Los Angeles Times'', 2 April 1957, p. B1] After an education in exclusive Californian private schools,
["Dream Girl Venetia's Career Is Nightmare", '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', 10 May 1959, p. E1 her theatrical debut was with her mother in ''
Liliom
''Liliom'' is a 1909 play by the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár. It was well known in its own right during the early to mid-20th century, but is best known today as the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1945 musical ''Carousel''.
P ...
'', a play produced by the Sombrero Theater, in Phoenix, Arizona, in April 1955 and with the husband-and-wife team of
Fernando Lamas
Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos (January 9, 1915 – October 8, 1982) was an Argentine-American actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.
Biography Argentina
Fernando Álvaro Lamas y de Santos was born in Buenos Aires, Arg ...
and
Arlene Dahl
Arlene Carol Dahl (August 11, 1925 – November 29, 2021) was an American actress active in films from the late 1940s. She was one of the last surviving stars from the Classical Hollywood cinema era.
She was also an author and entrepreneur. Sh ...
.
A one-time Miss Los Angeles Press Club, Stevenson was placed on contract by
RKO Pictures
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orphe ...
in November 1956.
["Grossinger News-Notes", ''New York Times'', 11 November 1956, p. 175] Hedda Hopper
Hedda Hopper (born Elda Furry; May 2, 1885February 1, 1966) was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, her readership was 35 million. A strong supporter of the House Un-American Activities Committ ...
named Stevenson on her list of top movie newcomers in January 1957, alongside
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...
. Hopper said of Stevenson, then 18, she is "the most purely beautiful of all the new crop of stars."
Film and television actress
On 13 March 1957, Stevenson was cast in CBS's ''
Playhouse 90
''Playhouse 90'' was an American television anthology series, anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology dr ...
'' adaptation of ''
Charley's Aunt
''Charley's Aunt'' is a farce in three acts written by Brandon Thomas. The story centres on Lord Fancourt Babberley, an undergraduate whose friends Jack and Charley persuade him to impersonate the latter's aunt. The complications of the plot inc ...
'', with
Tom Tryon
Thomas Lester Tryon (January 14, 1926 – September 4, 1991) was an American actor and novelist. He is best known for playing the title role in the film ''The Cardinal'' (1963), featured roles in the war films '' The Longest Day'' (1962) and ''I ...
,
Jackie Coogan
John Leslie Coogan (October 26, 1914 – March 1, 1984) was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films.
Charlie Chaplin's film classic ''The Kid'' (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the ...
, and
Jeanette MacDonald
Jeanette Anna MacDonald (June 18, 1903 – January 14, 1965) was an American singer and Actor, actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier (''The Love Parade'', ''Love Me Tonight'', ''The Merry Widow (1934 ...
. On 12 November 1957, Stevenson appeared as Kathy Larsen in the episode "Trail's End" of the ABC/Warner Bros. Western series, ''
Sugarfoot
''Sugarfoot'' is an American Western television series that aired for 69 episodes on ABC from 1957-1961 on Tuesday nights on a "shared" slot basis – rotating with ''Cheyenne'' (first season); ''Cheyenne'' and ''Bronco'' (second season); and ...
''.
Stevenson played Peggy McTavish in the film ''
Darby's Rangers
''Darby's Rangers'' (released in the UK as ''The Young Invaders'') is a 1958 war film directed by William Wellman and starring James Garner as William Orlando Darby, who organizes and leads the first units of United States Army Rangers during Wor ...
'' (1958), a Warner Bros. release in which she was paired with
Peter Brown. She is one of the women pursued by actors cast as members of an
American unit of the same name during World War II. The movie was directed by
William Wellman
William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and military pilot. He was known for his work in crime, adventure, and action genre films, often focusing on avi ...
.
Stevenson's publicity machine continued to promote her. She was reported enjoying riding horses as an activity
[''Louella Parsons'', ''Lincoln Evening Journal'', 26 July 1959, p. 18] and playing table tennis.
[ In November 1957, she won $300 in prizes at a horse show and participated at the National Horse Show at the ]Cow Palace
The Cow Palace (originally the California State Livestock Pavilion) is an indoor arena located in Daly City, California, situated on the city's northern border with neighboring San Francisco. Because the border passes through the property, a por ...
in San Francisco. Around this time, she became the face on Sweetheart Stout cans and bottles; the brand marked the 50th anniversary of using her image in 2008.
She appeared in the Western drama ''Day of the Outlaw
''Day of the Outlaw'' is a 1959 Western film starring Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, and Tina Louise. It was directed by Andre DeToth; this was DeToth's final Western feature film.
Plot
Blaise Starrett is a ruthless cattleman who helped found the smal ...
'' (1959), starring Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for ...
and Tina Louise
Tina Louise ( Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island''. With the death of Dawn Wells in 2020, Louise became the las ...
. Stevenson also had a primary role in the film version of the ''Studs Lonigan
''Studs Lonigan'' is a novel trilogy by American author James T. Farrell: ''Young Lonigan'' (1932), ''The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan'' (1934), and ''Judgment Day'' (1935). In 1998, the Modern Library ranked the Studs Lonigan trilogy 29th on i ...
'' trilogy by James T. Farrell
James Thomas Farrell (February 27, 1904 – August 22, 1979) was an American novelist, short-story writer and poet.
He is most remembered for the ''Studs Lonigan'' trilogy, which was made into a film in 1960 and a television series in 1979.
B ...
, brought to the screen in December 1960.
Among the other motion pictures in which she appears are '' Island of Lost Women'' (1959), '' Jet Over the Atlantic'' (1959), '' The Big Night'' (1960), ''Seven Ways from Sundown
''Seven Ways from Sundown'' is a 1960 American Western film directed by Harry Keller and starring Audie Murphy and Barry Sullivan. It is based on the novel of the same name by Clair Huffaker, who also wrote the script. Young cast member Teddy R ...
'' (1960), '' The City of the Dead'' (or ''Horror Hotel'', 1960), and '' The Sergeant Was a Lady'' (1961).
Stevenson appeared on television in episodes of ''Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
'' (1957), '' Colt .45'' (1958), ''77 Sunset Strip
''77 Sunset Strip'' is an American television Private investigator#PIs in fiction, private detective drama series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Roger Smith (actor), Roger Smith, Richard Long (actor), Richard Long (fr ...
'' (1958), ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from October 3, 1952, to April 23, 1966, and starred the real-life Nelson family. After a long run on radio, the show was brought to television, where it ...
'' (1958), '' Lawman'' (1958), '' The Millionaire'' (1959), ''The Third Man
''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten), ...
'' (1959), and ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents
''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, aired on CBS and NBC between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers and mysteries. Between 1962 and 1965 it was ren ...
'' (1960) alongside Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture.
Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...
and Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton (July 14, 1926 – September 15, 2017) was an American actor, musician, and singer.
In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films including '' Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Kelly's Heroe ...
.
She appeared in ''Back to the Future Part II
''Back to the Future Part II'' is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale and a story by both. It is the sequel to the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'' and the second installment in the ' ...
'' (1989) as the cover girl of the ''Oh Lala'' magazine.
Sweetheart Stout
The same photo of Stevenson has appeared on cans and bottles of Sweetheart Stout beer since 1958.
Personal life
Marriages and relationships
Stevenson married MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
actor-dancer Russ Tamblyn
Russell Irving Tamblyn, also known as Rusty Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934) is an American film and television actor and dancer.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tamblyn trained as a gymnast in his youth. He began his career as a child actor f ...
on Valentine's Day, 1956, shortly after her half-brother, actor Jeffrey Byron
Jeffrey Byron (born Timothy Paul Stafford; November 28, 1955) is an American actor and writer. Byron has acted in both film and television, and co-wrote one movie script (''The Dungeonmaster'').
Byron was born in Santa Monica, California, the ...
, was born to her mother. She was 17 when Tamblyn and she had their wedding in the Wayfarers Chapel
Wayfarers Chapel, also known as "The Glass Church" is located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. It is noted for its unique organic architecture and location on cliffs above the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Swedenborgian Church of North Amer ...
in Palos Verdes. Stevenson and Tamblyn divorced in April 1957,[ but the two remained friends. A widely reproduced photograph shows Stevenson calmly walking down a Los Angeles street, seemingly unaware that Tamblyn is doing a spectacular backward aerial handspring a few inches away from her.
Stevenson had a year-long affair with actor ]Audie Murphy
Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was an American soldier, actor and songwriter. He was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from t ...
, which began when they co-starred in ''Seven Ways from Sundown'' in 1960.
Stevenson remarried, to Don Everly
The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...
, in 1962 and retired from acting and modelling. She had often complained about how much she hated acting. The couple had two daughters, Stacy and Erin Everly, both model/actresses, and a son, Edan Everly
Edan Donald Everly (born August 25, 1968) is an American musician and singer-songwriter.
Early life
Everly is the son of Don Everly and nephew to Phil Everly
of the Everly Brothers.
His mother is actress Venetia Stevenson. His siblings a ...
, a musician. She divorced Don Everly in 1970 and never remarried. Erin, the ex-wife of rocker Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...
, was the inspiration for several Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
songs, including "Sweet Child o' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction''. In the United States, the song was released in June 1988 as the album's third single, topping the ''Billboard'' ...
", where she also appeared in the video.
Friendships and publicity romances
Despite not having a starring role in a film before 1958, Stevenson was incredibly popular in fan magazines. She was labelled "the most photogenic girl in the world" and went in rounds of dates;['Tab Hunter Confidential', pg 136.] however, most of the men she went out with were only friends to her.
In his 2005 autobiography, ''Tab Hunter Confidential: the Making of a Movie Star'', Tab Hunter
Tab Hunter (born Arthur Andrew Kelm; July 11, 1931 – July 8, 2018) was an American actor, singer, film producer, and author. Known for his blond, clean-cut good looks, Hunter starred in more than forty films. He was a Hollywood heartthrob of t ...
, with whom she frequently dated, admitted that she was a large part of his and his then-boyfriend, Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influential ...
's, social life, "acting as a 'beard' when we double-dated." Although their relationship was an open secret in Hollywood, Stevenson acted as a confidant for Perkins during the course of their romance. " rtainly, we all knew Tony erkinswas gay," Stevenson admitted to a Perkins biographer. "...We were real friends, and he would sleep over at my house in the same bed. But there was never, ever any... well, you know. If you have a friend of the opposite sex who's gay, it's just up in the air."
Death
Stevenson died on 26 September 2022, at a health care facility in Atlanta from Parkinson’s disease.Venetia Stevenson, Actress Once Called “The Most Photogenic Girl in the World,” Dies at 84
/ref>
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Venetia
1938 births
2022 deaths
Actresses from London
British expatriates in the United States
Deaths from Parkinson's disease
English female models
English film actresses
English stage actresses
English television actresses
Neurological disease deaths in Georgia (U.S. state)
The Everly Brothers
Western (genre) film actresses
20th-century English actresses