Connie Stevens
Connie Stevens was born for the spotlight, as her parents, Peter Ingoglia and Eleanor McGinley, were singers. Ingoglia's stage name was Teddy Stevens, a surname that Connie adopted at a young age. Her parents were divorced, and Connie lived with her grandparents when she wasn't attending Catholic boarding school.
Stevens' career began at 16, when she moved to Los Angeles to live with her father, and soon after joined the singing group the Three Debs. After the group disbanded, Stevens became the first artist signed to Warner Bros. Records. Her first record, "Concetta," produced the minor hits "Blame It on My Youth" and "Looking for a Boy."
In 1959, Stevens landed the acting role that made her a household name, appearing on the detective series "Hawaiian Eye" as Cricket Blake, a bar singer with a day job as a photographer. The successful series lasted four seasons, banking 134 hour-long episodes.
After she appeared in a recurring role on "77 Sunset Strip," Stevens recorded a song with Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, the star of the show. The record, "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb" reached No. 4 on the Billboard charts in 1960. Her subsequent record, "Sixteen Reasons," was the No. 1 song in 1961.
Stevens continued to enjoy a successful television career after "Hawaiian Eye" was canceled, starring as Wendy in the sitcom "Wendy and Me" with George Burns. In 1982, Stevens appeared in "Grease 2" as a seductive teacher with Maxwell Caulfield and Michelle Pfeiffer.
Today, Stevens runs her business Forever Spring, a cosmetics company with more than 300 products, and Garden Sanctuary, a day spa in Los Angeles. She has two daughters, Joely and Tricia Leigh, with former husband Eddie Fisher. She is devoted to Project Windfeather, which awards scholarships to Native American youth and delivers surplus goods to Native American reservations. She is also involved in building the first resort for children with special needs.
— Carina MacKenzie for the Los Angeles Times July 6, 2010
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One thought about Connie Stevens
I met Connie Stevens the first time when she attended Dick Van Patten's Walk of Fame ceremony when I was Executive Vice President of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. I knew she had the same birth date as mine August 8th so I walked up to her and said is your birth date really August 8th and she smiled and said "You must be a Leo too". The next time I met her was at the Hollywood Christmas Parade that the Chamber produced. Connie is a very friendly and warm person and was happy to be part of our Walk of Fame merchadising program to restore the Walk of Fame to prominence. You can see a picture of Connie and me from the Hollywood Christmas Parade by going to www.celebrityalmanac.com and looking under Ed and Friends. By-the-way Dick Van Patten had one of the biggest turn outs of other celebrities attending his Walk of Fame star ceremoney. He is very well liked by the Hollywood Community.
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