Mark Stevens

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Actor | Director | Producer Born Richard Stevens on Dec. 13, 1916 in Cleveland, Ohio

Mark Stevens was a television and movie actor of the 1940s and '50s.

He was probably best known in television for the role of Steve Wilson in the "Big Town" series, which he produced and directed as well as starred in. Before that, he played Martin Kane, Private Eye in the "Martin Kane" TV series.

He also played the leading man in a number of films in the 1940s.

Early in his career, he worked as a reporter for a short time at the Akron Beacon-Journal in Ohio when acting work was slow. He took the name Steven Richards for his first acting jobs with the Corona Barn, playing in such offerings as “The Drunkard,” “The Honest Merchant,” “The Mad Barber” and “Billy the Kid.”

He performed in tent shows, cleaning, painting scenery and selling popcorn, and when the season slacked off, he worked in a steel mill, a rubber factory, a gas station and a department store.

After finding on-screen success, he started his own production company that made television movies, feature films and commercials in the 1950s.

— Walter Ames in the Los Angeles Times Aug. 5, 1956