Mixing
Mark Stevens (actor)
Mark Stevens | |
|---|---|
 in The Dark Corner (1946) | |
| Born | Richard William Stevens (1916-12-13)December 13, 1916 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | September 15, 1994(1994-09-15) (aged 77) Majores, Spain |
| Other names | Stephen Richards |
| Years active | 1943–1987 |
| Spouse(s) | Annelle Hayes (m. 1945–1962) |
Mark Stevens (born Richard William Stevens, December 13, 1916 – September 15, 1994) was an American actor, one of four who played the lead role in the television series, Martin Kane, Private Eye, which aired on NBC from 1949 to 1954.
Contents
1 Career
1.1 Warner Bros - as Stephen Richards
1.2 20th Century Fox
1.3 Universal
1.4 Director
1.5 Later career
1.6 Death
2 Filmography
3 Television
4 Radio
5 Notes
6 External links
Career
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Stevens first studied to become a painter before becoming active in theater work. He then launched a radio career as an announcer in Akron, Ohio.
Warner Bros - as Stephen Richards
Moving to Hollywood, he became a Warner Brothers contract actor at $100 a week in 1943. The studio darkened and straightened his curly red hair and covered his freckles. At first he was billed as Stephen Richards. They gave him small parts, often uncredited, in films like Destination Tokyo (1943), Passage to Marseille (1944), The Doughgirls (1944), Hollywood Canteen (1944), Objective, Burma! (1945), God Is My Co-Pilot (1945), The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945), Rhapsody in Blue (1945) and Pride of the Marines (1945). He usually played soldiers. Eventually the studio let him go.
20th Century Fox
He was then signed to 20th Century Fox who changed his name to Mark Stevens at the suggestion of Darryl Zanuck.
His first movie for the studio was Within These Walls (1945), fourth-billed, playing the romantic male lead. Stevens was borrowed by RKO to play the lead role in From This Day Forward (1946) with Joan Fontaine.
Back at Fox Stevens was in The Dark Corner (1946) with Lucille Ball and Clifton Webb, a film noir that attempted to repeat the success of Laura (1944). In 1946 exhibitors voted him the fifth-most promising "star of tomorrow".[1]
Fox put him in a musical with June Haver, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947), playing Joseph E. Howard. It was a big hit. So too was The Street With No Name (1948), where Stevens played an FBI man going undercover to arrest a gangster played by Richard Widmark, and The Snake Pit (1948), where he played Olivia de Havilland's loyal husband.
Stevens was in a Western, Sand (1949) and another musical biopic with Haver, Oh, You Beautiful Doll (1949), playing Fred Fisher.[2] He supported William Powell in Dancing in the Dark (1949).
Stevens was borrowed by MGM to play Matthew Kinston, one of Deborah Kerr's three suitors in Please Believe Me (1950). For Columbia he starred in the film-noir Between Midnight and Dawn (1950).
Universal
Stevens then signed a contract at Universal: Target Unknown (1951), a war film; Katie Did It (1951), a romantic comedy; Little Egypt (1951) with Rhonda Fleming; Reunion in Reno (1951).
In 1951, he starred in the DuMont series News Gal which was later syndicated on ABC in 1957.
Stevens made Mutiny (1952) for the King Brothers and went to England for The Lost Hours (1952).
He was in Torpedo Alley (1953). Stevens took over the lead role in Martin Kane, Private Eye from 1953-54.
From 1954–56 he played a newspaper managing editor in the CBS Television series Big Town, having replaced Patrick McVey, who starred in the role from 1950-54. Reruns of Big Town began airing on DuMont under the title City Assignment while new episodes of the series were still appearing on CBS.
Director
In the 1950s he directed several features: Cry Vengeance (1954); Time Table (1956); Gun Fever (1958); Man on a Raft (1958); The Man in the Water (1963) and Sunscorched (1966).
As an actor only he was in Gunsight Ridge (1956), September Storm (1960) and Fate is the Hunter (1964).
Later career
He later worked in semi-retirement in the 1960s in Europe.[3] His credits include Spain Again (1969) and The Fury of the Wolfman (1972).
In the 80's he appeared in television shows Magnum, P.I. and Murder, She Wrote.
Death
On September 15, 1994, Stevens died of cancer in Majores, Spain, at the age of 77.[4]
For his contribution to the television industry, Mark Stevens has a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, located at 6637 Hollywood Blvd.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Destination Tokyo | Admiral's aide | Uncredited |
| 1944 | Passage to Marseille | Lieutenant Hastings | Uncredited |
Roaring Guns | Lance Ferris | as Stephen Richards | |
The Doughgirls | Lt. Harry Kerry | Uncredited | |
Hollywood Canteen | Soldier on deck | Uncredited | |
| 1945 | Objective, Burma! | Lt. Barker | as Stephen Richards |
God Is My Co-Pilot | Sgt. Baldridge | as Stephen Richards | |
The Horn Blows at Midnight | Angel | Uncredited | |
Rhapsody in Blue | Steve | Uncredited | |
Within These Walls | Steve Purcell | ||
Pride of the Marines | Ainslee | as Stephen Richards | |
| 1946 | From This Day Forward | Bill Cummings | |
The Dark Corner | Bradford Galt | ||
| 1947 | I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now | Joe Howard | |
| 1948 | The Street with No Name | Gene Cordell/George Manly | |
The Snake Pit | Robert Cunningham | ||
| 1949 | Sand | Jeff Keane | |
Oh, You Beautiful Doll | Larry Kelly | ||
Dancing in the Dark | Bill Davis | ||
| 1950 | Please Believe Me | Matthew Kinston | |
Between Midnight and Dawn | Officer Rocky Barnes | ||
| 1951 | Target Unknown | Capt. Jerome 'Steve' Stevens | |
Katie Did It | Peter Van Arden | ||
Little Egypt | Wayne Cravat | ||
Reunion in Reno | Norman Drake | ||
| 1952 | Mutiny | Capt. James Marshall | |
The Lost Hours | Paul Smith | ||
Torpedo Alley | Lt. Bob Bingham | ||
| 1953 | Jack Slade | Joseph Alfred Slade | |
| 1954 | Cry Vengeance | Vic Barron | Also director |
| 1956 | Time Table | Charlie Norman | Also director |
| 1957 | Gunsight Ridge | Velvet Clark | |
| 1958 | Gun Fever | Luke Ram | Also director |
Gunsmoke in Tucson | Jedediah (Chip) Coburn | ||
| 1960 | September Storm | Joe Balfour | |
| 1963 | Escape from Hell Island | Capt. James | Also director |
| 1964 | Fate Is the Hunter | Mickey Doolan | |
Frozen Alive | Dr. Frank Overton | Original title: Der Fall X701 | |
| 1965 | Jessy Does Not Forgive... He Kills! | Sheriff Jeff Kinsley | Original title: Tierra de fuego |
| 1966 | Go with God, Gringo | Smith | Original title: Vaya con dios gringo |
| 1969 | Cry for Poor Wally | Gaylord Blue – Radio DJ | |
Spain Again | Dr. David Foster | Original title: España otra vez | |
| 1972 | The Fury of the Wolfman | Bill Williams | Uncredited Original title: La furia del Hombre Lobo |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Wagon Train | Nels Stack | |
| 1957 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Capt. John Hunter | Episode: "Dangerous Orders" |
| 1958 | Zane Grey Theatre | Cort McConnell | Episode: "The Stranger" |
| 1962 | Rawhide | John Shepard | Episode: Incident of the Hunter |
| 1978 | The Eddie Capra Mysteries | Ballinger | Episode: "How Do I Kill Thee?" |
Radio
| Year | Program | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Suspense | Jimmy Dawson | Episode: "Tree of Life"[5] |
| 1947 | Suspense | Bill Cummings | Episode: From This Day Forward[6] |
| 1952 | Cavalcade of America | Thaddeus Fairbanks | Episode: "The Yankee and the Scales"[7] |
Notes
^ "The Stars of To-morrow". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 10 September 1946. p. 11 Supplement: The Sydney Morning Herald Magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2012..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ All Movie biography Archived 2006-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
^ Mark Stevens on IMDb
^ TCM Biography
^ http://www.escape-suspense.com/2009/06/suspense-tree-of-life.html
^ "LRT Guest". Harrisburg Telegraph. October 26, 1946. p. 21. Retrieved September 29, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Kirby, Walter (April 20, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 46. Retrieved May 9, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
External links
Mark Stevens on IMDb
Mark Stevens at TCMDB
Mark Stevens at Hollywood Star Walk
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