Born in Stockholm, Sweden, Inger Stevens was raised by extended family when she was abandoned by her parents at the age of 5, her mother remarrying, her father relocating to the USA. In 1944 she joined her father and his new wife in Manhattan, Kansas, where, self-conscious of being a foreigner, she lost her Swedish accent. Tension built between the stepmom and stepdaughter, and as a teenager she ran away to Kansas City, answering a newspaper ad for a 'popcorn girl', not realizing it was for a striptease show. Before long she was singing in an abbreviated Santa Claus suit, earning $60 a week as Kay Palmer. Her father found her and brought her home, where she began working in amateur theater and winning stage competitions. Working a series of jobs, she financed a move to New York City in 1951. Auditioning with 150 other applicants for the Actors Studio, she was one of 20 chosen to be trained by Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan. Her manager changed her surname to Stevens, and in 1954 she started appearing in episodes of Goodyear Playhouse, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Mister Peepers, Danger, and Kraft Theatre. In 1963, the role of Katie Holstrom, a politically outspoken Swedish maid working for a congressional widower and his mother on The Farmer's Daughter made her a household name.
Inger Stevens died at the age of 35, her death ruled as suicide.
