Leslie Stevens


Director

About

Birth Place
Washington, Washington D.C., USA
Born
February 03, 1924
Died
April 24, 1998
Cause of Death
Complications Of Emergency Angioplasty

Family & Companions

Kate Manx
Wife
Actor. Committed suicide after their divorce.
Shakti Chen Stevens
Wife
Survived him.

Biography

Filmography

 

Director (Feature Film)

Three Kinds of Heat (1987)
Director
I Love a Mystery (1973)
Director
Search (1972)
Creator
Incubus (1965)
Director
Hero's Island (1962)
Director
Private Property (1960)
Director

Writer (Feature Film)

Gordy (1994)
Screenplay
Return to the Blue Lagoon (1991)
Screenplay
Three Kinds of Heat (1987)
Screenwriter
Sheena (1984)
From Story
Sheena (1984)
Story By
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979)
Screenplay
Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model? (1977)
Screenwriter
Gemini Man (1976)
Screenwriter
Fer-De-Lance (1974)
Screenwriter
I Love a Mystery (1973)
Screenplay
Search (1972)
Screenwriter
Incubus (1965)
Screenplay
Hero's Island (1962)
Screenwriter
Private Property (1960)
Writer
The Marriage-Go-Round (1960)
Writer
The Left Handed Gun (1958)
Screenwriter

Producer (Feature Film)

Gordy (1994)
Executive Producer
Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model? (1977)
Producer
Search (1972)
Producer
Hero's Island (1962)
Producer
The Marriage-Go-Round (1960)
Producer

Art Department (Feature Film)

Red Dragon (2002)
Art Department

Film Production - Main (Feature Film)

Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999)
Production Coordinator
The Waterboy (1998)
Production Coordinator
Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)
Production Coordinator
Battlestar Galactica (1978)
Production Supervisor

Writer (Special)

The Virginian (1958)
Writer
Crescendo (1957)
Writer

Special Thanks (Special)

The Virginian (1958)
Writer
Crescendo (1957)
Writer

Film Production - Main (TV Mini-Series)

Tarzan's Return (1996)
Production Coordinator

Life Events

1939

Won a high school playwriting contest earning a ticket to Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre; sold Welles his play "The Mechanical Rat" at age 15

1942

Joined the US Air Corps and served as an officer

1953

Had his Off-Broadway debut with "Bullfight"

1958

Had a successful Broadway run with the romantic comedy "Marriage-Go-Round", starring Charles Boyer and Claudette Colbert

1958

Wrote, co-produced and directed his first film "Private Property"; met his first wife Kate Manx

1958

Wrote the Paul Newman Western drama "The Left-Handed Gun"

1960

Adapted his play "Marriage-Go-Round" into a film starring Susan Hayward and James Mason

1962

Worked as executive producer on the NBC Western "The Virginian"

1962

Wrote the action film "Heroes Island" starring James Mason

1965

Directed and wrote the horror film "Incubus", featuring Esperanto dialogue

1972

Produced and wrote the NBC movie "Search" and its subsequent series

1976

Produced and wrote the TV-movie "The Gemini Man" (NBC) and its subsequent sci-fi adventure series

1977

Produced and wrote the mystery TV-movie "Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model?" (NBC)

1979

Wrote the film "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" and acted as supervising producer on the 1979-1980 NBC TV series

1980

Formed Empress Productions with Los Angeles Rams owner Georgia Frontiere, producing plays for the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC

1984

Wrote the jungle queen film "Sheena" starring Tanya Roberts

1988

Was supervising producer on NBC's action adventure series "The Highwayman"

1991

Established the Leslie Stevens Fellowships for Television Writing to encourage new talent

1991

Wrote the film "Return to the Blue Lagoon"

1994

Produced and wrote the family comedy feature "Gordy"

1996

Produced and wrote the syndicated TV-movie "Tarzan's Return"

Videos

Movie Clip

Private Property (1960) -- (Movie Clip) You Don't Breed A Bird With A Snake Having demonstrated now that they're criminals, Duke and Boots (Corey Allen, Warren Oates) pounce on the first customer at the gas station (Jerome Cowan as salesman Ed), then the next, Kate Manx, wife of the writer-director Leslie Stevens, as stylish and disoriented Ann, early in Private Property, 1960.
Private Property (1960) -- (Movie Clip) Tell Me About Yourself, Son Creepy Duke and Boots (Corey Allen, Warren Oates) have occupied the vacant Beverly Hills house next door to their stalking target Ann (Kate Manx, who lived there, with her husband, writer-director Leslie Stevens), as her frustration with her husband (Robert Wark) is revealed, in Private Property, 1960.
Private Property (1960) -- (Movie Clip) How Far To The Sunset Strip? Credits for the restoration, and stark verging on artsy opening from writer-director Leslie Stevens, Corey Allen and Warren Oates as drifters Duke and Boots, guerrilla-style shooting on the Pacific Coast Highway, the gas station man is un-credited, in the semi-cult drama Private Property, 1960.
Left Handed Gun, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) He Is Death's Child From Leslie Stevens' script based on Gore Vidal's teleplay, the lyric in the theme by William Goyen, Paul Newman's Billy the Kid stumbles and mumbles and meets first Tom (James Best), then rancher Tunstall (Colin Keith-Johnston), in Arthur Penn's radical western The Left Handed Gun, 1958.
Left Handed Gun, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) Can't Get Away From The Bible Just picked up on the range by English-born rancher Tunstall (Colin Keith-Johnston), Paul Newman as Billy the Kid is by turns deceptive, intellectually curious, and protective, in Arthur Penn’s revisionist Western based on Gore Vidal’s teleplay, The Left Handed Gun, 1958.
Left Handed Gun, The (1958) -- (Movie Clip) You Can't Shoot A Sheriff Paul Newman as Billy the Kid seems overly thrilled by the calliope, after the burial of his new boss, bouncing off Southerner Moultrie (Hurd Hatfield) and lawman Garrett (John Dehner), then frightening pals Tom and Charlie (James Best, James Congdon), in Arthur Penn’s, The Left Handed Gun, 1958.
Incubus (1965) -- (Movie Clip) We Need The Eggs Speaking Esperanto and anticipating Woody Allen as they observe an eclipse, evil succubus Kia (Allyson Ames) meets injured soldier Marc (William Shatner) and sister Amdis (Ann Atman) in Incubus, 1965.
Incubus (1965) -- (Movie Clip) We Can Become One Virtuous injured soldier Marc (William Shatner) speaking Esperanto with Kia (Allyson Ames) on a romantic stroll, unaware she's a spirit plotting to kill an honest man, in director Leslie Stevens' Incubus, 1965.
Incubus (1965) -- (Movie Clip) Same Blood, Same Heart The murderous succubus Kia (Allyson Ames) is stalking the injured soldier Marc (William Shatner) and his sister Amdis (Ann Atmar), speaking Esperanto as they visit the magical well, in Incubus, 1965, from writer-director Leslie Stevens.
Incubus (1965) -- (Movie Clip) God Of Darkness Acting in Esperanto, Kia (Allyson Ames), a succubus who's just offed a vile male, consults with her more experienced sister Amael (Eloise Hardt), in the low-rent mythical fantasy Incubus, 1965.
Incubus (1965) -- (Movie Clip) Final Degradation Ominous narration in Esperanto, the opening of the only film made in that attempted universal language, Incubus, 1965, starring William Shatner and Allyson Ames, directed by Leslie Stevens.

Family

Leslie C Stevens
Father
Navy vice admiral.
Leslie Stevens V
Son
Born in 1962; mother, Kate Manx.
Steven Stevens
Son
Dana Stevens
Daughter
Sunday Stevens
Daughter
Samantha Stevens
Daughter

Companions

Kate Manx
Wife
Actor. Committed suicide after their divorce.
Shakti Chen Stevens
Wife
Survived him.

Bibliography