“Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet” (2025) / Z-View

Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet (2025)

Director: Andrew Stevens

Screenplay: Andrew Stevens

Stars: Stella Stevens, Andrew Stevens, Jim Brown, Bobby Darrin, Glenn Ford, Michael Landon, Jerry Lewis, John Lithgo and Dean Martin.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Stella Stevens was married at 16.  At the time she lived in Holy Springs, Mississippi.  Within the next six years she would have a child, get divorced, give up her son, move to Hollywood, get a contract with 20th Century Fox, win a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year, be featured in Playboy magazine and fight to regain custody of her son.

She was just getting started.

Stella Stevens would go on to have a career in feature films and television that would last over 5 decades.  Her son, Andrew Stevens, wrote and directed this documentary on his mother’s life.  As you can imagine, there were highs and lows in both her professional and personal life.  This is her story.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

One of the choices made in this documentary was to have an actress appear on screen as Stella Stevens.  The actress voiced Stella Stevens quotes from interviews and articles.  It came off as a bit hokey.

Stella Stevens had an impressive career, always finding a way to stay active in her chosen profession.  She wasn’t afraid of controversial roles.

As much time was given to her off-screen life as her on-screen performances.

Stella Stevens: The Last Starlet (2025) rates 3 of 5 stars.