I remember her in The Nutty Professor with Jerry Lewis. She really never attained her goals in the industry and was pretty much relegated to blonde bombshell status. Link.
Stella Stevens was the object of many teenage male daydreams in the 1960s. I was one of them.
She had a good run and was not only pretty, she was pretty smart too, but the sexism of the times was against her realizing her goal of directing.
Sorry to hear she’s gone. Raquel and now Stella. It’s been a helluva week for us Boomers.
I remember her from The Poseidon Adventure (1972) — second picture. She was in Playboy too, although I don’t remember that, probably because I was too young.
Rest in Peace.
NSFW —
Truly NSFW
This is a link to her actual centerfold photo (January 1960). Compared to ones that came later, it’s quite tame.
Nice 
but tame.
NSFW:
RIP, Stella!
Linda, next time you put something on, like I told you to put on!
It’s nice to leave something to the imagination, innit? 
I may have facts mixed up here due to being very small when the folks took us to the Drive-in: Dean Martin movie (The Silencers[?]), Stella Stevens gets out of the car in the pouring rain, trips and trips and trips some more in the mud, gets back in the car with Dino and they somehow get her cleaned up.
And that’s where I fell asleep. Sound familiar?
It seems so now, but Stella Stevens was one of the few actresses back then to pose nude for Playboy (three times!) and still be able to find work in mainline movies afterward.
then in the 80s 90s, they started casting from it
I remember they used to have a thing on the last page for “notable” people and one was a Latina in a see-through catsuit with nothing on under it and she got some bit part …3 months later she was a guest star everywhere and is still acting …supposedly she accredited her earlier career to that one pic and mention
erm i meant to say she was being noted for some bit part
In every movie i watch from the ‘50s
There’s only one thought that swirls around my head now
And that’s that everyone there on the screen
Well they’re all dead now
And it ain’t easy living above
And i can’t help but keep falling in love with bones and ashes
It goes back farther than that. They started showing up in bit parts in series like Love, American Style and The Odd Couple around 1970, and one of Hefner’s girlfriends had a leading role in another show by 1977.
At least, these are the earliest examples I’ve found so far.
Well, that is a cheery thought, innit? 