Inger Stevens was a Swedish-American actress born Ingrid Stensland on October 18, 1934, in Stockholm, Sweden. Her mother abandoned the family when Inger was just six years old, and her father moved to the United States, leaving her and her brother in the care of a family maid and later an aunt in Lidingö, near Stockholm.
In 1944, Inger and her brother moved to the United States to live with their father and his new wife in New York City. At the age of 13, the family relocated to Manhattan, Kansas, where Inger's father taught at Kansas State University. She attended Manhattan High School and later moved to Kansas City, where she worked in burlesque shows at the age of 16.
At 18, Inger left Kansas City to return to New York City, where she worked as a chorus girl and in the Garment District while taking classes at the Actors Studio. She began appearing on television series, in commercials, and in plays before receiving her big break in the film Man on Fire, starring Bing Crosby.
Inger went on to appear in several major films, including The World, the Flesh and the Devil, opposite Harry Belafonte, and Hang 'Em High, with Clint Eastwood. She achieved her greatest success in the television series The Farmer's Daughter, with William Windom, which ran from 1963 to 1966.
Following the cancellation of The Farmer's Daughter, Inger appeared in several films, including A Guide for the Married Man, Hang 'Em High, and Madigan. At the time of her death, she was attempting to revive her television career with the detective drama series The Most Deadly Game.
