Craig Stevens

Craig Stevens (July 8, 1918 – May 10, 2000) was an American motion picture and television actor.

Biography

Born Gail Shikles, Jr. in Liberty, Missouri, he studied dentistry at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1936. Acting with the university's drama club prompted him to halt his studies and instead to audition in the Hollywood film industry. Adopting the stage name Craig Stevens, he debuted in a small role in 1939 and thereafter played mainly secondary parts. In 1944, he married Canadian actress Alexis Smith to whom he was wed for almost fifty years until her death in 1993.

After nearly twenty years in film, in 1958 Craig Stevens gained national prominence for his starring role as the "super-cool" private detective in the trend-setting television series Peter Gunn, which aired on NBC and then ABC. The series was produced by Blake Edwards, who also wrote and directed many of the episodes. The theme music for the series was composed by Henry Mancini and helped establish his early fame. During the late 1950s, Stevens appeared three times on Rod Cameron's syndicated western-themed crime drama, State Trooper, and once on the CBS sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve, with Howard Duff and Ida Lupino, and on the syndicated military drama The Silent Service.

Stevens was called on by Sir Lew Grade of ITV to move to London, England, to play the lead role in a made for TV series called Man of the World in the early 1960s.

In 1964, Stevens starred as Mike Bell, a New York City public relations specialist in the 13-week CBS drama, Mr. Broadway. Horace McMahon (1906-1971) played his assistant and police contact, Hank McClure. The series was produced by David Susskind.

Stevens died from cancer at the age of eighty-one in Los Angeles, California. The Stevenses were childless.

External links

Craig Stevens (I) at the Internet Movie Database

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