Inger Stevens (born Ingrid Stensland, October 18, 1934 – April 30, 1970) was a Swedish-American film, television, and stage actress.
Inger Stevens was born in Stockholm, Sweden, the daughter of Per Gustaf and Lisbet Stensland. As a child, she was often ill. When she was nine, her mother abandoned the family and her father moved to the United States, leaving Inger and her sister in the custody first of the family maid and then with an aunt in Lidingö, near Stockholm. In 1944, the girls moved with their father and his new wife to New York City, where he had found work teaching at Columbia University. At age 13, she and her father moved to Manhattan, Kansas, where she attended Manhattan High School.
At 16, she ran away from home to Kansas City, Missouri, and worked in burlesque shows. At 18, she left Kansas 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.