Customer Reviews

The Farmer's Daughter Remembered: The Biography of Actress Inger Stevens

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There's not a lot of information out there readily available on Inger Stevens' life, and from what Mr. Patterson writes, most of it is wrong anyway. According to his biography of the actress, Ms. Stevens herself gave out fictitious and occasionally contradictory accounts of her life to reporters and acquaintances, which must have made it hard to piece together a definitive account of what happened to her.

To that end, Patterson should be commended for his efforts to detail her story, and for his detective work into her mysterious death (which he states may have been a murder). This book's strength is its pooling of information on this often overlooked actress -- the compilation of personal letters, interviews with family and friends, reviews and articles from a variety of sources -- giving her fans and interested readers insights into her unique personality.

The book's weaknesses, however, are apparent in the writing and editing. The information is often presented in choppy, disjointed fashion, while the prose is at times awkward, repetitive and poorly punctuated.

These qualms aside, the facts of Inger Stevens' life not only speak for themselves, they shout how lonely and lost she often was. Even if she didn't take her own life, her long trail of badly chosen relationships only led one way. It's a sad story, and I appreciate the hard work Mr. Patterson invested to tell it.

Sensitive portrayal of a fine actress. Detailed account of her troubled childhood, rise to stardom, broken affairs, battles with depression. Added with some lovely photos. This book makes interesting reading for any Inger Stevens fan.

Manu US viewers remember seeing Inger Stevens first in the child custody Bing Crosby melodrama MAN ON FIRE. Because it was seen as Bing's follow up to the heavy drama of THE COUNTRY GIRL, which had starred Grace Kelly, Inger Stevens was compared unfavorably to Grace Kelly's classic good looks and acting ability. Even though the critics anknowledged that in a glum part, Inger Stevens brought some life to it, she was dismissed as a Grace Kelly wannabe before her career got off the ground. And Hollywood insiders and gossips were wagging their tongues about Inger and Bing. Today, in the wake of "Bennifer," their purported romance would make them "Binger" I guess. Anyhow Crosby was notoriously caddish to his female co-stars, and most of them wound up on the scrap heap of Hollywood history, but for Inger Stevens, she was just beginning a romantic history that would see her careening from romance to romance like a bumper car out of control. Who didn't she fall for? James Mason, Harry Belafonte, Anthony Quinn, David Janssen, just about every guy who crossed her path who might as well have had "Trouble" written on his forehead.

It was almost as if, as Patterson indicates, she had some kind of delusion about where to locate strength in a man, and life found her confused about what was real, what wasn't. The druggy vacuity of VALLEY OF THE DOLLS seems campy to us today when we see it on screen, but it was the harsh reality of Inger's life.

Patterson's book takes the high road in trying to separate out the rumor from the fact, and it opens up a lot of previously sealed doors. Though Inger made only seventeen films, and of course many episodes of her popular TV series, we continue to think of her as a beautiful blonde whose life was just too painful for her to go on living.

Centuries ago mapmakers would mark unknown parts of the world with dragons. After reading Patterson's "The Farmer's Daughter Remembered," there remain many dragons on the map of Inger Stevens' life. Still, Mr. Patterson's in-depth research provides us with the raw material to catch a glimpse of the "real" Inger Stevens if you do two things:

(1.) Ignore many of Mr. Patterson's comments since he is too enamored with his subject to bring us to objective conclusions based on the evidence. (Honestly, who could blame anyone with being enamored considering the subject matter?)

(2.) Follow what Ms. Stevens does, says and writes.

The book provides numerous examples of the contrasts and contradictions of this brilliant and talented actress, as well as her personal suffering and torment. I do have some questions in regards to "facts" as purported by Ms. Stevens and Mr. Patterson. I left wondering if Ms. Stevens herself could tell fantasy from reality throughout her life, but that is my impression and your views may differ after reading the content.

It may be difficult to glean from this book, but Ms. Stevens was as "human" as the rest of us. She had her talents, shortcomings, successes and failures. She had her bright side and her dark side. She could love and hate, create and destroy (including herself in the end). I concluded that Ms. Stevens couldn't find herself and discover that she is all of these things, so she could never love or accept herself completely.

As a reviewer pointed out, the book has some serious editorial flaws. A paragraph that had JFK's assassination as November 11th was one of the bigger faux pases that was hard to take... All and all, however, I gave the book five stars. Mr. Patterson (who passed on recently) did what no other has done by writing the biography of this interesting person and talented actress. Her biography is long overdue.

Somehow it is almost fitting that I write this review 38 years to the day of her passing on April 30, 1970. You can select a career for all the wrong reasons and even worse be good or great at it; it will destroy you in the end. Hollywood is not the place to get your bearings on life, only where thoughts of fantasy and reality merge into one. Be careful what you wish for.

May Ms. Stevens and Mr. Patterson both be at peace.

Swashbuckled is correct; the book could have used a good editor, and the murder theory seems more like an attempt to sell the book than to have any real foundation. But flawed as it is the research about her life and especially her life before fame is well documented. There is a bibliography, footnotes and an index, all rare in such biographies. For those curious about a beautiful actress with a secret interracial marriage who apparently took her life at the age of 35 the book provides ample material for speculation.

I was a bit surprised about the previous not so well reviews, but I cannot agree with them. This is a very well researched and well written book considering the fact that there is not nearly as much information available on Inger Stevens as there is on many other actors.
Right before this book I read "...but I have promises to keep" by Ursula Thiess, Robert Taylor's widow, a German actress who survived WW II bombings in Hamburg and then immigrated to the US. Another great book on actors!

Mr. Patterson's biography of actress Inger Stevens is comprehensive and thorough. This is the definitive writing of a brilliant and beautiful star who met with a tragic ending on 30 April 1970. Mr. Patterson clearly and concisely builds a picture of what Inger Stevens was like as a person, as a star, and of her interactions with some of the most famous men of the 50's and 60's. Of her tragic ending, Mr. Patterson succinctly applies his vast knowledge as a detective to build a case that suicide may not have been the cause of her death, but rather the possibilty of murder. Mr. Patterson's book is a must for anyone who would like to get to know Inger Stevens and appreciate her and and her legacy in movies.

I found the book interesting and well researched. I dont know if anybody caught it but Inger s LA psychiatrist was dr Ralph Greenson, also Marilyn Monroe s DR at the time of her death. There is probably a book just on him, based on his patients and his treatment, or lack thereof. Inger was always somehow very haunting to me as a kid when I saw the various things she acted in and I still remember all of them. THe author of this book seems like to me couldnt decide exactly how Inger died and I came away somewhat troubled about the end of her life. It seems that he felt it was murder and most people automatically jump to the conclusion of Burt Reynolds. I suspect possibly her husband Ike Jones.There had been some domestic violence between the two,they had a volatile on again off again relationship, both were involved with alot of other people. Additionally, it seems Inger in typical Scandinavian fashion saved most every penny she made. At first her estate was estimated at $175,000 then $225,000 then $2,500,000. It seems Ike controlled the assets and sent it offshore while they were married. Inger wanted a divorce at the end. Ike ended up administrator of estate and in one report he donated it all to charity and in this book the author indicates the assets all disappeared, including title to her houses. Vanished! Id say foul play was involved and $ and maybe brief rage on her estranged husbands part is a possibility. One thing for sure, the LA police dept seemed to do nothing but close the case and call it probable suicide. There was evidence of sex with her IUD still in place at time of death. The police never even tried to figure out who the mystery lover was? Do you kill yourself immediately after making love, seems weird to me, and do you use as IUD if you were just going to kill yourself right after ????? Lousy detective work.To me a mystery. DId the author try and interview Ike Jones in detail on the death? I think we have an unsolved case here.

What a great book about the Farmer's Daughter, it was one of favorite tv shows, I was glad to see that it was remembered, good book.

If Inger Stensland (I like to use her formal name), like Dorothy Dandridge or Barbara Payton were born in the 1950s to 1980s instead of the 1920s to 1930s, their lives would have been a lot different. I would say that all three of them would not have had tragic deaths in their early years of existence. A lot of it was due to the era there were born especially Payton who was decades ahead of her time (a bad girl with HPD - Histrionic Personality Disorder that was better suited to being born in the 1970s or 1980s than the 1920s) and Dandridge who encountered bigotry everywhere she went in the acting field (she was better off being born in the 1960s).

I feel for Inger so much because I know that she had a heart of gold and was a kind and loving person, maybe too loving and kind for "Hollywood" as Anthony Quinn said about her, yet it appeared that she was taken advantage of at least emotionally. The USA is not Sweden, however, very shortly Inger herself mentioned in an interview that the movie industry do not care about the person only what it can get from the actress/actor. So she knew the deal was rotten to the core. If only she had migrated back to Europe and spend time with her relatives there when she felt that crushing weight known as depression instead of attempting to fight it, she would have been okay and alive today especially in New York City, New Years Day of 1960 and the 30th of April of 1970. Talking to her aunt, Karin Stensland, her friends, Olaf, her brother in the USA, her relatives back in Europe, even going out for a walk, exercising or a seeing a Therapist would have altered the course of her life and she would still be alive to this day. Dying for a man (if that was the case) is not worth it because with time the pain will heal and I am certain she could have picked other suitors especially from Europe that would have treated her like the angel she was.

My best friend died from the very same disease in August of 1994 so I know off hand it is a war that one rarely wins.


I never read Patterson's book because I was miserable when I discovered how she died and do not need to be miserable all over again but from other people that have was informed that has some information that is not true (such as Patterson's claim that she was murdered which she was not, it was either an accidental suicide or a suicide) and was not a biography sanctioned by the deceased but it is the only book about her so it is better than no book at all. I will not read the book because I do not need to know about her autopsy or any other "juicy" sections that will depress me, it will just make my miserable all over again. I will honour this angel in my own way like naming my daughter, if I have children "Inger Stensland" as a honour for Inger.

Addendum:

The suspicion surrounding Inger's death stems from bruises to her arms and a cut lip at time of death. I read Judy Carne's "laughing on the outside, crying on the inside" in which she claims that Burt Reynolds, (who incidentally was the last person to see Inger the night she died), during their marriage physically beat her up. There is a possibility that Burt physically violated Inger the night he went to her house (which was the same night she died, however, he did not kill her because her roommate Lola McNally was the last person to see her when she left she see her friends for the night) and I personally do not see Burt as a killer. Domestically violating his partners is one thing but he has never cause so much injuries to have actually cause a mortal or a near mortal injury (Loni Anderson also mentioned the same allegations in 1991 of domestic violence)