K.T. Stevens

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Biography

Stevens, born Gloria Wood, was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of film producer and director Sam Wood. She made her first film appearance when she was just two years old in her father's second silent film, Peck's Bad Boy. As an adult, she changed her name to K. T. Stevens to distance herself from her father's fame. She initially called herself Katherine Stevens, which people often shorted to "Katie," leading to the final version with the initials "K.T." Stevens appeared in a number of films in the 1940s and 1950s, including Kitty Foyle, (directed by her father) with Ginger Rogers, The Great Man's Lady with Barbara Stanwyck, Address Unknown, Port of New York with Yul Brynner, Harriet Craig with Joan Crawford and Vice Squad with Edward G. Robinson. She also appeared as Phyllis in the 1969 hit movie Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. Her last film role before her death from lung cancer was in the 1994 Whoopi Goldberg film Corrina, Corrina.

Movies

Matinee Theater is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from 1955 to 1958. The series, which ran daily in the afternoon, was frequently live. It was produced by Albert McCleery, Darrell Ross, George Cahan and Frank Price with executive producer George Lowther. McCleery had previously produced the live series Cameo Theatre which introduced to television the concept of theater-in-the-round, TV plays staged with minimal sets. Jim Buckley of the Pewter Plough Playhouse recalled: When Al McCleery got back to the States, he originated a most ambitious theatrical TV series for NBC called Matinee Theater: to televise five different stage plays per week live, airing around noon in order to promote color TV to the American housewife as she labored over her ironing. Al was the producer. He hired five directors and five art directors. Richard Bennett, one of our first early presidents of the Pewter Plough Corporation, was one of the directors and I was one of the art directors and, as soon as we were through televising one play, we had lunch and then met to plan next week’s show. That was over 50 years ago, and I’m trying to think; I believe the TV art director is his own set decorator —yes, of course! It had to be, since one of McCleery’s chief claims to favor with the producers was his elimination of the setting per se and simply decorating the scene with a minimum of props. It took a bit of ingenuity.

More info
Matinee Theater
1955