Andrew Stevens (born Herman Andrew Stephens; June 10, 1955) is an American executive, film producer, director and actor.[1]

Andrew Stevens
Stevens in 1981
Born
Herman Andrew Stephens

(1955-06-10) June 10, 1955 (age 69)
Occupation(s)Executive, film producer, film director, actor
Years active1962–present
Spouses
(m. 1978; div. 1982)
Robyn Suzanne Scott
(m. 1995; div. 2010)
Diana Phillips Hoogland
(m. 2016; div. 2018)
Children3
ParentStella Stevens
Websiteandrewstevens.info

Early life

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Stevens was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble Herman Stephens. His mother was 16 when he was born. His parents divorced in 1957.[2][3]

Career

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Prior to his producing career, Stevens was a writer, director, and actor. He made his uncredited film debut in Vincente Minnelli's The Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963) had a bit role in Shampoo (1975), and went on to appear in cult thrillers such as Massacre at Central High (1976), Vigilante Force (1976) and Day of the Animals (1977), as well as the cult horror film The Fury (1978) starring Kirk Douglas. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his performance in The Boys in Company C (1978), and later starred with Charles Bronson in two films, Death Hunt (1981) and 10 to Midnight (1983).[4]

In 1975, he auditioned for the role of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars (1977), which eventually went to Mark Hamill.[5]

He appeared in the miniseries Once an Eagle (1976) and played 17-year-old Andrew Thorpe on the NBC Western series The Oregon Trail. The program filmed only thirteen episodes, seven of which never aired.[6] Also the Canadian television series The New Liars Club.

Stevens starred in The Bastard (1978) and The Rebels (1979), based on the John Jakes novels. He appeared opposite Dennis Weaver and Susan Dey in the short-lived drama Emerald Point N.A.S., as a playboy/tennis bum in Columbo: Murder in Malibu, and as one of J.R. Ewing's stooges Casey Denault, on Dallas, for two seasons, beginning in 1987. He also played Ted Rorchek in the 1981-82 television series Code Red. He appeared in the miniseries Hollywood Wives (1985). During this time, he also starred in the erotic thriller Night Eyes (1990) and its sequels.[4]

Producing

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In early 1990, Stevens left the public eye to become an independent entrepreneur writing, producing, directing and financing films for his own companies. He was President/CEO of Franchise Pictures, which produced films for Warner Bros. from 1999 through 2005, including The Whole Nine Yards and its sequel, The Whole Ten Yards, as well as The In-Laws.[citation needed]

Franchise and its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on August 19, 2004, after losing a multimillion-dollar fraud case in Los Angeles, and is now defunct.[7]

Prior to Franchise, Stevens was an owner and president of Royal Oaks Entertainment, which produced and/or distributed seventy pictures over a three-year period including many HBO, Showtime and Sci-Fi Channel world premieres. Prior to Royal Oaks, Stevens' entrée into foreign sales and production company ownership was with Sunset Films International, which amassed a library of 19 titles (including seven in-house productions) during his first year as president of the company. He currently operates Andrew Stevens Entertainment and Stevens Entertainment Group.[citation needed]

In 2017, he published a screenwriting manual, Screenwriting for Profit: Writing for the Global Marketplace.[8]

Personal life

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Stevens was married to actress Kate Jackson from 1978 to 1982. He has three children by his second marriage to Robyn Suzanne Scott, which ended in divorce in 2010. Stevens married Diana Phillips Hoogland in 2016; they divorced two years later.[citation needed]

Acting, directing, and producing credits

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Year Title Role Notes
1963 The Courtship of Eddie's Father actor
1973 Adam-12 Rod Foreman actor, one episode Northwest Division
1975 Shampoo actor
1975 Las Vegas Lady actor
1976 Massacre at Central High actor
1976 Vigilante Force actor
1976 Once an Eagle actor
1977 Day of the Animals actor
1978 The Boys in Company C actor
1978 The Fury actor
1978 The Bastard actor
1979 The Rebels actor
1979 Beggarman, Thief actor
1981 Death Hunt actor
1982 The Seduction Derek Sanford actor
1983 10 to Midnight actor
1984 Terror in the Aisles archival footage
1984 Murder, She Wrote David Tolliver actor in episode Lovers and Other Killers
1985 Hollywood Wives actor
1987-1989 Dallas actor
1988 Counterforce actor
1989 The Terror Within actor
1989 The Ranch actor
1990 Columbo Wayne Jennings actor in episode Murder in Malibu
1990 Night Eyes actor
1990 Red Blooded American Girl Owen Augustus Urban III actor
1991 The Terror Within II David actor and director
1992 Night Eyes 2 actor
1992 Munchie actor
1993 Night Eyes 3 actor
1994 Illicit Dreams
1994 Scorned
1996 Night Eyes 4: Fatal Passion
1997 Steel Sharks
1997 Inferno
1997 Crash Dive
1997 The Shooter
1997 Scorned 2
1998 Billy Frankenstein
1999 Fugitive Mind
1999 If... Dog... Rabbit...
1999 The Big Kahuna producer
2000 Mercy
2000 Animal Factory
2002 Stranded actor
2003 Final Examination
2004 Method
2004 Blessed
2005 Glass Trap
2005 7 Seconds
2005 The Marksman also actor video
2005; video Black Dawn also actor
2006 The Detonator
2007 Walking Tall: The Payback
2007 Half Past Dead 2
2007; video Walking Tall: Lone Justice also actor
2007 Missionary Man also actor
2009 Fire from Below also actor
2010 Mongolian Death Worm TV – also actor
2010 Mandrake TV
2010 Breaking the Press
2011 Rise
2022 Pursuit Frank Diego

References

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  1. ^ Willens, Michele (November 28, 1993). "'A Very Legitimate Form of Employment': The Stars of DTV". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  2. ^ Contemporary Theatre, Film & Television (volume #7, ISBN 0-8103-2070-3 and ISSN 0749-064X)
  3. ^ "Actress Stella Stevens, known for "The Nutty Professor," dies at 84 - CBS News". CBS News. February 17, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Andrew Stevens at IMDb
  5. ^ "Star Wars Audition Tapes Feature a Very Different Original Trilogy Cast". May 5, 2015.
  6. ^ Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, fourth ed., p. 629
  7. ^ Elie's new chapter, Variety.com; accessed April 19, 2016.
  8. ^ "Screenwriting for Profit: Writing for the Global Marketplace".
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