At the age of 16, she married Herman Stephens and had a son, Andrew. However, within a year Stella was divorced. While attending Memphis State University in Tennessee, she worked as a model and joined the campus drama club, where her first role was in the play "Bus Stop." Discovered by a scout for Twentieth Century-Fox, she moved to Hollywood and made her first film in 1959. She posed for several Playboy pictorials, beginning with her centerfold in 1960, and has enjoyed a memorable career on screen and television as actress and, more recently, director. 


PLAYBOY APPEARANCES: Centerfold, January 1960; "Playboy's Playmate Review," January 1961; "Playmates Revisited: 1960," August 1964; "Stella by Starlight," May 1965; "The Playboy Portfolio of Sex Stars," December 1965; "Encore for Stella," January 1968; "Sex Stars of the Sixties," January 1969; "Sex in Cinema -- 1970," November 1970; "Sex Stars of 1970," December 1970; "Brown, White and Black," October 1972; "Sex Stars of 1972," December 1972; "Sex Stars of 1973," December 1973; "Twenty Years of Playboy," January 1974; "20 Years of Playmates," January 1974; "30 Memorable Years," January 1984; "Woman of the Sixties," January 1989; "40 Memorable Years," January 1994. 

PLAYBOY NEWSSTAND SPECIALS: "Best From Playboy #2," January 1968; "Playmates: The First 15 Years," January 1983. 

PLAYBOY VIDEO CREDITS: "Playmates: The Early Years" (1991).

PLAYBOY BOOK APPEARANCES: "The Playboy Book," 1994; "The Playmate Book" 1996.

PLAYBOY CALENDARS: 1961.

MISCELLANEOUS: Playboy's Centerfold Collector Cards: January edition.

MOVIE CREDITS: "Say One for Me" (1959); "Blue Angel" (1959); "Li'l Abner" (1959); "Man-Trap" (1961); "Girls! Girls! Girls!" (1962); "Too Late Blues" (1962); "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (1963); "The Nutty Professor" (1963); "Advance to the Rear" (1964); "The Secret of My Success" (1965); "Synanon" (1965); "The Silencers" (1966); "How to Save a Marriage -- and Ruin Your Life" (1968); "Sol Madrid" (1968); "Where Angels Go...Trouble Follows" (1968); "Last Shot You Hear" (1969); "The Mad Room" (1969); "The Ballad of Cable Hogue" (1970); "In Broad Daylight" (1971); "A Town Called Hell" (1971); "Rage" (1972); "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972); "Slaughter" (1972); "Stand Up and Be Counted" (1972); "Arnold" (1972); "Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold" (1975); "Longshot" (1976); "Las Vegas Lady" (1976); "Nickelodeon" (1976); "The Manitou" (1978); "Express To Terror" (1979); "American Heroine" (1979); "Chained Heat" (1983); "Power, Passion and Money" (1983); "Wacko" (1983); "The Longshot" (1986); "Monster in the Closet" (1986); "Adventures Beyond Belief" (1987); "Down the Drain" (1989); "The Guest" (1989); "Ranch" (1989); "Mom" (1990); "Exiled" (1991); "Last Call" (1991); "The Terror Within II" (1991); "Nutty Nut" (1991); "South Beach" (1992); "Molly and Gina" (1993); "Hard Drive" (1994); "Body Chemistry" (1994). 

TELEVISION MOVIE CREDITS: "In Broad Daylight" (1971); "Climb an Angry Mountain" (1972); "Linda" (1973); "The Day the Earth Moved" (1974); "Honky Tonk" (1974); "New Original Wonder Woman" (1975); "Kiss Me...Kill Me" (1976); "Wanted: The Sundance Woman" (1976); "Night They Took Miss Beautiful" (1977); "Charlie Cobb: Nice Night for a Hanging" (1977); "Murder in Peyton Place" (1977); "New Love Boat" (pilot movie), (1977); "Cruise Into Terror" (1978); "Jordan Chance" (1978); "Hart To Hart" (pilot movie), (1979); "Friendships, Secrets and Lies" (1979); "French Atlantic Affair" (1979); "Make Me An Offer" (1980); "Children of Divorce" (1980); "Flamingo Road" (pilot movie), (1980); "Twirl" (1980); "Women of San Quentin" (1983); "Amazons" (1984); "No Man's Land" (1984); "A Masterpiece of Murder" (1986); "Fatal Confessions: A Father Dowling Mystery" (1987); "Man Against the Mob" (pilot movie), (1988); "Jake Spanner, Private eye" (1989); "In Cold Blood" (miniseries), (1996).

TELEVISION SERIES CREDITS: "Johnny Ringo: Uncertain Vengeance" (1960); "Here's Hollywood" (1960); "Hawaiian Eye" (1960); "G.E. Theatre" (1960); "Riverboat" (1960); "Bonanza" (1960); "Follow The Sun" (1961); "G.E. Theatre" (1961); "Frontier Circus" (1962); "Alfred Hitchcock" (1962); "Hawaiian Eye" (1963); "Ben Casey" (regular), (1964-65); "Bob Hope Special" (1968); "Steve Allen Show" (1968); "Ghost Story" (1972); "Hec Ramsey" (1972); "Banacek: $10,000 a Page" (1973); "Police Story" (1975); "John Davidson Show" (1981); "Flamingo Road" (regular), (1981-84); "Love Boat" (1983); "Matt Houston" (1983); "Fantasy Island" (1983); "Newhart" (1983); "Santa Barbara" (regular), (1984-89); "Night Court" (1984); "Highway To Heaven" (1984); "Murder She Wrote" (1985); "Magnum P.I." (1986); "In The Heat Of The Night" (1991); "South Beach" (1992); "Commish" (1993); "Burke's Law" (1994).

CABLE TELEVISION CREDITS: "Dream On" (1990); "Attack Of The 5'2" Women" (1994).