A pretty blonde girl-next-door who evolved from ingenue to sex symbol, Stevens, a resourceful actor and singer, began her career in her native Brooklyn where she formed her own vocal group, The Foremost, featuring three male backups who went on to become The Lettermen. Stevens was later part of the all-girl group The Three Debs before making her professional stage debut in a Hollywood Repertory Company production of "Finian's Rainbow".

Stevens made her feature movie acting debut as the teenage love interest in "Young and Dangerous" (1957) and co-starred in such late 1950s teen flicks as "The