Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Even Stevens

WEEKEND EDITION

July 20, 2003

Who: Connie Stevens.

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday through July 27.

Where: Suncoast Showroom.

Tickets: $34.95, $39.95, $44.95.

Information: (702) 636-7111.

Trivia fans follow closely and take note:

Connie Stevens, making her first appearance in Las Vegas in more than a decade, will perform at the Suncoast Showroom Friday through July 27.

The Lettermen, featuring founding member Tony Butala, will perform at the Suncoast Nov. 7 through Nov. 9.

In 1954, while attending Hollywood Performing School, Butala formed a pop quartet called The Fourmost.

Included in the quartet was vocalist Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia.

The group split up after about three years.

Butala created The Lettermen and Ingolia adopted the name Connie Stevens. She became famous while appearing in the popular television series, "Hawaiian Eye," which ran on ABC from 1959 to '63.

In 1958 Stevens and actor Edd Byrnes, who played Kookie on "77 Sunset Strip" (ABC, 1958-64), had a hit record, "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)."

Stevens recently talked to the Las Vegas Sun by telephone from her office in Los Angeles, discussing her life, her entertainment career and her skin-care product company, Forever Spring, which has made her a multimillionaire.

Las Vegas Sun: How did you get started in show business?

Connie Stevens: I started singing in high school back in Brooklyn. Then my father and I moved to Hollywood in 1953 and I started a group called The Three Dubs. Soon after that Tony Butala invited me to join The Fourmost.

Sun: Why did you not spend more time on your musical career?

CS: My interest was in acting. I started performing onstage and as a movie extra. Jerry Lewis put me in "Rock-a-Bye Baby" in '58, and then in '59 I signed a contract with Warner Bros. and they put me in "Hawaiian Eye," co-starring with Robert Conrad and Troy Donahue.

Sun: Where have you performed in Vegas?

CS: I headlined for about 12 years at places like the Hilton, the Flamingo, the Sands, the old MGM and the old Aladdin. This was from the late '60s through the early '80s.

Sun: Vegas was a lot smaller back then. How do you feel about the changes?

CS: It makes me sad in a way. Las Vegas was always very magical. It was a magical time for me. I never slept when I was there. I had enough energy for five people.

Sun: Why did you stop performing here?

CS: Las Vegas kind of dried up. On the marquees they started putting steak on top with the names of stars underneath. I worked too hard to take second billing to a steak.

Sun: What have you done since you last performed in Vegas?

CS: I have done a lot of different things. I toured the country, performing in nightclubs and lounges. I made several movies and appeared in a number of TV series.

Sun: How did you get into the skin-care business?

CS: Things were slow for me in the late '80s when I was approached to be a spokeswoman for a skin-care product, Forever Young. I tried it, but I didn't like it. They told me I seemed to know a lot about skin care, which I did. I had a natural affinity for taking care of my skin. So I invested in the company and became the CEO.

Sun: Did you continue to perform?

CS: The more successful it got, the less show business I could do. The most I could do was as an occasional guest shot. I literally did nothing but work for my company for a long while.

Sun: What are some of your other projects?

CS: I've been involved with project Windfeather for more than 12 years. So far we have raised enough money to award 93 college scholarships for Native American youths, and we deliver surplus goods to Indian reservations nationwide and support summer camps for Native American children who have never left the reservation.

Sun: Are you still involved in films?

CS: I produced "A Healing," a feature film documentary dedicated to the women who served in Vietnam. The film was shot in '95. It follows 100 women on a three-week reunion journey through Vietnam. The documentary won several awards.

Sun: What accomplishments are you most proud of?

CS: My two daughters, Joely and Tricia Leigh (Fisher, from her marriage to Eddie Fisher). They both have presented me with grandchildren.

Sun: Why did you decide to return to performing?

CS: After almost 14 years of being away from it, I went out last summer and performed and it was so successful I found that I missed it a great deal. I'm looking forward to it. I think people will get a kick out of it.

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