Craig Stevens (July 8, 1918 – May 10, 2000) was an American motion picture and television actor.
Born Gail Shikles, Jr. in Liberty, Missouri, he studied dentistry at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1936. Acting with the university's drama club prompted him to halt his studies and instead to audition in the Hollywood film industry. Adopting the stage name Craig Stevens, he debuted in a small ro...
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Craig Stevens (July 8, 1918 – May 10, 2000) was an American motion picture and television actor.
Born Gail Shikles, Jr. in Liberty, Missouri, he studied dentistry at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1936. Acting with the university's drama club prompted him to halt his studies and instead to audition in the Hollywood film industry. Adopting the stage name Craig Stevens, he debuted in a small role in 1939 and thereafter played mainly secondary parts. In 1944, he married Canadian actress Alexis Smith to whom he was wed for almost fifty years until her death in 1993.
After nearly twenty years in film, in 1958 Craig Stevens gained national prominence for his starring role as the "super-cool" private detective in the trend-setting television series Peter Gunn, which aired on NBC and then ABC. The series was produced by Blake Edwards, who also wrote and directed many of the episodes. The theme music for the series was composed by Henry...
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