Kaye Stevens, American singer and actress, died from breast cancer and blood clots she was 79.

Kaye Stevens was an American singer and actress  died from breast cancer and blood clots she was 79..

(July 21, 1932 – December 28, 2011)


Born Catherine Louise Stephens, her big break in show business came at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, when the headliner for the night, Debbie Reynolds, became ill and Stevens filled in for the night. She then went on to do small shows at the Plaza Hotel's Persian Room, New York's Waldorf Astoria, and Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. She went on to appear on such television game shows as Match Game, Hollywood Squares, Celebrity Sweepstakes, The Price is Right, and Password.

Acting

Stevens started out in film in 1962 in The Interns, where she played the character Didi Loomis, and its 1964 sequel, The New Interns. In 1963 she appeared in "The Man from the Diners Club". In 1975 she had a role in another movie, Let's Switch! and in 1983 appeared in the film, Jaws 3.

Vietnam

Stevens went on a USO tour with Bob Hope in 1965. She traveled to Vietnam with Hope and a group of fellow entertainers in the hopes of boosting the morale of thousands of American soldiers. She was quoted as saying “I came back in 1965 and my life was in shambles because of what I saw.”
She later became an alcoholic and her marriage ended in divorce. It wasn’t until 1985 that she finally made a call to N-E-W-H-O-P-E, a telephone counseling service. That call changed her life for the better and she found a new faith in Jesus and started her own ministry. The Brewer Christian College and Graduate Schools (Florida) awarded Stevens with a Doctor of Humane Letters for her humanitarian efforts as well as her role in supporting the US soldiers in Vietnam with Bob Hope's USO tour.^{[citation needed]}

Singing career

After Stevens big break at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, she went from singing to small audiences to singing sold out audiences in New York City, Miami and Los Angeles. From there she went on tour with The Rat Pack, Johnny Carson and Bob Hope.

Soap opera work

In her role on Days of our Lives, Stevens introduced a new song, “You Light Up My Life” to the television audience. Her new song was a huge success and soon after Kaye decided that she had to write new songs and create an album. “I knew then that if I got the kind of response from one song, I had to do an album of inspirational, motivational, spiritual-pop music”.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Stevens, an only child, was born in Pittsburgh as Catherine Louise Stephens. Her family eventually moved to Cleveland, where Stevens got her start as a drummer and singer as a teenager. She later married bandleader and trumpet player Tommy Amato. The couple performed throughout the eastern United States. She was married five times. She had no children. Amato predeceased Stevens.^[1]

Later years and death

In her last 20 years, Stevens did Christian ministry and only performed Christian or patriotic music.^[2]
She lived in retirement in Summerfield, Florida. Stevens died on December 28, 2011, aged 79, after battling breast cancer and blood clots. She left no immediate survivors.^[3]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
On TV	Hollywood Squares	Herself	TV Game Show
On TV	Tattletales	Herself	TV Game Show
On TV	To Tell the Truth	Herself	TV Game Show
On TV	Celebrity Sweepstakes	Herself	TV Game Show
On TV	$25,000 Pyramid	Herself	TV Game Show
On TV	The Price is Right	Herself	TV Game Show
On TV	Password	Herself	TV Game Show
1964	Toast of the Town	Singer	Talk Show, 5 Episodes
1962-1964	The Ed Sullivan Show	Singer/Comedian	Talk Show, 6 Episodes
1967	The Dean Martin Show	Herself	Talk Show, 2 Episodes
1967	Everybody's Talking	Herself	Talk Show, 1 Episode
1967	The Hollywood Palace	Herself -Singer	1 Episode
1968	Family Affair	Julie Madden	1 Episode
1969	Playboy After Dark	Singer	1 Episode
1973	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Herself	Talk Show, 4 Episodes
1974	Match Game	Herself	TV Game Show, 15 Episodes
1974-1979 on television	Days of our Lives	Jeri Clayton
1975	Let's Switch!	Flo Moore
1979	CHiPs	Woman in Phone booth	3 Episodes
1979	240-Robert	Valerie Barnes	1 Episode
1983	Jaws 3-D	Mrs. Kellender
1989	B.L. Stryker		1 Episode
1989	Police Woman	Roz	1 Episode
1990	Superboy	Mother	1 Episode
1992	Miss America: Behind the Crown	Monica

Albums

• “Ruckus at the Rivera” – Columbia Records
• “Kaye Stevens Live at the Copa” – Liberty Records
• “Not So Great Songs from Not So Great Movies” –Liberty Records
• “Playgirls” –Liberty Records
• “The Grass Will Sing For You” – Liberty Records
• “The Temptation Shows guest starring Kaye Stevens” –Motown Records

Singles

• “You Brought Me Back To Love Again” – Sun Records
• “Someone Must Have Hurt You A Lot” – Capitol Records
• “Friends are Friends Forever” – NLT Records
• “I'm Going Back to Tennessee” – NLT Records

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