Dore Page, author of Leslie Stevens Goes to Hollywood

TVC 687.1: Ed and guest co-host Chuck Harter welcome Dore Page, author of Leslie Stevens Goes to Hollywood: Daystar Productions, Kate Manx and the Making of Private Property, a deep dive into the life and career of Leslie Stevens—the maverick television writer and producer whom most of us know best as the creator of The Outer Limits—that particularly focuses on Stevens’ early career as a playwright (including the Broadway production of The Marriage Go-Round); the back story of Daystar Productions, the production company that Stevens formed with Stanley Colbert, which Stevens intended to be the first truly independent TV and film production company; and the making of Private Property (1960), the New Wave-style erotic thriller that Stevens made for relatively little money, but which went on to gross several million dollars—despite being flagged as indecent at the time it was originally released. Dore's book also explores the tragic life of stage actress Kate Manx, Stevens’ wife at the time he made Private Property. Though Manx made a brief splash in Hollywood after the release of Private Property, her film and TV career never got off the ground, while the actress herself died under mysterious circumstances in November 1964. Leslie Stevens Goes to Hollywood is available through McFarland Books.