Some remember him from Star Trek, some from Combat and yet others remember his role on Land of the Giants. If you have ever watched American television or have gone to the movies, you have seen Warren Stevens. The handsome seventy-seven-year old actor was a true delight to meet. Listening to him reminisce about bygone days and friends was an extraordinary way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Over the sounds of the Cafe Bizou in Sherman Oaks CA, Mr. Stevens spoke of his life as an actor.

When asked who Warren Stevens is the reply befitted the man. " It's me, that's my real name." He is also a father of three sons of whom he is very proud. You could get the sense that he loved children as he watched a little girl at the next table, an infant, as he spoke of his own sons. One son is a writer in LA. One attends Berkeley and the third is a student at San Francisco City College.

Mr. Stevens was amazed about what has been published on his life. But then that only makes for a better interview, the more you know the more you can ask.

Why would anyone want to go into acting as career? In Warren Stevens' case it was love at first movie. "When I was a kid I saw lots of movies. I had idols. I suppose you could call them role models but in those days we had good role models. We didn't have what they have now. Whatever they did in their private lives, they always looked good on the screen. I'm sure the publicity department took care of all that. But I was also a musician."

A new key phase entered into the conversation "... I was also a musician." Here is an accomplished musician who had his first union job at age fourteen. He plays the reeds, the saxophone, clarinet, etc. Mr. Stevens loves jazz. The border of his license plate reflects his love of jazz. The call sign of the radio station emblazons the border of his license plate. KLON is the jazz station in Long Beach, CA and he loves to listen to the music.

Mr. Stevens grew up in the small town of Clark's Summit PA, near Scranton. "It was a small town as I said and I was kind of embarrassed to say I wanted to be an actor. But I always did."

Roommates share each other life experiences. When you have a roommate like the late Richard Basehart, life is an experience. Mr. Stevens shared his memories of Richard, "a lovely man." He also introduced Richard and his wife Diana. " I introduced them, you know. I had met her in London when I was doing a picture. I think her father was a distributor and she had a small bit part in the picture. The picture was Intent to Kill. It was Jack Cardiff's first directional debut. He was the cameraman on the The Barefoot Contessa, so he asked for me."

When asked if he preferred the stage or movies, it was simple, "I prefer working." Each actor has their reason for leaving the stage to go on to other avenues. The movies and their million budgets are one issue, the exposure you get from films is another and still other people just want to make a change in their lives. "Do eight performances a week for a year and half or two years, it gets interesting. Now you want to do something like Detective Story which was a big hit, it works."

There are always shows people remember watching. Some part of the show stays with them. Actors are no different. Each carries within themselves special memories. "I liked doing The Barefoot Contessa. The anthology, the Richard Boone show. We did different stories each week with the same cast, different parts. I had the chance to play a lot of different roles. I enjoyed that year very much. It was one of the best work I've done because I was allowed too."

Having done so many different shows, Mr. Stevens has memories of a few of them. He is one of the few actors to have done three of the four Irwin Allen shows, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Land of the Giants, Time Tunnel. Most of the shows were done over thirty years ago and if it had not been for the SCI-FI channel would have faded into the distant past.

"Those were so long ago and one kind of ran into another. I sure don't remember much about it. The one I remember the most was the one with Gordon Cooper (one of the orginal astronauts) because Irwin Allen wasn't going to let us watch the lift-off. I cut into time. We snuck a TV set in there anyway. I'm standing right along side Gordon Cooper when the L.E.M. lifted off from the moon. That's the only one I remember. I don't remember the rest of them at all. It had to be twenty five years ago."

Gary Conway rememberd working with Warren Stevens in the Land of the Giants episode, A Place called Earth. He recalled Mr. Stevens as a fine, talented actor. Mr. Stevens remembered working with Don Marshall who played Dan Erickson on LOTG. They had done some work together long before Giants. Once they spent ten days on an aircraft carrier with Robert Young a.k.a Marcus Welby MD. "I remember that he and I were invited to dine with the captain in his cabin. The captain was amazed to find out that I had been at the Naval Academy at Annapolis because he hadn't been."

Mr. Stevens was at the Naval Academy during the year 1939-40. His plans for the academy were simple, "Get out!" The best way to get out of the Navy, or so he thought, was to get to the Naval Academy and resign. He related the story of his academy days as ice tea was poured into the glasses.

"It's an interesting story. I went to New York from Scranton with a musician friend of mine. I turned eighteen over the weekend and ended up in the US Navy for four years. That's what happened to my career. So I investigated every which way, every possibility to get out. I was in for four years. The only one I could come up with was to get to the Naval Academy and resign. Didn't work. I got to the Naval Academy, I took the test. Another kid and I studied the books and we had permission to use a cabin to study in. They had a quota of one hundred enlisted men to get into the academy per year. I don't know what it is now. Out of the one hundred enlisted, fifty two of us made it. I finally got out, another long story but I got out."

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