Stevens was regarded the dean of American play reviewers and drama critics, and was friend and confidante of many prominent playwrights and stage performers.

"[3] An expert banjo player, Stevens defended its integrity as an instrument and wrote the Encyclopædia Britannica article on the subject.

In 1923 his book Actorviews: Intimate Portraits, a collection of his feature interviews illustrated by Gene Markey, was published by Covici-McGee.

Stevens wrote a number of plays, including Prospect Avenue[2] and, with Franklin D. Roosevelt's ghostwriter Charles Michaelson, a comedy titled Mary's Way Out.

[4]Stevens's first wife, Aleece Uhlorn, was a daughter of a San Francisco banker and the sister of novelist Gertrude Atherton.