Born in Los Angeles, California, Stevens was the son of British-born character actor Houseley Stevenson.

[2] He performed in over 80 films, at first as the lead actor, but mostly in character roles later in his career.

He spent the last years of his life in a nursing home in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California,[2] where, according to his wife, he was abused by his fellow residents and that his death was neither from natural causes nor an accident.

[3] He died of pneumonia after suffering a broken hip in 1977, at the age of 74.

His interment was in an unmarked grave located at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California.