Craig Stevens

 Craig Stevens, born Gail Shikles, Jr. (July 8, 1918 – May 10, 2000)

On October 29, 1954, Stevens guest starred on the 1953–1955 ABC sitcom with a variety show theme, The Ray Bolger Show. Ray Bolger portrayed Raymond Wallace, a song-and-dance man who was repeatedly barely on time for his performances. Stevens portrayed a novelist interested in Ray's girlfriend, Susan, played by Marjie Millar. In 1958, after 19 years in film, Stevens gained national prominence for his starring role in the private detective series, Peter Gunn, which ran on NBC from September 1958 to September 1960 and then moved to ABC, where it ran for another year. The series was produced by Blake Edwards, who also wrote and directed many of the episodes. The iconic theme music for the series was composed by Henry Mancini and helped establish his early fame. After Peter Gunn ended, Stevens was called on by Sir Lew Grade of ITV to move to London, England, to play the lead role in the TV series Man of the World in 1962. In 1964, Stevens followed this series with Mr. Broadway, the 13-week CBS drama in which he starred as Mike Bell, a New York City public relations specialist. Horace McMahon (1906–1971) played his assistant and police contact, Hank McClure. The series was produced by David Susskind. Stevens and Blake Edwards brought Peter Gunn to the big screen with a feature film called Gunn (1967).

Stevens worked with Blake Edwards again in the 1981 comedy film S.O.B. and was featured with his wife two more times in Joseph Losey's drama La Truite and the 1988 Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair starring Robert Young. This was his final acting appearance. Stevens died from cancer, in Los Angeles, California in 2000 at the age of 81.