Julie Stevens (English actress)

Julie Stevens
Stevens at a Play School reunion event in 2004
Born	(1936-12-20) 20 December 1936 (age 84) Prestwich, Lancashire, England
Nationality	English
Education	Stand Grammar School
Occupation	Actress
Spouse(s)	John White ​ ​ (m. 1962; separated 1975)​ Michael Hucks ​ (m. 1981⁠–⁠2001)​

Julie Stevens (born Julia Bullas; born 20 December 1936) is an English actress, presenter and singer, best known in Britain for her appearances on children's television.

Career[]

Stevens was born in Prestwich and attended Stand Grammar School. She trained as a nurse at Manchester Royal Infirmary, after starting her television career as a comedienne in TV show Bid for Fame.^[1] She was a regular on Play School and Play Away, and provided vocals for the schools television series Look and Read.

During the 1962–63 season she played Venus Smith, an occasional partner of John Steed in the TV series, The Avengers, alternating with Honor Blackman's Cathy Gale.^[2] Venus was a nightclub singer, and each of her appearances included at least one musical number. She appeared in only six episodes, and Stevens is not usually included in the list of "Avengers girls".

In 1964, Stevens appeared in the British comedy film Carry On Cleo playing the slave girl Gloria. She also co-starred with Denise Coffey in the 1969–71 ITV comedy series Girls About Town, and appeared in the children's historical comedy series Cabbages and Kings (1972) opposite Johnny Ball and Derek Griffiths.

Personal life[]

She married actor John White^[3] in January 1962; they had two children, but separated in 1975. Stevens was later married to the actor and director Michael Hucks from 1981 until 2001. White, who was also a presenter on Play School during the late 1960s, died from bone cancer in 1993.^[4]

Discography[]

• Songs from Play School, with Rick Jones and Jonathan Cohen (1969)

References[]

External links[]

• Julie Stevens at IMDb