A movie about werewolf/stuntman Alex Stevens? Yes, please

By WALLACE McBRIDE

Sometimes the best ideas are hiding in plain sight.

Stacy Poulos, the niece of stuntman Alex Stevens, took to Facebook last night to pitch an idea to her audience: A documentary about the life and work of her late uncle. It's one of those concepts that seems like such an easy sell that I can't believe such a movie doesn't already exist, but sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands.

Poulos was discussing the awards recently won by her film BEHIND THE LIGHT, a "mashup documentary" about the making of the Sarah Smith music video "Into the Light." Naturally, the closing comments on her post caught my eye:

"Anyway, it makes me feel like the next documentary should be about him. But it will take a tremendous amount of money. Who knows what Frank Sinatra's people and Dark Shadows people would charge for footage of him working with them?"

Luckily, there are a lot of behind-the-scenes video and photos of Stevens at work on DARK SHADOWS, and many of the show's cast are still hale, hearty and willing to talk about the show. I mean, who wouldn't want to see this movie? And, while DARK SHADOWS might be big draw here for me, Stevens' credits have enough A-list material to keep any narrative about his life interesting.

16 Magazine editor Gloria Stavers and Alex Stevens, from the documentary DANNY SAYS.

A little background: Born Alex Poulos in Connecticut in 1936, Stevens got his start at Wild West City, a western theme park in Netcong, N.J. He performed stunts for Broadway shows while tending bar before landing his most famous role as the werewolf on DARK SHADOWS. Despite appearing in just 23 episodes of the series, Stevens managed to create one of the show's most iconic characters. (Well, two of its most iconic characters, since he played the werewolf incarnations of both Chris Jennings and Quentin Collins.) It was a popular enough gig to earn him a spot — in full werewolf drag — on the television game show WHAT'S MY LINE in 1970.

His other notable role was that of "The Baker" in the popular SESAME STREET feature "The Number Song."

Stevens would become the full-time stand in for Frank Sinatra, appearing in such movies as THE DETECTIVE and LADY IN CEMENT. He also appeared as a stuntman in HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, SUPERFLY, THE FRENCH CONNECTION and SUPERMAN THE MOVIE. He passed away in 2015.

You can watch a 2015 testimony by Stacy Poulos about her uncle in the video below. And don't forget to visit the official Alex Stevens page on Facebook, Alex Stevens: East Coast Stuntmen's Association.

Obituary: DARK SHADOWS stuntman Alex Stevens

Reports are circulating that Alex Stevens, the stuntman who played the werewolf on DARK SHADOWS, died on April 14.

Born Alex Poulos in Connecticut in 1936, Stevens got his start at Wild West City, a western theme park in Netcong, N.J. He performed stunts for Broadway shows while tending bar before landing his most famous role as the werewolf on DARK SHADOWS. Despite appearing in just 23 episodes of the series, Stevens managed to create one of the show's most iconic characters. (Well, two of its most iconic characters, since he played the werewolf incarnations of both Chris Jennings and Quentin Collins.) It was a popular enough gig to earn him a spot — in full werewolf drag — on the television game show WHAT'S MY LINE in 1970.

His other notable role was that of "The Baker" in the popular SESAME STREET feature "The Number Song."

Stevens would become the full-time stand in for Frank Sinatra, appearing in such movies as THE DETECTIVE and LADY IN CEMENT. He also appeared as a stuntman in HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, SUPERFLY, THE FRENCH CONNECTION and SUPERMAN THE MOVIE.

Stevens on SESAME STREET.

"When Hollywood began to die and they couldn't spend millions on a film, the small independent companies began to shoot on location," Stevens told a newspaper reporter in 1973. "And things really began to get busy in New York. But the next thing you know is the guys in Hollywood started taking a lot of jobs in New York.  So I said bunk on this — this is my way of life."

“Alex started me in the stunt business many years ago in New York City and taught me so much,” writes stuntwoman Diane Peterson, who’s worked on such films as TITANIC, ROBOCOP 2 and AIRPLANE! “’Cover yourself, cover yourself, cover yourself,’ he always reminded me. I've had a long and exciting career as a stuntwoman and I give Alex the credit for giving me the encouragement to succeed.”

Alex Stevens helps rough up Richard Roundtree in SHAFT'S BIG SCORE.