Leona Stephens

Leona Stephens (c. 1884 – July 22, 1982) was an American actress, playwright, vaudeville performer, and songwriter whose stage and radio career spanned the first half of the twentieth century. Born in Ohio, she was also known under the names Leona Hollister, Leona Stephens Hollister, Leona Hollister West, and Leona Stephens Hollister West. At the time of her death in Bogota, New Jersey, she was 98 years old.

Early in her career, Stephens formed a vaudeville duo with her first husband, actor and playwright Len D. Hollister (1884–1936), performing together as Stephens & Hollister. The pair toured the major vaudeville circuits during the first two decades of the twentieth century. In 1912, Stephens also traveled nationally as part of the Eddie Foy musical Over the River.

Her Broadway career began in 1907 and extended through 1945. Her first Broadway appearance was in the role of Lottchen Spring in The White Hen, a musical by Gustav Kerker and Roderic C. Penfield, which played at the Casino Theatre. She returned to Broadway in 1912 to play Tillie Ticker in the musical Let George Do It. Later credits included Mrs. Schaeffer in the play The Come-On Man (1929), Lissa in the musical Right This Way (1938), and Greeny Gorman in the play Dark of the Moon (1945). Stephens also worked as a book writer for the stage; her play The Morning After was produced on Broadway in 1925 at the Hudson Theatre.

Following the death of Len Hollister in 1936, Stephens and her husband had maintained a presence on CBS Radio with their own program, The Hollisters, during the 1930s and 1940s. She continued performing into the 1940s and was active as a songwriter during that period, with several of her compositions reaching publication.

The Manuscripts and Archives Division of the New York Public Library holds the Leona Stephens papers, 1878–1952, a collection comprising personal documents, letters, photographs, sheet music, and other materials documenting her career.