Education
Stevens graduated from the Juilliard School in 1950, and within a few years began working as an arranger/conductor for Sammy Davis, Junior. After Davis"s longtime conductor, George Rhodes, died in 1985, Stevens was among those who filled that role again sporadically until Davis" death in 1990.
Career
In 1965, he became director of music for Columbia Broadcasting System West Coast operations. In his later years, Stevens worked as conductor for other Vegas legends, including Jerry Lewis, and was musical director for the "Rat Pack" tour featuring Davis, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and—after Martin quit—Liza Minnelli. His classic theme for Hawaii Five-O was re-recorded for the 2010 remake of the television series.
His film work included scores for films and television movies such as Wild and Wonderful (1964), The Spy with My Face (1965), Deadly Harvest (1972), Strangers in 7A (1972), The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973), The Disappearance of Flight 412 (1974), Code Name: Diamond Head (1977), The One Manitoba Jury (1978), They Still Call Maine Bruce (1987), Acting of Piracy (1988) and the Jerry Lewis films Hardly Working (1980), Slapstick of Another Kind (1982) and Cracking Up (1983).
Stevens died of pancreatic cancer in Encino, California at the age of 62.