Stephen Manley was born on February 13, 1965 in Encino, California. He was adopted when he was a few months old by Stella and Sam Manley who made their home in San Marino, California. He soon became the third generation actor of his family. His adoptive Grandfather, Stephen Soldi, appeared in television between 1917 to 1966 ,best known as his stint as "Wimpy," Popeye's sidekick. He was in "Singing in the Rain" in the last shot as the man who is given the umbrella by Gene Kelly, and in "Night at the Opera," with the Marx Brothers when they crowd into a hotel room. His daughter Stella soon followed in his steps making films in the 40's and 50's with an MGM contract. She was in "Viva Zapata" starring Anthony Quinn. She also stunt doubled Maria Montez at 20th Century Fox. Stephen's first television appearance was on "The Art Linkletter Show" at eight months of age. He then started landing film, television, voice-over, and commercial work of his own at the age of six. Just between the age of seven and nine he landed 27 parts in film and television! He is most recognized today from his part as Young Spock at 17 in "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock." His Pon Farr scene with Saavik at first raised some eyebrows before the studio released the film, almost cut for being too racy for a Star Trek film. Luckily the scene remained in the film thanks to Leonard Nimoy. After wrapping the film, Stephen headed off to College and attended the Pasadena Art Center and graduated with a Bachelors in Film and Fine Art. He directed a short film called "Greasepaint" which won honors at the Houston Film Festival and aired on Bravo for two years. He soon started work on a more lengthy project called "The Foreign Legion." After some trouble with a movie studio refusing to sell the book option, the film was halted. A new project is under works, but the name can not be disclosed. Stephen lives in Los Angeles, and after acting in a couple of independent films he is now continuing his lifelong acting career.
« previous
|
next »
Stephen's Grandpa Stephen Soldi
Stephen's Grandpa Stephen Soldi was a character actor between 1916 to 1967. Well known as playing Wimpy to Popeye.