Dennis Frank Stevens, 83 died peacefully Thursday, November 17, 2022 at his home in Rexburg, Idaho.

Dennis was born March 22, 1939 in Goldendale, WA to farmers Frank and Fern Lee Stevens.

Dennis graduated from Sunnyside High School in in ’1957. After graduation, he left his hometown and went to Hollywood where he held three part time jobs: writer for Dick Powell and Four Star productions; a missile tracking cinematographer for Lockheed "skunk works"; and a commercial photographer for the prestigious Magnum agency also known as Playboy. Moving along he decided to head where home-base was in Yakima, Wa and got a job with the Washington State Patrol but got into a little tangle moonlighting as a professional race car driver under the name Dennis Stark. It was then he decided to leave again to persue his goal of becoming a filmmaker.

In the early 60’s Dennis made his way to San Francisco where he was hired as a comedian to open up for the Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion. Even took a brief tour to New York to act in the hit Broadway musical The Fantasticks. He then Attended USC film school in Los Angeles alongside, his classmate, George Lucas.

During his success in the 70s he purchased his first home in Los Angeles, a town East Hollywood called Los Feliz, A house formally belonging to Walt Disney. Along the way he got to film Evel Knievel and Elvis Presley.

The year 1972 found him producing the first of three feature films, “Harrad Experiment”, "The Harrad Summer", and the comedy “I wonder who's killing her now". In 1983 he produced a music video show consisting of artists like Missing Persons, The Busboys, Night plane, and Tower of Power and numerous Jazz artists like Diane Reaves, Willi Bobo, and Jimmy Witherspoon.

Dennis was active in the motion picture and television industry, writing and directing documentaries, business films and television programing. One being the original screenplay for Top Gun.

Definitely an international man of mystery, In November of 1979 the Reuters news service recruited him as a journalist/cameraman to cover the last months of the war of Zimbabwe. He stayed on covering the gulf war in Israel 1990-91.

Having the success of his production company Cinema Arts Productions, earned him a lifetime membership with the Academy of Motion Picture arts and Sciences and The Writers Guild of America.

Upon retirement he left Los Angeles and headed to Rexburg, ID. But that did not stop him from being a potato seed inspector for the Idaho department of agriculture.

Dennis has outlived almost all his closest friends but is survived by his wife Melba, son who owns the family farm Tore, daughter and former Firefighter deployed at 9/11 Melbi Lee, daughter Erin Leigh, step daughter Regine , 5 grandchildren, Valerie, Vanessa, Katheryne , Chloe, Greyson and 1 great-granddaughter Jade.

He was laid to rest November 22, 2022 buried alongside his parents at the Rexburg Cemetery.

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