40 Fun Facts About The Stepford Wives

In which New England state is Stepford, the fictional town of The Stepford Wives, located?

Connecticut is home to fictional Stepford, and the 1975 film was shot on location in real towns across the state.

The insult 'Stepford wife', born from a satirical horror novel, describes a woman who is what?

Submissive and docile is the meaning, usually a put-down for a wife who seems to fit a subservient stereotype.

Which novelist wrote The Stepford Wives five years after his Satanic chiller Rosemary's Baby?

Ira Levin also wrote The Boys from Brazil and Sliver, and many of his novels were turned into films.

Which website named its Stepford Smiler and Stepford Suburbia pages after The Stepford Wives?

TV Tropes uses Stepford Smiler for a character whose flawless, cheerful front hides someone hollow or quietly falling apart.

Which horror film did director Jordan Peele say was influenced by the 1975 film The Stepford Wives?

Get Out was Peele's directorial debut, and he named the 1975 thriller as an influence on its satirical premise.

Which Oscar winner for The Hours played Joanna Eberhart in the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives?

Nicole Kidman's version was played for laughs: the remake was meant to be far more comedic than the earlier thriller.

Which actress plays Claire Wellington, the secret mastermind of the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives?

Glenn Close's Claire built Stepford herself after discovering her husband's affair, a twist the earlier versions never had.

Which future voice of Marge Simpson played newcomer Megan in the TV sequel Revenge of the Stepford Wives?

Julie Kavner's Megan is hired as a reporter's research assistant before the town's men have her brainwashed.

Where is the robotic Joanna seen in the final scene of the 1975 film The Stepford Wives?

A supermarket is where the glamorously dressed wives vacantly greet one another, while a newly arrived couple argue about moving to town.

Which star of The Graduate played Joanna Eberhart in the 1975 film The Stepford Wives?

Katharine Ross got the part only after several other actresses turned it down or dropped out, one of them a week before filming.

What is the profession of Joanna Eberhart, who moves from New York City in the novel The Stepford Wives?

Photographer Joanna is described as talented, and in the 1975 film she wins a prestigious gallery contract shortly before she is replaced.

In The Stepford Wives, which husbands' club does Walter Eberhart join soon after moving to town?

The Men's Association meets in a mansion and bars women, and Joanna comes to suspect it is behind the changes in the wives.

In the novel The Stepford Wives, the husbands' club leader once worked as an engineer for which company?

Disney was a real spark for the book: the presidential animatronics at Disneyland helped inspire its lifelike replacement wives.

Which screenwriter of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid adapted The Stepford Wives for the 1975 film?

William Goldman tried to take his name off the film after the director rewrote most of his script.

Which English director of Seance on a Wet Afternoon made the 1975 film The Stepford Wives?

Bryan Forbes was hired because the producer wanted an Englishman to bring a new slant to the story.

Which Muppets performer, also the puppeteer of Yoda, directed the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives?

Frank Oz later said he had too much money on the film and failed to follow his own instincts.

Which star of Beaches and Hocus Pocus plays Joanna's friend Bobbie in the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives?

Bette Midler's Bobbie is a feminist writer with a messy house who reappears as a blonde in a frilly dress.

Which actor plays Mike Wellington, the club leader exposed as a robot, in the 2004 Stepford Wives remake?

Christopher Walken's Mike is beheaded with a candlestick by Joanna, which exposes him as fully animatronic.

Which country music star made her film debut as Sarah Sunderson in the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives?

Faith Hill's Sarah dances wildly and then collapses in front of the newcomers, an early sign that something is wrong with the wives.

Which Ferris Bueller's Day Off star plays Joanna's husband Walter in the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives?

Matthew Broderick later admitted the shoot was not enjoyable and said he found his own part uninteresting.

Which actor was first cast as Walter in the 2004 Stepford Wives remake, with his sister Joan as Bobbie?

John Cusack and his sister both withdrew only weeks before filming began to be with their dying father.

Which Gilligan's Island star played trophy wife Charmaine in the 1975 film The Stepford Wives?

Tina Louise, the sitcom's movie star Ginger, plays one of the first friends Joanna sees transformed.

Which future director of Carrie was first lined up to direct the 1975 film The Stepford Wives?

Brian De Palma was the producer's pick after his thriller Sisters, but the screenwriter reportedly threatened to quit over it.

Which author of The Feminine Mystique called the 1975 Stepford Wives a rip-off of the women's movement?

Betty Friedan urged women to boycott the film, even though her own book had been a major influence on the novel.

Which Fried Green Tomatoes star debuted at eight as Joanna's daughter in the 1975 Stepford Wives?

Mary Stuart Masterson played a daughter to her real-life father, Peter Masterson, who was cast as Walter.

In the 1975 Stepford Wives, what does Charmaine have destroyed once she turns into a devoted wife?

Her tennis court is torn up and her maid fired, the change that sends Joanna and Bobbie investigating.

In the 1975 Stepford Wives, which topic derails the women's liberation meeting Joanna helps organize?

Cleaning products are all the other wives will talk about, so the gathering Joanna set up with Bobbie and Charmaine fails.

In the 1975 film The Stepford Wives, how does Joanna discover that her friend Bobbie is now a robot?

Joanna stabs her with a knife in the kitchen; Bobbie does not bleed and instead begins to malfunction.

In the novel The Stepford Wives, what does each wife share with her husband just before she changes?

A romantic weekend away comes first each time, which is how Joanna loses her friends Bobbie and Charmaine one after the other.

The 1975 Stepford Wives screenwriter first imagined the robot wives looking like which idealized figure?

A Playboy Playmate look was dropped once the director cast his own wife, then about forty, as one of the Stepford women.

Which real town, home to the author in the 1960s, was the model for Stepford in The Stepford Wives?

Wilton was named as the model by the author himself in a 2007 letter to The New York Times.

Which horror author called the writer of The Stepford Wives the Swiss watchmaker of suspense novels?

Stephen King said every novel the author had written was a marvel of plotting.

Which Broadway comedy thriller by the author of The Stepford Wives became a 1982 film starring Michael Caine?

Deathtrap holds the record as the longest-running comedy thriller on Broadway and earned a Tony nomination for Best Play.

Which future Miami Vice star played policeman Andy Brady in the TV sequel Revenge of the Stepford Wives?

Don Johnson's Andy joins the Stepford police, has second thoughts about the scheme and escapes with his wife.

Which I Dream of Jeannie star played a mother saving her teenagers in the 1987 TV film The Stepford Children?

Barbara Eden's Laura finds the town's men are now swapping unruly teenagers, as well as wives, for obedient doubles.

Which 2022 thriller starring Florence Pugh as a housewife drew review comparisons to The Stepford Wives?

Don't Worry Darling, directed by Olivia Wilde, follows a wife who suspects the man running her idyllic company town of a sinister secret.

In the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives, what is inserted into the wives' brains to make them obedient?

Nanochips turn the women into controlled cyborgs rather than replacing them with robot doubles, as the 1975 film did.

In the 2004 remake of The Stepford Wives, which high-powered job does Joanna lose before moving to Stepford?

TV network president Joanna runs a reality channel and is fired after a furious contestant from one of her shows tries to kill her.

In the TV sequel Revenge of the Stepford Wives, what do the wives take whenever an eerie siren sounds?

A pill, passed off as thyroid medicine, keeps the brainwashed wives compliant, and an overdose finally turns them on the man in charge.

Which real talk show host interviews Joanna about Stepford at the end of the 2004 Stepford Wives remake?

Larry King appears as himself, and Joanna tells him how much her marriage to Walter has improved.