Stella Stevens: Tragic Beauty’s Final Days

Stella Stevens — the gorgeous Playboy model who starred in "The Nutty Professor" and "The Poseidon Adventure" — is battling dementia in her desperate final days!

The 78-year-old beauty’s tragic decline began six years ago — with her long- time lover, rock guitar legend Bob Kulick, forced to put her in a nursing home! Friends say the voluptuous blonde, who found fame as Playboy's January 1960 Playmate of the Month, first began to have trouble talking.

“It’s horrible to see a woman once so vibrant struggle to string together a simple sentence,” said a close source. Now the former beauty — who was selling sexy pics of herself well into her 70s to adoring fans — struggles to recall basic information.

Said an insider, "Stella finally had to be placed into a facility in Los Angeles that specializes in caring for people with memory issues.” Added another close source: “The disease has taken a terrible toll on her!”

Stella's home in Beverly Hills, which she bought in 1965, was sold in March 2016 for $1.25 million, and she moved into a $10,000-a-month care facility. Stella’s “family didn’t want to risk her walking out her front door and wandering into traffic. If she wandered off, she wouldn’t be able to find her way back!”

Tragically, Stella — seen here in 2012 at a tribute to her one-time love Jerry Lewis — had gotten to the point where her rocker boyfriend could no longer give her the care that she needed. “Stella became a 24-hour-a-day job for Bob,” said the insider, “but he often comes back to L.A. to visit her."

"Now," added the insider, "she’s surrounded by professionals and can get the help she needs. It was a very difficult decision to place her into a facility, but Bob and her family know deep down that it’s best for her.”