A change of pace came with German filmmaker Volker Schlondorff's "Young Torless" (1966), in which Steele played what is said to be her favorite role, a prostitute visited by a young boarding school student in turn-of-the-century Germany. American TV also afforded her some less gruesome assignments with guest shots on "Secret Agent", "I Spy" and "Night Gallery".

For many years, Steele was married to screenwriter James Poe ("Around the World in 80 Days"; "Lilies of the Field) who wrote an excellent role for her in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1969). Reports vary as to whether the role ended up going to Susannah York or was whittled away by director Sydney Pollack. The end result was that Steele was unable to escape the genre that had won her a devoted following. Among her fans was neophyte filmmaker Jonathan Demme who lured Steele back to the screen after a six year absence with an oddball role in his directorial bow, the superior exploitation flick "Caged Heat" (1974). Steele was a campy wonder as McQueen, the wheelchair-bound, repressed lesbian, sadistic warden of a women's prison. Her dream in which she stars in a sexy cabaret act remains a standout. David Cronenberg also used her well in "They Came From Within" (1975), in which she does her part to spread virulent sexually transmitted parasites. Steele wandered back to the mainstream for "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" (1977) but her scenes landed on the cutting room floor. Louis Malle's "Pretty Baby" (1978) put her back in the brothel while director Joe Dante cast her in a more heroic role in the witty John Sayles-scripted thriller "Piranha" (1978). Steele retired from features after the death of her by then ex-husband Poe in 1980.

Steele resurfaced as both associate producer and performer in producer-director Dan Curtis' hugely successful miniseries "The Winds of War" (ABC, 1983). For the comparably ambitious sequel miniseries "War and Remembrance" (ABC, 1989), she signed on as producer in addition to her acting chores, earning an Emmy for her efforts. Having apparently enjoyed working with Curtis, Steele joined the cast of his lavish but short-lived primetime revival of the beloved 1960s supernatural soap "Dark Shadows" (NBC, 1991). She returned to the horror genre in memorable style playing Dr. Julia Hoffman, the doctor devoted to curing Barnabas Collins (Ben Cross) of the affliction of vampirism. She also donned period garb to play Countess Natalie DuPres for the time travel sequence. It was nice to have the "Scream Queen" back--if only for a short while.

FILMS:
Upstairs and Downstairs (1959)
Your Money or Your Wife (1960)
Black Sunday (1960)
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
8½ (1963)
Lo Spettro (The Ghost) (1963)
White Voices (1964)
Castle of Blood (1964)
Terror-Creatures from the Grave (1965)
Nightmare Castle (1965)
The She Beast (1966)
Young Törless (1966)
Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)
Caged Heat (1974)
Shivers (1975)
Piranha (1978)
Silent Scream (1980)
Dark Shadows (TV series revival) (1991)