Born in Europe, Steve Ihnat spent most of his childhood and adolescence in Canada. Turning to acting, Ihnat began making the casting-call rounds in the 1950s and 1960s. He played secondary roles in theatrical features like In Like Flint (1967) and Madigan (1968), and chalked up a number of bad-guy portrayals on television. In the late 1960s, he segued into writing and directing on several episodic TV programs. He scripted and directed one theatrical feature, The Honkers (1972), before he was felled by a heart attack while attending the Cannes Film Festival. Steve Ihnat was married to actress Sally Carter, who after her husband's death loyally billed herself as Sally Carter Ihnat.