Susan Hayward

Biography

Susan Hayward, born Edythe Marrener in Brooklyn, was an American actress who moved from fashion modelling into films in the 1930s. Her career unfolded mostly in the Hollywood studio era of the 1940s and 1950s, and she is remembered for dramatic roles, often of women based on real people. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for I Want to Live! (1958) and was nominated five times in that category over her career.

She was born in 1917 in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, the youngest of three children. In 1924 she was hit by a car, which left her with a fractured hip and legs and a lasting hip swivel in her walk. After working as a model, she went to Hollywood in 1937 to test for Scarlett O'Hara, a part she did not win. Warner Bros. signed her, and her agent Max Arnow gave her the stage name she would use for the rest of her career. Her early studio years brought small and supporting parts, along with pin-up photo work she disliked but could not refuse under her contract.

In 1939 she moved to Paramount, where Beau Geste gave her her first real breakthrough alongside Gary Cooper and Ray Milland. A run of modest films followed. Her career took a turn in the late 1940s, when producer Walter Wanger signed her to a seven-year contract. Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947), in which she played an alcoholic nightclub singer, earned her the first of her Oscar nominations and made her a box office star.

From 1949 she worked for 20th Century Fox, a relationship that lasted for years. There she made House of Strangers for Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and in 1951 she starred opposite Gregory Peck in David and Bathsheba, one of the year's most popular films. With a Song in My Heart, a biopic of singer Jane Froman, brought another nomination, and The Snows of Kilimanjaro, again with Peck, rounded out a run of big hits. In 1955 MGM cast her as the alcoholic singer Lillian Roth in I'll Cry Tomorrow, a role that won her the Best Actress prize at Cannes and a major commercial success.

In 1956 Howard Hughes cast her in The Conqueror opposite John Wayne. Critics were harsh, though the film did well at the box office. After her second marriage she moved to Georgia, and her film work became less frequent, although she kept acting in films and television until 1972. She died in 1975 of brain cancer. She is best remembered for her intense portrayals of troubled women, which made her one of the most admired dramatic actresses of her era.

Key films

• Beau Geste (1939), as Isobel, her first major success at Paramount.
• Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947), her first Oscar nomination, as an alcoholic nightclub singer.
• David and Bathsheba (1951), a major hit opposite Gregory Peck.
• The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), one of her biggest box office successes, again with Peck.
• I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), her portrayal of Lillian Roth, which won her the Cannes prize.
• I Want to Live! (1958), the film that earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress.