Born Edythe Marrener in Brooklyn, New York, June 30, 1917, she was determined to make it to the top.
Susan Hayward in Hollywood
She worked as a photographer’s model before travelling to Hollywood in 1937 as one of hundreds to try out for the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Selznick’s Gone With the Wind.
Most of the disappointed young women left town, but Susan managed to secure a contract and was given her new name.
Her first film appearance was as a ‘starlet at table’, an uncredited part in Hollywood Hotel. Discouraged by her early minor roles, she later said that she “paid her dues” as a newcomer. The determined actress was finally given a more substantial part in Beau Geste (1939) opposite Gary Cooper.
She made a strong impression opposite John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind (1942) and played opposite him again in The Fighting Seabees (1949). As her roles and films improved, her popularity with the audiences increased.
Academy Award Nominee and Winner
- Her performance in Smash-up: the Story of a Woman (1947) was an introduction to the type of strong-willed woman she would play many times. Her portrayal of an alcoholic club singer earned Susan an Academy Award nomination.
- Susan received another Oscar nomination for her work in My Foolish Heart (1950) opposite Dana Andrews, one of the leading actors of the day. In 1951, she and Gregory Peck starred in the lavishly produced biblical epic David and Bathsheba.
- Her third Academy Award nomination came for her role in With a Song in My Heart (1952). The film is based upon the real-life story of singer Jane Froman who demonstrated great courage after being seriously injured in a plane crash.
- Miss Hayward gave another outstanding performance in the autobiography of Lillian Roth, I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955). Miss Roth, a singing star of the 20s and 30s survived to write about her life as an alcoholic. Nominated again for the Oscar, Susan did not win that year, but was awarded the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
- Susan Hayward was presented with the Academy Award, New York Film Critics Circle Award, and the Golden Globe (1958) for best actress in I Want To Live!. The fictionalized story of Barbara Graham raised many voices against the death penalty in California.
Personal Life of Popular Movie Actress
Susan Hayward was married to actor Jess Barker from1944 until 1954. They were parents of twin sons, Timothy and Gregory.
In 1957 she married businessman and former FBI agent Floyd Eaton Chalkley and lived near Carrollton, Georgia. For several years after her husband’s death in 1966, she did very little acting.
In 1972 she was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. Speculation continues to this day about the possible cause. In 1956 she worked on the film The Conquerors which was filmed in the Utah desert.
Their location was 137 miles from a nuclear testing site that was fully used at that time. Crew and performance members of that movie included John Wayne, Agnes Moorehead, Dick Powell, John Hoyt, and Pedro Armendáriz. Of the total number of people involved in the film, 91 developed cancer and 46 had died of it by 1972.
Susan Hayward, who appeared in more than sixty movies, plus several television programs, died at age 57 on March 14, 1975 and was buried beside her husband in Carrollton, Georgia.
Intensely private, she was perceived as aloof. She didn’t care for party small talk, but was an intelligent conversationalist. Acknowledged as one of the most beautiful women of her time, she was greatly admired for her strong individualism.
Sources:
Susan Hayward: Her Films and Life by Kim R. Holston, McFarland and Company, Inc., 2002
Susan Hayward, Portrait of a Survivor by Beverly Linet, Atheneum (New York), 1980
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