Susan Hayward | |
|---|---|
 Hayward in the 1940s | |
| Born | Edythe Marrenner (1917-06-30)June 30, 1917 |
| Died | March 14, 1975(1975-03-14) (aged 57) |
| Resting place | Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery Carrollton, Georgia |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1937–1972 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Susan Hayward (bornEdythe Marrenner; June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American actress best known for her film portrayals of women that were based on true stories.
After working as a fashion model for theWalter Thornton Model Agency, Hayward traveled to Hollywood in 1937 to audition for the role ofScarlett O'Hara. She secured a film contract and played several small supporting roles over the next few years.
By the late 1940s, the quality of her film roles improved, and she achieved recognition for her dramatic abilities with the first of fiveAcademy Award for Best Actress nominations for her performance as an alcoholic inSmash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947). Hayward's success continued through the 1950s as she received nominations forMy Foolish Heart (1949),With a Song in My Heart (1952), andI'll Cry Tomorrow (1955), winning the Academy Award for her portrayal ofdeath row inmateBarbara Graham inI Want to Live! (1958). For her performance inI'll Cry Tomorrow she won theCannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress.
After Hayward's second marriage and subsequent move toGeorgia, her film appearances became infrequent; although she continued acting in film and television until 1972. She died in 1975 ofbrain cancer.
Hayward was born Edythe Marrenner on June 30, 1917, in the Flatbush neighborhood ofBrooklyn, New York, the youngest of three children to Ellen (née Pearson) and Walter Marrenner. Her mother was of Swedish descent. She had an older sister, Florence, and an older brother, Walter Jr.[1] In 1924, Marrenner was hit by a car, suffering a fractured hip and broken legs that put her in a partial body cast with the resulting bone setting leaving her with a distinctive hip swivel later in life.[2][3][4]
She was educated at Public School 181 and graduated from the Girls' Commercial High School in June 1935 (later renamedProspect Heights High School).[5] According to theErasmus Hall High School alumni page, Hayward attended that school in the mid-1930s,[6] although she only recollected swimming at the pool for a dime during hot summers inFlatbush, Brooklyn.[7] During her high school years, she acted in various school plays, and was named "Most Dramatic" by her class.[8]
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Marrenner began her career as amodel, traveling toHollywood in 1937 to try out for the role ofScarlett O'Hara inGone with the Wind.[9] Though Hayward did not get the part, she was used for other actors' screen tests byDavid Selznick and received a contract atWarner Bros.[10]
Talent agent Max Arnow changed Marrenner's name to Susan Hayward once she started her six-month contract for $50 a week with Warner's.[11] Hayward had bit parts inHollywood Hotel (1937),The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) (her part was edited out), andThe Sisters (1938), as well as in a short,Campus Cinderella (1938).[12]
Hayward's first sizeable role was withRonald Reagan inGirls on Probation (1938), where she was a strong 10th in billing. She was also inComet Over Broadway (1938), but returned to unbilled and began posing forpinup"cheesecake" publicity photos, something she and most actresses despised, but under her contract she had no choice. With Hayward's contract at Warner Bros. finished, she moved on toParamount Studios.[11]
In 1939, Paramount Studios signed her to a $250 per week contract. Hayward had her first breakthrough in the part of Isobel inBeau Geste (1939) oppositeGary Cooper andRay Milland. She held the small, but important, haunting love of youth role as recalled by the Geste brothers while they searched for a valuable sapphire known as "the blue water" during desert service in theForeign Legion; the film was hugely successful.[13]
Paramount put Hayward as the second lead inOur Leading Citizen (1939) withBob Burns and she then supportedJoe E. Brown in$1000 a Touchdown (1939).
Hayward went to Columbia for a supporting role alongsideIngrid Bergman inAdam Had Four Sons (1941), then to Republic Pictures forSis Hopkins (1941) withJudy Canova andBob Crosby. Back at Paramount, she had the lead in a "B" film,Among the Living (1941) alongsideAlbert Dekker andFrances Farmer.
Cecil B. De Mille gave her a good supporting role inReap the Wild Wind (1942), to costar with Milland,John Wayne andPaulette Goddard.[14] She was in the shortA Letter from Bataan (1942) and supported Goddard andFred MacMurray inThe Forest Rangers (1942).
Hayward costarred inI Married a Witch (1942) withFredric March andVeronica Lake, as the fiancé of Wallace Wooly (March) before Lake's witch reappears from a Puritanical stake burning 300 years earlier.[15] The film served as inspiration for the 1960s TV seriesBewitched and was based on an unfinished novel byThorne Smith. It was made for Paramount but was sold to United Artists.[15][16] She was next in Paramount's all-star musical reviewStar Spangled Rhythm (1943) that also featured its nonmusical contract players.[17]
Hayward appeared withWilliam Holden inYoung and Willing (1943), a Paramount film distributed by UA. She was in Republic'sHit Parade of 1943 (1943), her singing voice dubbed by Jeanne Darrell.[18]
Sam Bronston borrowed her forJack London (1943) at UA. At Republic she was Wayne's love interest inThe Fighting Seabees (1944), the biggest budgeted film in that company's history.[19]
She starred in the film version ofThe Hairy Ape (1944) for UA. Back at Paramount she wasLoretta Young's sister inAnd Now Tomorrow (1944). She then left the studio.
RKO gave Hayward her first top billing inDeadline at Dawn (1946), aClifford Odets writtenNoir film, which wasHarold Clurman's only movie as director.[20]
After the war, Hayward's career took off when producerWalter Wanger signed her for a seven-year contract at $100,000 a year.[21] Her first film wasCanyon Passage (1946).
In 1947, she received the first of fiveAcademy Award nominations for her role as analcoholicnightclub singer based onDixie Lee inSmash-Up, the Story of a Woman, her second film for Wanger. Although it was not well received by critics,[22] it was popular with audiences and a box office success, launching Hayward as a star.[23]
RKO used her again forThey Won't Believe Me (1947). She subsequently worked for Wanger onThe Lost Moment (1948) andTap Roots (1948). Both films lost money but the latter was widely seen.[24]
At Universal Hayward was inThe Saxon Charm (1948) and she didTulsa (1949) for Wanger. Both films were commercial disappointments.
Hayward went over to20th Century Fox to makeHouse of Strangers (1949) for directorJoseph Mankiewicz, beginning a long association with that studio.
Sam Goldwyn borrowed her forMy Foolish Heart (1949), which earned her an Oscar nomination, then she went back to Fox forI'd Climb the Highest Mountain (1951), which was a hit.[25]
She stayed at that studio to make the westernRawhide (1951) withTyrone Power, and the romantic dramaI Can Get It for You Wholesale (1951).
Hayward then starred in three massive successes:David and Bathsheba (1951) withGregory Peck, the most popular film of the year;[25]With a Song in My Heart (1952), a biopic ofJane Froman, which earned her an Oscar nomination; andThe Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952), with Peck andAva Gardner.
RKO borrowed Hayward forThe Lusty Men (1952) withRobert Mitchum, then she went back to Fox forThe President's Lady (1953), playingRachel Jackson alongsideCharlton Heston;White Witch Doctor (1953) again a co-star with Mitchum;Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), asMessalina;Garden of Evil (1954) with Gary Cooper andRichard Widmark; andUntamed (1955) with Tyrone Power. Hayward then starred withClark Gable inSoldier of Fortune (1955), aCinemaScope film that was a box office miss.[26]
MGM hired Hayward to play the alcoholic showgirl/actressLillian Roth inI'll Cry Tomorrow (1955),[27] based on Roth's best-sellingautobiography of the same title, for which she received aCannes award. It was a major financial success.[28]
Although Hayward never truly became known as a singer—she disliked her own singing[29]–she portrayed singers in several films. However, inI'll Cry Tomorrow—whose vocals were once widely attributed to professionalghost singerMarni Nixon[30]—Hayward sang the vocals undubbed and appears on the soundtrack.[31] Hayward performed in the musical biography of singerJane Froman in the 1952 film,With a Song in My Heart, a role which won her theGolden Globe forBest Actress In A Leading Role – Musical Or Comedy. Jane Froman's voice was recorded and used for the film as Hayward acted out the songs.
In 1956, she was cast byHoward Hughes to play Bortai in the historical epicThe Conqueror, as John Wayne's leading lady. It was critically deprecated but a commercial success.[32] She did a comedy withKirk Douglas,Top Secret Affair (1956) which flopped.[33]
Hayward's last film with Wanger,I Want to Live! (1958), in which she played death row inmateBarbara Graham, was a critical and commercial success and won Hayward theAcademy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal. Many movie pundits have referred to her performance inI Want to Live! as the greatest Hollywood acting performance by any actress at any time.Bosley Crowther ofThe New York Times wrote that her performance was "so vivid and so shattering ... Anyone who could sit through this ordeal without shivering and shuddering is made of stone."[34] Hayward received 37% of the film's net profits.[35]
Hayward madeThunder in the Sun (1959) withJeff Chandler, a wagon train picture aboutFrench Basque pioneers,[36] which was a modest success financially, and thenWoman Obsessed (1959) at Fox.
In 1961, Hayward starred as a shrewd working girl who becomes the wife of the state's next governor (Dean Martin) and ultimately takes over the office herself inAda. The same year, she played Rae Smith inRoss Hunter's lavish remake ofBack Street, which also starredJohn Gavin andVera Miles. Neither film was particularly successful; nor wereI Thank a Fool (1962) at MGM,Stolen Hours (1963), andWhere Love Has Gone (1964), which co-starredBette Davis.
Hayward was reunited withJoseph Mankiewicz inThe Honey Pot (1967). Then she replacedJudy Garland as Helen Lawson in the film adaptation ofJacqueline Susann'sValley of the Dolls (1967), which drew terrible reviews but made money at the box office.[37]
She received good reviews for her performance atCaesars Palace in theLas Vegas production ofMame that opened in December 1968. She was replaced byCeleste Holm in March 1969 after her voice gave out and she had to leave the production.[38][39]
She continued to act into the early 1970s, when she was diagnosed with brain cancer.
She appeared in the TV movieHeat of Anger (1972) and the western filmThe Revengers (1972) with William Holden.
Her final film role was as Dr. Maggie Cole in the 1972 made-for-TV dramaSay Goodbye, Maggie Cole. Intended to be thepilot episode for a television series, "Maggie Cole" was never produced because of Hayward's failing health.[40] Her last public appearance was at the Academy Awards telecast in 1974 to present the Best Actress award despite being very ill.[41] WithCharlton Heston's support, she was able to present the award.[42]
During World War II, Hayward supported the war effort by volunteering at theHollywood Canteen, where she met her first husband, actorJess Barker. They married on July 23, 1944, and on February 19, 1945, fraternal twin sons named Gregory and Timothy were born.[43] The marriage was turbulent, with a judge granting aninterlocutory divorce decree on August 17, 1954.[44] During the contentious divorce proceedings, Hayward stayed in the United States rather than join theHong Kong location shoot for the filmSoldier of Fortune. She shot her scenes on asound stage with co-starClark Gable in Hollywood. A few brief, distant scenes of Gable and a Hayward double walking near landmarks in Hong Kong were combined with the indoor shots. By April 1955, the stress of divorce proceedings and overwork prompted Hayward toattempt suicide byoverdosing on sleeping pills.[44] After taking the pills, she quickly regretted her decision and, in a panic, called her mother, who sent for the police; they had to break down the back door to reach her.[45][46] Several months later, Hayward got into a violent fight with actress Jil Jarmyn after the latter found Hayward with her boyfriend,Donald Barry in his bedroom. When confronted about the fight, Hayward replied, "I'm red-haired and Irish, you know, and I don't let anybody call me names."[46][47]
In 1957, Hayward married Floyd Eaton Chalkley, commonly known as Eaton Chalkley, a successful Georgia rancher and businessman who had worked as a federal agent. The marriage was a happy one. They lived on a farm nearCarrollton, Georgia, and owned property across the state line inCleburne County, just outsideHeflin, Alabama.[48] She became a popular figure in the area in the late 1950s. Chalkley died on January 9, 1966 due to a brain tumor. Hayward went into mourning and did little acting for several years. She took up residence in Florida, because she preferred not to live in her Georgia home without her husband. On June 30, 1966, she wasbaptizedCatholic by Father Daniel J. McGuire atSS. Peter and Paul's Roman Catholic Church in theEast Liberty section ofPittsburgh. Hayward had met McGuire, an acquaintance of Chalkley, in Rome eight years prior.[49][50]
Before her Catholic baptism, Hayward had been a proponent ofastrology.[51] She particularly relied on the advice ofCarroll Righter, who called himself "the Gregarious Aquarius" and the self-proclaimed "Astrologer to the Stars", who informed her that the optimal time to sign a film contract was exactly 2:47 a.m., prompting her to set her alarm for 2:45 so she could be sure to follow his instructions.[52]
Hayward's doctor found a lung tumor in March 1972 thatmetastasized and, after a seizure in April 1973, she was diagnosed withbrain metastasis.[53] On March 14, 1975, she suffered a seizure in her Beverly Hills home and died at the age of 57.[54] A funeral service was held on March 16 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Roman Catholic Church inCarrollton, Georgia, which Hayward and Chalkley had helped organize. Hayward's body was buried in the church's cemetery, beside her husband's.[55][50] According to her wishes, her name was inscribed as "Mrs. F. E. Chalkley" instead of "Susan Hayward". However, in the 2010s, a plaque bearing the name "Susan Hayward" was installed.[50]
Theories about theradioactive fallout from atmosphericatomic bomb tests[56] surround the making ofThe Conqueror inSt. George, Utah. Several production members, including Hayward,John Wayne,Agnes Moorehead,Pedro Armendáriz (who died by suicide after a diagnosis of cancer), and directorDick Powell later succumbed to cancer and cancer-related illnesses.[57] As ascertained byPeople magazine in 1980, out of a cast and crew totaling 220 people, 91 of them developed some form of cancer, and 46 had died of the disease.[58]
While Hayward was a two pack a day smoker, and smoking was considered the main cause of lung cancer,[59] the question is still open as to whether high residual radiation levels after the above ground nuclear explosions inYucca Flat, only 137 miles from the set of The Conqueror, led directly to her relatively early death.[58]
Susan Hayward has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at 6251 Hollywood Boulevard.[60]
For a number of years, exhibitors voted Hayward among the most popular stars in the United States:
| Year | Program | Episode/Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Duffy's Tavern | |
| 1946 | Suspense | "Dame Fortune"[61] |
| 1952 | Lux Radio Theatre | I Can Get It for You Wholesale[62] |
| 1952 | Cavalcade of America | Breakfast at Nancy's[63] |
