Susan Hayward Biography

Born Edythe Marrener on June 30, 1918, to a poverty strickenfamily in Brooklyn, New York, Hayward's childhood was difficult.She was hit by a car at the age of seven and stranded at home ina body cast for months. The experience left Hayward with a limpand painful memories of a debility she would never forget.

Hayward's life took an unexpected turn when she was cast as thelead in a school play at age twelve. The attention she receivedquickly turned her into a compulsive ham. By 1935, a sexyswagger had replaced Hayward's childhood limp, and the gorgeousseventeen-year-old possessed an hourglass figure, a brassy Brooklynaccent and a burning desire for fortune and fame. She beganworking as a model to help support her family, and when she wasfeatured in the Saturday Evening Post in 1937, all of America wasintroduced to the red-headed siren from Brooklyn. The same year,David O. Selznick offered Hayward an audition for the part ofScarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind. Though her lack ofexperience took her out of serious consideration, Hayward decidedto trade in her return ticket and stay in Hollywood. Aftersigning a contract with Warner Brothers, she changed her name toSusan Hayward.

Hayward was driven to succeed as an actress and worked virtuallynon-stop. Offered the starring role in Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman in 1947, Hayward dazzled both audiences and critics,receiving her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress.Hayward received four more nominations over the next twelve years,eventually winning for her work in the wildly successful I Want to Live in 1958. Sadly, the actress's happiness was eclipsed bythe death of her husband Eaton Chalkey. And in 1972, just as shewas emerging from her despair, she was diagnosed with cancer.

Refusing to surrender to the illness without a fight, SusanHayward even managed to present the Academy for Best Actress in1974. On March 14, 1975, at age fifty-six, the irrepressible BrooklynBombshell died, leaving behind legions of fans all over theworld.