Susan Hayward became a versatile actress in Hollywood after a successful run as a model. She came to Hollywood during a nationwide search for someone to play Scarlett O’Hara in the screen version of the novel, “Gone with the Wind” . She and others would lose out to Vivien Leigh, but Hayward would prove to be an attractive addition to the Hollywood scene. That same year, she would gain a bit part in the movie, “Hollywood Hotel” with Dick Powell and jazz musician Benny Goodman.
Hayward would continue with bit parts until she landed a role in the action film, “Beau Geste” in 1939. From here, she would begin to show her talent for dramatic acting. As such, in 1947 Hayward would be nominated for the first of five Academy Award for the movie “Smash Up: The Story of a Woman” , a story about a former nightclub singer who begins to drown in an addiction to alcohol. Her second nomination was for the movie, “My Foolish Heart” ; unfortunately she would lose both times.
With two Academy nominations to her name, Hayward was able to receive the kind of roles she had hoped and looked for. She was able to pick up the script for “With a Song in My Heart” in which she played a songstress who is crippled in a plan accident, but continues to entertain the allies during World War II. This would lead to her to the role of Rachel Jackson, the wife of President Andrew Jackson in “The President’s Lady” . Both of these roles would lead to two more nominations for the Academy Awards, but once again she would lose out to other actresses.
Hayward would finally receive her recognition for the role of real life convicted killer Barbara Graham in “I Want to Live” , a film that is considered to be one of the best performances in film history. Hayward had a commanding portrayal of the murderess, though the movie is fictionalized to suggest that the real Graham was perhaps innocent of the charges against her. This film would be Hayward’s most recognized and she would finally win the Academy Award for this role.
Hayward would slowly begin to disappear from public life. In the early 1970’s she was diagnosed with brain cancer, succoming to complications in 1975. She survived longer than doctors had predicted and soon speculation began on how she may have developed the cancer. Some believed that it was the result of radioactive fallout from atomic bomb tests while making the movie, “The Conqueror” . Her co-star John Wayne and several production staff members would also succumb to cancer and cancer related illnesses. Haywardhas a star on the Hollywood Walk of Frame.
Franck Benedittini
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