Susan Hayward

American actress Susan Hayward (1917-1975) had her greatest roles in I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955) and I Want to Live! (1958). The latter won her an Academy Award for Best Actress. Her ruby mane was her trademark.


Dutch postcard by J.S.A. (J. Sleding, Amsterdam). Photo: Universal M.P.E.


Italian postcard by Rotalfoto, Milano, no. 41.


West-German postcard by Wilhelm-Schulze Witteborg (WS-Druck), Wanne-Eickel. Photo: Centfox. Susan Hayward in The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Henry King, 1952).

A life-long grudge

Susan Hayward was born Edythe Marrener in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, in 1917. Her father was a transportation worker. The youngest of three children, she grew up in the shadow of her older sister Florence who was her mother's favourite. Edythe would nurse a life-long grudge over what she perceived as her mother's neglect.

She attended public school in Brooklyn, where she graduated from a commercial high school that was intended to give students a marketable skill. She had planned on becoming a secretary, but her plans changed. She started doing some modelling work for photographers in the NYC area.

By 1937, Edythe was brought to Hollywood as one of the hundreds of girls who had won a chance to screen test in the nationwide search for someone to play the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (Victor Fleming, 1939).

Although she lost out to Vivien Leigh, Susan was to carve her own signature in Hollywood circles. It would take several years of studio-subsidised acting and voice lessons before her talent would emerge and she would be renamed Susan Hayward.

She got a bit part in Hollywood Hotel (Busby Berkeley, 1937). The bit parts continued all through 1938, with Susan playing, among other things, a coed, a telephone operator and an aspiring actress. She wasn't happy with these bit parts, but she also realised she had to "pay her dues". In 1939 she finally landed a part with substance, playing Isobel Rivers in the hit action film Beau Geste (William A. Wellman, 1939) with Gary Cooper and Ray Milland.


Spanish postcard in the Hollywood (California) series by Belfo, no. 3790. Photo: Universal International.


Belgian card. Photo: R.K.O.


Yugoslavian postcard by Sedmo Silo / IOM, Beograd.

She played the part to the hilt

Two years later, Susan Hayward played Millie Perkins in the offbeat thriller Among the Living (Stuart Heisler, 1941). This quirky little film showed Hollywood Susan's considerable dramatic qualities for the first time. She then played a Southern belle opposite John Wayne and Ray Milland in Cecil B. DeMille's Reap the Wild Wind (1942), one of the director's bigger successes, and once again showed her mettle as an actress.

Following that film she starred with Paulette Goddard and Fred MacMurray in The Forest Rangers (George Marshall, 1942), playing tough gal Tana Mason.

Although such films as Jack London (Alfred Santell, 1943), And Now Tomorrow (Irving Pichel, 1944) with Alan Ladd, and Deadline at Dawn (Harold Clurman, William Cameron Menzies, 1946) with Paul Lukas, continued to showcase her talent, she still hadn't gotten the meaty role she craved.

In 1947, however, she did, and received the first of five Academy Award nominations, this one for her portrayal of Angelica Evans in Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman (Stuart Heisler, 1947). She played the part to the hilt and many thought she would take home the Oscar, but she lost out to Loretta Young for The Farmer's Daughter (H.C. Potter, 1947).

In 1949 Susan Hayward was nominated again for My Foolish Heart (Mark Robson, 1949) and again was up against stiff competition, but once more her hopes were dashed when Olivia de Havilland won for The Heiress (William Wyler, 1949).


German postcard by edition cicero, Hamburg, no. 150/5. Photo: Hal McAlpine, 1941.


Belgian card, no. 850. Photo: R.K.O. Susan Hayward and Dana Andrews in My Foolish Heart (Mark Robson, 1949).


Vintage postcard, no. KF 46.

The performance of her lifetime

Now, with two Oscar nominations under her belt, Susan Hayward was a force to be reckoned with. Good scripts finally started to come her way and she chose carefully because she wanted to appear in good quality productions. Her caution paid off, as she garnered yet a third nomination in 1953 for With a Song in My Heart (Walter Lang, 1952).

Later that year she starred as Rachel Donaldson Robards Jackson in The President's Lady (Henry Levin, 1953) with Charlton Heston. She was superb as Andrew Jackson's embittered wife, who died before he was able to take office as President of the United States. After her fourth Academy Award nomination for I'll Cry Tomorrow (Daniel Mann, 1955), Susan began to wonder if she would ever take home the coveted gold statue. She didn't have much longer to wait, though.

In 1958 she gave the performance of her lifetime as real-life California killer Barbara Graham in I Want to Live! (Robert Wise, 1958), who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in the gas chamber. Susan was absolutely riveting in her portrayal of the doomed woman. This time she was not only nominated for Best Actress, but won. After that role, she appeared in about one film a year.

Thomas Mc Williams at IMDb: "Susan's personality is usually described as cold, icy, and aloof. She did not like socialising with crowds. She disliked homosexuals and effeminate men. Her taste in love ran strictly to the masculine, and both of her husbands were rugged Southerners. She loved sport fishing and owned three ocean-going boats for that purpose. Film directors enjoyed Susan's professionalism and her high standards. She was considered easy to work with, but she was not chummy after the cameras stopped."

In 1972 she made her last theatrical film, The Revengers (Daniel Mann, 1972), starring William Holden. A two-pack-a-day smoker with a taste for drink, Susan was diagnosed with brain cancer in March of 1972. The disease finally claimed her life in 1975 and she died at her Hollywood home. Susan Hayward was 57. She was laid to rest in a grave adjacent to that of her husband Floyd Eaton Chalkley in the peace of Carrollton, Georgia where they had spent several happy years together in life. Susan Hayward had been married twice: first to actor Jess Barker from 1944 till their divorce in 1954. They had two children. With Floyd Eaton Chalkley, she was married from 1957 till his death in 1966.


Belgian postcard, no. 3414. Photo: Universal Int.


German postcard by F.J. Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 148. Photo: 20th Century Fox.


British postcard by The Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 88. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward in David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951).


British postcard by The Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 92. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward in David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951).

Sources: Denny Jackson (IMDb), Thomas McWilliams (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 30 August 2024.

David and Bathsheba (1951)

In the Technicolor Biblical epic David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951), Gregory Peck plays King David of Israel, who sees the beautiful Bathsheba (Susan Hayward) bathing from the palace roof. She is the wife of Uriah (Kieron Moore), one of his most trusted soldiers who is more devoted to army duty than to his wife. David and Bathsheba succumb to their feelings and their affair results in pregnancy. This has tragic consequences for his family and Israel.


British postcard by The Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 87. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951) with Gregory Peck and Kieron Moore.


British postcard by The Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 88. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951) with Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward.

The infidelity question

David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951) was loosely based on the life of David (Gregory Peck), the second King of Israel, who ruled Israel for approximately forty years (c. 1000 B.C. to 960 B.C.). It tells a very intimate story of David's fall from grace and how he tries to find it again.

The youth of David is told in flashback; how he was chosen by a Prophet of Yahweh to be King of Israel, and earns his way to be second to the king, Saul, by defeating Goliath the Philistine in battle when all else are afraid to beard the giant warrior. Goliath of Gath was portrayed by 203 cm-tall Lithuanian wrestler Walter Talun.

Thereafter, David finally is driven from the court of King Saul of Israel (Francis X. Bushman), becomes a famous warrior, and returns to claim the kingdom and become the instrument of death of Jonathan, the King's son, formerly a friend.

David's wars are successful - the film opens in fact with a successful attack scene. When the Ark of the Covenant is brought to Jerusalem, a soldier reaches out to steady it and is struck dead. While the prophet Nathan (Raymond Massey) declares this the will of God, a sceptical David pronounces it the result of a combination of heat-stroke and too much wine.

David's life is empty since his wife Michal (Jayne Meadows), is Saul's daughter and is cold to him. He craves for the true love of a woman who loves him as a man instead of as King. He turns to Bathsheba (Susan Hayward), whom he sees from the palace roof bathing naked.

Later Batsheba admits she had hoped he would see her. But she is married to Uriah (Kieron Moore), one of David's most trusted soldiers, and both know an affair would break the law of Moses. When she becomes pregnant, it becomes necessary for Uriah to come in from the battlefield and spend time at home. David's downfall begins when he orders Uriah into a suicidal battle, knowing that this will clear the way for his relationship with Bathsheba. His infatuation leads him to neglect his kingdom and his people, and invokes the wrath of God.

Uriah is killed, a war hero; but this does not solve the infidelity question.  Nathan the prophet advises David the people are dissatisfied with his leadership and desire his sons to rule. Nathan tells David he has forgotten that he is a servant of the Lord. Drought comes to Israel, and David's and Bathsheba's baby dies. Nathan returns to tell David that God is displeased with his sin. He will not die as the law demands, but he will be punished through misfortune in his family. David must rediscover his faith in God in order to save Bathsheba from death by stoning, his kingdom from drought and famine, and himself from his many sins.

At last, David places his hands on the Ark of the Covenant, recently brought to Jerusalem and housed in a temple, which has caused the death of others who accidentally came in contact with it, inviting his god to punish him - and nothing happens... David exits the temple, and finds that rain has come to his parched land.


British postcard by The Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 89. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951) with Gregory Peck.


British postcard by The Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 90. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951) with Gregory Peck and Kieron Moore.

Intense, hypnotising performance

David and Bathsheba (1951) was produced out of 20th Century Fox by Darryl F. Zanuck, and directed by veteran Henry King. The film is based around the second Old Testament book of Samuel from the Bible.

Seeing the success of Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah (1949), Zanuck had commissioned Philip Dunne to write a script based on King David. Phillip Dunne's Oscar nominated screenplay holds the attention throughout. His script is with much meditation and discussion, interspersed with bursts of word-for-word biblical dramatisations. This makes the film sometimes a bit talkative.

Typically for the genre, David and Bathsheba is a large, grandiose production. From its excellent set designs and art direction by Thomas Little, Lyle Weeler, and George Davis, along Alfred Newman's beautiful music score to the gorgeous Technicolor photography by Leon Shamroy.

The fine cast includes next to the mentioned actors, James Robertson Justice, Raymond Massey and John Sutton plus a dance by a young Gwen Verdon, the future musical theatre star .

David and Bathsheba has all the size and grandeur of many of the great biblical epics of the 1950s and 1960s, but it is the first that humanises the biblical characters themselves. The film earned an estimated $7 million at the US box office in 1951, making it the most popular film of the year.

The power of the film rests in Gregory Peck's intense, hypnotising performance as David. Toward the end, having hit rock bottom, he must answer for his life. These last 15 minutes of the film are great and the handsome Peck is an absolute joy to watch.

Craig Butler at AllMovie: "Fans of Biblical epics will find a lot to like in David and Bathsheba; although there's little here that will appeal to those who don't look favorably upon the genre. The script is predictably overblown, filled with the kind of bombast and stilted melodrama that is to be expected. It's ridiculous, yet in its own strange way, it works."


British postcard by The Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 91. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951) with Gregory Peck and Raymond Massey.


British postcard by The Picturegoer Series, London, no. D 92. Photo: 20th Century Fox. Publicity still for David and Bathsheba (Henry King, 1951) with Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward.

Source: Craig Butler (AllMovie), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), American Film Institute, Wikipedia and IMDb.