Before there was Meryl Streep, there was Susan Hayward.
If you love strong, no-nonsense women in movies, you need to know her name.
From Brooklyn to Gone With The Wind Audition
Born Edythe Marrenner on June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York, Susan Hayward started as a fashion model in New York. In 1937, she traveled to Hollywood when open auditions were held for the lead role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind (1939). She didn’t get it, but Hollywood noticed her fiery red hair and even fierier attitude.
By the mid-1940s, she was a star.
The Queen of Melodrama – 5 Oscar Nominations
Susan Hayward was known as Hollywood’s most “talented and tempestuous” actress. She didn’t play sweet girls – she played brassy, defiant, broken-but-brave women.
She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress 5 times:
1. Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947) – as an alcoholic nightclub singer
2. My Foolish Heart (1949) – a heartbreaking love story
3. With a Song in My Heart (1952) – as real-life singer Jane Froman
4. I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955) – as Broadway star Lillian Roth battling alcoholism
5. I Want to Live! (1958) – THE WINNER – She finally won the Oscar for playing real-life Barbara Graham, a woman wrongly sentenced to death. Her performance behind bars is still considered one of the greatest in history.
She closed the 50s with films like The Conqueror with John Wayne and later Valley of the Dolls (1967).
The Tragic End
By the 1960s, Hayward married and moved to Georgia, making fewer films. In 1972 she retired. She fought a long battle with brain cancer and died on March 14, 1975, at just 57 years old.
Her famous quote says it all: “I learned at a very early age that life is a battle. My family was…” – and she fought it like a star.
Final Thought: In an era of perfect Hollywood glamour girls, Susan Hayward was raw, real, and tough. She didn’t want you to like her – she wanted you to believe her. That’s why she won the Oscar.
