Susan Hayward on screen and stage

Susan Hayward (June 30, 1917–March 14, 1975)^[1] was an American actress. She first traveled to Hollywood to audition for Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind, but did not get the part. Making her film debut in 1937's romantic musical comedy Hollywood Hotel, she had uncredited roles in several more films until she got her first moderately important role in Girls on Probation (1938) for Warner Bros. Her first leading role came when she starred as Isobel in Beau Geste (1939), and she began to land larger roles in films such as Our Leading Citizen (1939), Among the Living (1941), and Reap the Wild Wind (1942), all of which she made for Paramount Pictures.

After acting in several films for United Artists, she signed a seven-year contract with Walter Wanger and reached stardom for her portrayal of Angie Evans in Stuart Heisler's drama Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947), which earned her her first of five nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was nominated again in 1949, for the romantic drama My Foolish Heart.

Switching to 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s, she starred in several successful films such as I'd Climb the Highest Mountain, David and Bathsheba (both 1951), and The Snows of Kilimanjaro (1952). Also in 1952, she played Jane Froman in the biographical musical drama With a Song in My Heart, earning her third Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role – Musical or Comedy. She earned her fourth nomination for her performance as alcoholic showgirl and actress Lillian Roth in the biopic I'll Cry Tomorrow. Though the award ultimately went to Anna Magnani for The Rose Tattoo, Hayward won Best Actress at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. In 1956, she played Bortai alongside John Wayne in The Conqueror, which was a commercial success but a critical failure, and is widely considered to be one of the worst films of all time.

In 1958, Hayward played death row inmate Barbara Graham in Robert Wise's film noir I Want to Live!, which succeeded both critically and commercially. Hayward's performance was heavily praised by critics, with some considering it the best Hollywood performance by an actress of all time. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress,^[1] as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.^[2] She also received 37% of the film's net profits.^[3] The New York Times journalist Bosley Crowther hailed her performance as "so vivid and so shattering ... Anyone who could sit through this ordeal without shivering and shuddering is made of stone."^[4]

As her career began to decline, she starred in several unsuccessful films such as Ada (1961), I Thank a Fool (1962), Stolen Hours (1963), and Where Love Has Gone (1964), the latter of which co-starred Bette Davis. In 1967, she acted in The Honey Pot and replaced Judy Garland in Valley of the Dolls, based on Jacqueline Susann's 1966 novel of the same name. The film was panned by critics but was a box office success. She then made her stage debut as the titular character in the Las Vegas production of the musical Mame at Caesars Palace, which she acted in from December 1968 to March 1969.

Hayward's doctor found a lung tumor in 1972, which later metastasized. She was diagnosed with brain cancer in 1973 following a seizure and made her final film appearance in the made-for-television drama Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole (1972). She succumbed to her illness on March 14, 1975.