Susan Hayward

Susan Hayward
Hayward in the early 1940s
Born	Edythe Marrenner (1917-06-30)June 30, 1917 New York, U.S.
Died	March 14, 1975(1975-03-14) (aged 57) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Brain cancer
Resting place	Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cemetery (Carrollton, Georgia)
Nationality	American
Education	Public School 181 The Girls' Commercial High School
Occupation	Actress, Singer
Years active	1937–1972
Spouse(s)	Jess Barker (m.1944-1954) Floyd Eaton Chalkley (m.1957-w.1966)
Children	Timothy & Gregory Barker (b. 1945)

Susan Hayward (June 30, 1917 – March 14, 1975) was an American actress.

After working as a fashion model, Hayward traveled to Hollywood in 1937. She secured a film contract and played several small supporting roles over the next few years.

By the late 1940s, the quality of her film roles had improved, and she achieved recognition for her dramatic abilities with the first of five Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her performance as an alcoholic in Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman (1947). Her career continued successfully through the 1950s and she received subsequent nominations for My Foolish Heart (1949), With a Song in My Heart (1952), and I'll Cry Tomorrow (1955). She finally won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of death-row inmate Barbara Graham in I Want to Live! (1958).

After Hayward's second marriage and subsequent move to Georgia, her film appearances became infrequent, although she continued acting in film and television until 1972. She died in 1975 of brain cancer.

Hayward was born Edythe Marrenner in Brooklyn, the youngest of three children born to Ellen (née Pearson) and Walter Marrenner. Her paternal grandmother was an actress, Kate Harrigan, from County Cork, Ireland. Her mother was of Swedish descent. She had an older sister, Florence (born May 1910), and an older brother, Walter, Jr. (born December 1911).

Hayward was educated at Public School 181, and graduated from the Girls' Commercial High School (later renamed Prospect Heights High School). According to the Erasmus Hall High School alumni page, Hayward attended that school in the mid-1930s, so she possibly attended Erasmus Hall High School before transferring to Girls' Commercial High School. During her high school years, she acted in various school plays and was named "Most Dramatic" by her class. She graduated in June 1935.