Susan Peters

Susan Peters (born Suzanne Carnahan; July 3, 1921 – October 23, 1952) was an American actress who appeared in more than twenty films over the course of her decade-long career. Though she began her career in uncredited and ingénue roles, she would establish herself as a serious dramatic actress in the mid-1940s.

Born in Spokane, Washington, Peters was raised by her widowed mother in Portland, Oregon, and, later, Los Angeles. Upon graduating from Hollywood High School, she studied acting with Austrian theater director Max Reinhardt, and signed a contract with Warner Bros. Pictures. She appeared in numerous bit parts before earning a minor supporting role in Santa Fe Trail (1940). She made her last film for Warner Bros. in 1942, the film noir The Big Shot opposite Humphrey Bogart and Richard Travis; after its release, Warner opted not to renew her contract.

In 1942, Peters appeared in a supporting role in Tish, which resulted in her signing a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). The same year, she had a featured role in the Mervyn LeRoy-directed drama Random Harvest, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and established her as a serious dramatic performer. Peters went on to appear as the lead in numerous films for MGM, including roles in the romantic comedy Young Ideas (1943), and several war films: Assignment in Brittany (1943), Song of Russia (1944), and Keep Your Powder Dry (1945).

On New Year's Day 1945, Peters' spinal cord was damaged from an accidental gunshot wound, leaving her permanently paraplegic. and later to Los Angeles to live with Peters' maternal French-born grandmother, Maria Patteneaude, a dermatologist. (An article published in The San Bernardino County Sun in January 1943 notes that Peters and her mother "came to Hollywood when Suzanne was still an infant," which contradicts 1930 census records showing that she resided with her family in Seattle, Peters' mother supported herself and her two children by working in a dress shop and managing an apartment building.) "We were poor but we managed, and we had fun," Peters recalled of her upbringing. She was an avid swimmer and tennis player, and also grew up riding horses; her talent as an equestrian allowed her to earn additional income by breaking and showing other people's horses.

Peters transferred to Hollywood High School during her senior year, and began taking drama classes in which she opted to enroll in place of cooking courses: "I took a drama course instead of a cooking course because I thought it was easier," Peters said. "Acting meant money, and [my family] needed money." While still in high school, she signed with a talent agent. She graduated from Hollywood High School During the shoot, Peters was reportedly so nervous that she fainted in front of the camera. Despite her apprehension on set, Peters became a protégée of Cukor, who personally assigned her to private acting lessons with drama coach Gertrude Vogler. Cukor believed Peters had star potential, but needed to not "talk through [her] nose." He later recalled that she reminded him of "a young Katharine Hepburn. Not as aggressive as Kate, but that same finishing school appearance and drive."

19401941: Contract with Warner Bros. Peters in an early 1941 portrait for Warner Bros. as Suzanne Carnahan In early 1940, Peters screen tested for Warner Bros. Pictures, who subsequently offered her a contract. Then credited under her birth name, Suzanne Carnahan, Peters was cast in various small parts in Warner Bros. films; many of these were uncredited bit parts or walk-on roles, such as in River's End, The Man Who Talked Too Much, Money and the Woman, and Always a Bride (all released in 1940). She had her first credited role in the big-budget Western film Santa Fe Trail (1940), opposite Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. In the film, Peters portrayed a young woman from Boston in love with a Kansas military officer. During the press junkets to promote the film, Peters found interviews overwhelming, and later admitted: "I wasn't a good sport. I locked myself in my compartment during most of the trip."

After Santa Fe Trail, Peters had small roles in The Strawberry Blonde, Meet John Doe, Here Comes Happiness (1941), and Scattergood Pulls the Strings (all 1941), the latter of which earned her favorable reviews. She then had a lead role as an ingénue in the comedy Three Sons o' Guns (1941), followed by a dramatic part playing the girlfriend of a convict in The Big Shot (1942), opposite Richard Travis and Humphrey Bogart. She was also in shorts such as Young America Flies (1940) and Sockaroo (1941). At the urging of the studio (who initially suggested she change her name to Sharon O'Keefe), she dropped her birth name and took the stage name Susan Peters. By 1942, however, Warner Bros. chose not to renew her contract.

19421944: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and critical success

Several months after being dropped by Warner Bros., Peters was contacted by MGM to test for a supporting role in the film Tish (1942), a loose adaptation of a series of stories by Mary Roberts Rinehart. She won the role and also signed a contract with the studio. At the time, Peters was one of the most screen-tested actresses in Hollywood. While filming Tish, Peters met future husband, actor Richard Quine, with whom she also starred in her second film with MGM, Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant (1942), alongside Van Johnson. Quine and Peters later married on November 7, 1943, at Westwood Community Church in West Los Angeles. Peters and Van Johnson in Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant (1942)

After completing Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942) in which she appeared with Mickey Rooney in the very short final scene, Mervyn LeRoy cast Peters in the drama Random Harvest (also 1942), in which she portrayed a young woman who falls in love with her step-uncle. The film was one of the top 25 highest-earning films of the year, and Peters' performance garnered her critical acclaim, earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

The success of Random Harvest led MGM to give Peters lead roles in other major pictures such as Assignment in Brittany (1943), in which she portrayed a French peasant girl. This was followed with a minor but top-billed credit in the comedy Young Ideas (1943) with Herbert Marshall and Mary Astor, directed by Jules Dassin. She was subsequently cast as the female lead in Song of Russia (1943) opposite Robert Taylor. The role earned her further excellent notices, with a review in The Hollywood Reporter noting her as "a dramatic actress of the first rank." The film however was controversial, as its portrayal of the Soviet Union was interpreted by some audiences and critics as being favorable and of a pro-Communist stance.

In early 1944, Peters was one of ten actors and actresses who were elevated from "featured player" status to the studio's official "star" category; the others included Esther Williams, Laraine Day, Kathryn Grayson, Van Johnson, Margaret O'Brien, Ginny Simms, Robert Walker, Gene Kelly, and George Murphy. An official portrait taken of MGM's contracted players during this period prominently features Peters sharing the front row with the head of the studio himself, Louis B. Mayer, and alongside such actors as James Stewart, Mickey Rooney, Margaret Sullavan, Katharine Hepburn, Hedy Lamarr, and Greer Garson. In late 1944, Peters filmed Keep Your Powder Dry, a war drama co-starring Lana Turner and Laraine Day, She was rushed to Mercy Hospital, roughly away, and underwent emergency surgery. The injury to her spinal cord left her permanently paralyzed from the waist down, and she was required to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Keep Your Powder Dry premiered three months after the incident, on March 8, 1945. Peters' mother, who had maintained a bedside vigil during her stay in the hospital, died nine months later in December 1945, which left Peters even more distraught.

MGM continued to pay Peters a $100 weekly salary and medical expenses, but, unable to find suitable projects, she subsequently left the studio. She later recalled: "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer kept sending me Pollyanna scripts about crippled girls who were all sweetness and light, which I kept turning down. Two years after my accident, I gave up and broke my contract. I won't trade on my handicap." Among the projects offered to her were Joe Pasternak and Henry Koster's The Unfinished Dance (1947), a remake of Jean Benoît-Lévy's Ballerina. In the film, Peters was offered the role of a ballerina who receives a spinal injury that leaves her unable to perform, but she declined. Just prior to her injury, she had begun filming the drama The Outward Room. The film's producers considered completing the project with stand-ins and refitting the script to allow Peters to appear in a wheelchair, but the project was ultimately shelved.

Upon leaving MGM, Peters was approached for numerous acting jobs on radio programs. She guest-starred on a December 11, 1945, episode of Seventh Heaven opposite previous film co-star Van Johnson. In 1946, Peters and husband Quine adopted a son, Timothy Richard. and Peters told reporters that she had never played a character "with the emotional range that this character has. It was a real challenge for me." The film's production was difficult, as Peters had to have Quine on set to care for her son. After production ended, Peters separated from Quine, claiming that he was cruel and would not speak to her for days at a time. Their divorce was finalized on September 10, 1948. The Sign of the Ram was released in March 1948, and critic Bosley Crowther of The New York Times gave the film an unfavorable review, writing: "The fortitude of Susan Peters in returning to the screen after a cruelly crippling accident, suffered three years ago, is worthy of a more substantial token of respect than it—and she—receives in The Sign of the Ram, a Columbia picture which came to Loew's State yesterday. And the talents of several other actors of competence who are with her in this film are deserving of fuller protection against embarrassment than any of them get." In light of her divorce and facing a lack of opportunity as an actress, Peters began having chronic depression at this time. The play was slightly altered under Williams's supervision in order for Peters to be allowed to perform the part in a wheelchair. She received a standing ovation during the play's opening night, and the production toured throughout the East Coast. The following year, in 1950, she was cast in a stage production of Rudolph Besier's The Barretts of Wimpole Street, playing the disabled poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, which earned her positive critical reception among press.

In March 1951, Peters signed onto the live NBC-TV television drama Miss Susan, in which she played an attorney who used a wheelchair.

19511952: Health problems and death After the cancellation of Miss Susan, Peters began a relationship with Robert Clark, a U.S. Army colonel, and the two announced their engagement to be married; however, Clark broke off the engagement, which sent Peters into a deeper depression. She relocated to Lemon Cove, California, to live on her brother's cattle ranch, and her health began to steadily decline. In mid-1952, Peters was admitted to a hospital in Exeter, California, to undergo a skin graft procedure, after which she returned to her brother's home and lived in seclusion. She had plans to resume another touring stage production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street the following year, but her strength had dwindled and she struggled to put on weight.

In August 1952, Peters told her physician, Dr. Manchester: "I'm getting awfully tired. I think it possibly would be better if I did die." Over the following two months, she began starving herself. (Article published in 2014 byThe Hollywood Reporter classes her death as a suicide induced by her self-starvation.) At the time of her death, Peters' son Timothy was living with her ex-husband. Her estate was worth $6,000 .

Legacy Much of the public assessment and discussion of Peters has hinged on her paralysis and its impact on her life and career: For her contribution to motion pictures, Peters was posthumously

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1940 Susan and God Party Guest Uncredited 1940 River's End Uncredited walk-on role 1940 Sockaroo College Coed As Suzanne Carnahan 1940 The Man Who Talked Too Much Bit role Uncredited 1940 Young America Flies One of Jack's girlfriends Uncredited 1940 Money and the Woman Depositor Uncredited 1940 Santa Fe Trail Charlotte Davis As Suzanne Carnahan 1941 The Strawberry Blonde Girl Uncredited 1941 Here Comes Happiness Miss Brown Uncredited 1941 Meet John Doe Autograph Hound Uncredited 1941 Scattergood Pulls the Strings Ruth Savage 1941 Three Sons o' Guns Mary Tyler 1942 A New Romance of Celluloid: Personalities Herself MGM promotional short film 1942 The Big Shot Ruth Carter 1942 Tish Cora Edwards Bowzer 1942 Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant Mrs. Howard Allwinn Young 1942 Random Harvest Kitty 1942 Andy Hardy's Double Life Sue, Wainwright Coed on Train 1943 Assignment in Brittany Anne Pinot 1943 Young Ideas Susan Evans 1944 Song of Russia Nadya Stepanova 1945 Keep Your Powder Dry Ann "Annie" Darrison 1945 The Outward Room Unfinished project 1948 The Sign of the Ram Leah St. Aubyn 1951 Miss Susan Susan Martin Television series; retitled Martinsville, U.S.A.

Stage credits Year Title Role Notes 1949 The Glass Menagerie Laura Wingfield Regional touring production; debut in Norwich, Connecticut 1950 The Barretts of Wimpole Street Elizabeth Barrett Browning Regional touring production

Accolades Year Institution Nominated work Category Result1942 Academy Awards Random Harvest Best Supporting Actress National Board of Review Best Actress 1960 Hollywood Walk of Fame Star – Motion Pictures Honored