Susan Hayward (June 30, 1917 - March 14, 1975) was an American actress. Born Edythe Marrenner in Brooklyn, New York, she began her career as a photographer's model. She went to Hollywood in 1939, aiming to become the unknown who won the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind. Although she didn't get that role, she won the role of the female lead in Beau Geste. She played a dramatic role in Among the Living, and a Southern belle in Reap the Wild Wind.
In 1947 Hayward received the first of her five Academy Award nominations for Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman. Other major films included I'll Cry Tomorrow and I Want to Live, for which she won the Oscar.
The brain cancer which took her life is traced by some back to her work in The Conqueror, filmed about 100 miles downwind of active Nevadan nuclear-weapon test sites, and in sets dressed with truckloads of dirt from the area.
Academy Awards and Nominations
Hayward has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6251 Hollywood Blvd.
