Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board: To reach If You Knew Susie by Trish Sharp, click the profile photo at www.facebook.com/susanhaywardclassicfilmstar and you will see the link.
"With few exceptions, most forceful women on the screen were dynamic and independent at the expense of their femininity. Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, and Barbara Staynwyck, for example,
could never be described as sex symbols in the strictest sense. Susan was different. She was perhaps the first star ever to pull it off. She was full-breasted, softly enticing,and yet at her best was as powerful a feminist as any of the others. There was never a picture in which Susan was anything but All Woman."....excerpted from "A Star Is A Star Is A Star!
The Life and Loves of Susan Hayward", Garden City, NY:
Doubleday,1980..pg. 112.
On screen she was hard, tough, aggressive, and strong with a "don't you dare mess with me, buddy" attitude;however, the flip side of the coin was that she also reflected tenderness, softness,gentleness,
kindness, and generosity. Mix these all together and
you got a winning combination that was loved and respected by men and women alike...and of course both sides of the coin displayed the face of her extraoridary beauty.
P.S. If you are a beautiful female ANYTHING, you have
truly achieved something if you have convinced other women to love you and your work. Hayward accomplished this in spades............Ginger
I also agree with the A&E Biography on Susan in which it was said that females admired her independence. I know I certainly did. I'm a very independent person myself, and I think that even as a young person, I could identify with that aspect of her.
Adding to that characteristic the humanity she showed in her films, I always thought that was an unbeatable combination. If she wasn't like that in real life, then she was an even better actress than any of us could imagine!
No matter what anyone has said about her...that she was "cold", "snobby", "difficult", etc., you can't convince me that she didn't "own" many positive qualities...most prominent, as you mentioned "humanity" or "human kindness" because some things you just can't cover with acting....her true spirit showed through...
