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.
I'm sorry but I don't have any other information regarding dates etc.
I seem to remember reading that Agnes Moorehead was a big fan of Susan's too; also Thelma Ritter spent time at Susan and Jess' home with them. I did read that Jennifer Jones thought a lot of her as well but no further information on that.
Somewhere on the Internet is a letter from a guy who said he had interviewed Robert Wise and asked him who was his favourite star to direct. Apparently, the reply was "Susan Hayward was the best of them all". This is from memory and I wish I had copied it out at the time!
Trish, I saw a short interview with Robert Wise on Turner Classic Movies and he talked about what a pro Susan was..he made very flattering remarks about her.
I had a feeling that she and Thelma Ritter had a good relationship. It spilled over into the film "WASIMH"... thanks
Robert Wise had great respect for Susan and once said, as quoted in Beverly Linet's book, that "In motion pictures, Susan Hayward is as important a figure as Sarah Bernhardt was on the stage."
Pretty amazing statement, even for our girl.
I did know that Thelma Ritter had been invited to Susan and Jess's home for dinner and always thought one of the reasons was Thelma's Brooklyn roots. I didn't know about Jennifer Jones and wonder if they met while Susan, along with half the female population of the world, was auditioning for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind," which was produced by Jennifer's then husband, David Selznick. Could be.
I also knew that Agnes Moorehead and Susan were close. Agnes was quoted in Linet's book as saying that she was "one of her greatest fans."
We also know that she and Jeff Chandler were very close, as they had been neighbors growing up in Brooklyn.
I remember reading that Susan brought a good friend from Brooklyn out to Hollywood to live with her (and paid her bills) when her friend contracted cancer, later dying. And this was in he midst of the rocky period of Susan's marriage to Jess.
So much for "cold as a polar bear's foot" when it came to those she liked.
I misspoke on my previous post; at the time "Gone With the Wind" was made, Selznick was still married to Irene Mayer (Louis B.'s daugher) Selznick, so obviously this is not how Susan knew Jennifer Jones. Maybe somebody else knows?
