Well, what a coincidence! I just went into Susan's e.Bay and there it was - she won the title of the "Most Glamorous Woman in Cinema City". She is on the front of a magazine dated June 20th, 1942.

Ginger, I hadn't thought of Susan as a mother but as I grew older, I certainly thought of her as a friend.
As a child and teenager I looked up to her immensely and defended her fiercely! She was always this person up there on the screen with magical qualities for me and I loved her for being in my life - still do of course. Like you said Ginger, Susan was the ultimate IT girl for so many of us.

When Susan and Jess divorced it was a shock as they had always seemed so happy together in the photos which were published - they were both excellent actors, on reflection, in that respect. I really liked Jess too - such a handsome man and as Susan herself said (as Jane Froman), "it must be hard for any man being married to a woman in the spotlight"!
He seemed to be very loyal to her too as after the divorce proceedings, I never saw that he said anything against Susan for the rest of his life. Of course, everything we write is pure conjecture as who knows what goes on behind closed doors or what is really true in the written word, but I will say I admired Jess and always watch him on his infrequent appearances on tv.

Trish

Okay, Ginger & Trish. I have to add another "two cents" to this conversation. While I agree that Susan had very womanly qualities, which is to say she showed caring, gentleness and empathy in her roles (and, I hope, in her private life), what really drew me to her was her strength.

The other actresses of that time were either simply sex symbols whose minds (if they had one) were never in the mix. Or we had the complete bimbo up on the screen. Susan was the first actress I saw who was a REAL woman, as I saw my mother, my aunts, and ultimately, as I wanted to see myself. She had the guts to play strong women...women who were ambitious, not shy, timid types who always deferred to men. Her women could be cunning when they had to be, ruthless when confronted by men who would be ruthless to them, and maybe even evil, too. As I said, real women, not cardboard cutouts on the screen, or in life.

That she did all that and could show vulnerability, too, well, that's why I loved her. She'll always be my hero in many ways, as well as a glamour queen.