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.
You're probably all correct. She was reestablishing her career, in television, and there wouldn't be any reason to go back on stage again.
Maybe one of the reasons I wondered about the possibility of Susan trying the stage again was because of another famous redhead, Lucille Ball:
In 1960-61 she appeared in the now-infamous "Wildcat." In April 1961 she collapsed onstage, which meant the play needed to close; because she was never vocally trained for a stage musical she forever after spoke with that raspy foghorn voice, her vocal cords permanently damaged. In short, she thought "Wildcat" nearly killed her.
Still, by the early 1980's she was toying with the idea of trying the stage again. She thought she would have been perfect to play Tallulah Bankhead; another possibility was the part of Apple Annie in a stage production of "Pocketful of Miracles."
Of course, by the early 80's Lucy's TV career was over, her favorite and most reliable co-star Vivian Vance dead by now, a loss from which she never really recuperated. The film version of Mame had been a notorious flop back in 1974, which meant, for her, the movies were no longer a possibility since she could no longer be photographed the way she wanted. She was bored out of her mind, furiously playing backgammon with whomever was willing to play with her to ease the frustration and pain of no longer having the audience she was accustomed to.
So--what the hell---why not try the stage again?
Of course, this was not Susan Hayward's issue. Even though she was now in her mid-fifties she had retained her looks, maturing gracefully and never needing the photographic and near-Hurculean cosmetic artistry Lucy had required at the same age. From everything I have read, Susan was not pleased with what had become of the movie industry by the early 1970's and was not particularly interested in getting back into it full time, although her options probably would have been limited because of her age. And TV was, in essance, a whole new frontier for her since she had very little experience in it. So there would have been no reason to try the stage again, at least anytime soon.
And if she ever DID try the stage again hopefully she would have gotten the vocal training this time! How lucky you are, Errol, to have gotten to see her in Mame and tell us about it!
