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 just wrote a birthday post at 4:38am and since it never posted..I will try again..so if both show..I'm very sorry.
Before going to bed (it is now 5:37 am) I wanted to pay my respects and wish our dear SUSAN..A..HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
Susan has been a big part of my life..from my teenage years and all through my life. I sometimes wonder how I would have ever survived the sad and miserable life I went through, as a teenager, without having Susan as a crutch of strength to carry me through it all. Without, what she gave me, from that movie screen, I don't really think I would have ever made it. But I found myself waiting for the next bit of 'DRIVE' that I got from her performances on that screen. Of course, she would have never known how she touched people's hearts and minds....but she did...there is no doubt about that.
SUSAN was never ONE DEMENTIONAL either. She could be raw and harsh, warm and tender, evil (to a point..look at ADAM HAD FOUR SONS and tell me she couldn't play...evil..lol)and she could steal your heart and melt you into tears of both sadness and happiness. NOT MANY could do it and make it work, like Susan could.
I think of how different she was from the touching Rae Smith in BACK STREET or Jane Froman in WITH A SONG IN MY HEART..then compare that to the cunning and mysterious of ADAM HAD FOUR SONS, AND NOW TOMORROW or THE LOST MOMENT..then bounce into such fluff as TOP SECRET AFFAIR, THE MARRIAGE-GO-ROUND or THE FORREST RANGERS. Then the gritty, bigger than life performance in I WANT TO LIVE! NO..SUSAN WAS NOT a ONE DEMENTIONAL ACTRESS. She had it ALL...
I thank God for giving me the opportunity to see her do a lot of IT ALL...when I saw her perform at CAESARS PALACE in Las Vegas in..MAME...She sang, danced, was witty and charming and soft and touching as Auntie Mame Dennis...and I will never forget it!
Susan's life..both private and to the public was not an easy row as we all know. She had her demons to deal with, her bouts to fight...and the sad thing, to me, is that she said that no one would ever remember her. Oh, my dear Susan...you were soo wrong!
I hope you are looking down on us...on Gingers site and on all the other fans who have never even found
this place yet...and then you will know..just how much YOU ARE REMEMBERED...and will never be forgotten
We love you..and always will...
Errol, you were so fortunate to have gotten to see her "Mame" performance.
Yes, I am remembering Susan today also. It's really hard to imagine that if she were still living, she would be 92 years old. Many people still have productive lives at that age. I teach a piano student who is 103! I just often feel like that she, her family, and all of us were cheated. On the positive side, I'm thankful for the time she was here and the gifts she gave to us to continuously enjoy.
She would be surprised, I think, to know how lovingly she is remembered.
You brought tears to my eyes with your memories but I think all of us who love Susan are feeling a little sad today.
I will add my Birthday Wishes to her and truly believe she does know NOW what she meant to her fans. I know my life has been richer for "knowing" her, for want of a better word, for the past almost 60 years. It seems we were all children when we let her into our hearts and here we are, still talking about her and loving her as much, if not more than ever.
Thank you Dear Susan for all the pleasure you have given me over the years which is ongoing. You certainly will never be forgotten - God Bless You.
My thoughts are with Tim, Nadia, Michael, Ally, Greg and Suzanne, Christopher, Andy and Daniel. They must be so proud to know that Susan meant so much to so many people over the whole world and how we personally have been so enriched by her reaching out to us from the silver screen.
Thanks Errol for your touching words and memories especially seeing Susan in Vegas as Mame. She made such an impact in my life, there are times when she appears in my dreams. I know she is looking down on all of us not only on her birthday but every day. She certainly touched us all in one way or another.
A Star, Is A Star, Is A Star....Happy Birthday Susan,
I love you very much now and always.
