Susan Sullivan

Overview

Born
November 18, 1942 · New York City, New York, USA
Birth name
Susan Michaela Sullivan
Height
5′ 7½″ (1.71 m)

Biography

Family

Spouse
Parents

Trademarks

Light blue eyes
Husky resonant voice.
Natural blonde hair

Trivia

Was a Playboy Bunny
Was in a relationship with Cary Grant in the 1960s.
She is bicoastal with homes on the East and West coasts, and shares her life with noted psychologist and author Connell Cowan.
Has been in a relationship with Connell Cowan, a psychologist and author, since 1989.
Best known by the public for her roles as Maggie Gioberti Channing on Falcon Crest (1981), and as Kitty Montgomery on Dharma & Greg (1997).

Quotes

My timing in life has been extraordinary. I've ridden the crest of the wave of the women's movement.
[on the fame that comes with a TV hit]: I don't think I ever wanted fame. When I'd go on talk shows, it was so terrifying being with Johnny Carson. You knew you were supposed to be quick-witted, so I'd do this self-deprecating - I'd put myself down before they'd start in on me. That's also about shame, about not feeling entitled to have what you have. It's very complicated, and I think a lot of actors feel this way. It's the ambivalence. It's 'I'm out there and I want to be successful.' It's 'I don't feel worthy and I don't want to be hurt.'
[on actor's insecurities]: This is a very important aspect of what it means to be an actor - maybe younger actors aren't as burdened with this as I've been. I live and share my life with a wonderful man, a psychologist and author, Connell Cowan. He took a continuing-education course on narcissism, desire, and shame. Now, I'd just done this TV pilot in which I played an old kind of diva actress who really thinks she's grand. She sings - and I don't sing - in the pilot. I did it, and yes, it was fun, but I was so embarrassed by it. I said to Connell that I felt depressed after I did this big number and everybody applauded, regardless of whatever they thought of it. I said, 'I don't know what this is; maybe I don't really want to be an actor anymore.' He said, 'You feel shame.' And, you know, he was right: I was feeling shame because I didn't quite feel entitled to be a showoff, which is part of what you are as an actor.
If you're cast right you can actually just let yourself go because all your gestures will be right, all your intonations will be right because you just somewhere understand who this person is.
[When filming the episode of Falcon Crest (1981) where she learned of her husband Chase's death, she shed real tears. When asked whether it was sympathy for the poor suffering widow, she responded with her usual honesty] "It was P.M.S.".