Advanced search

War-era MGM had a lovely, luminous star in the making with Susan Peters. She possessed a creative talent and innate sensitivity that would surely have reigned as a leading Hollywood player for years to come had not a tragic and cruel twist of fate taken everything away from her.

She was born Suzanne Carnahan in Spokane, Washington on July 3, 1921, the eldest of two children. Her father, Robert, a construction engineer, was killed in an automobile accident in 1928, and the remaining family relocated to Los Angeles to live with Susan's grandmother. Attending various schools growing up, she excelled in athletics and studied drama in her senior year at Hollywood High School where she was spotted by a talent scout. Following graduation, she found an agent and enrolled at Max Reinhardt's School of Dramatic Arts. While performing in a showcase, she was spotted by a Warner Bros. casting agent, tested and signed to the studio in 1940.

Making her debut as an extra Susan and God (1940), she saw little progress and eventually became frustrated at the many bit parts thrown her way. Billed by her given name Suzanne Carnahan (known for possessing a zesty stubborn streak, she had refused to use the studio's made-up stage name of Sharon O'Keefe), Susan was barely given a line in many of her early movies. She did test for a lead role in Kings Row (1942) but lost out to Betty Field. Susan's first big break came with the Humphrey Bogart potboiler The Big Shot (1942), where she was fourth-billed and had the second female lead. Dropped by Warners, MGM picked up her contract and adopted a new stage name for her, Susan Peters. In the Marjorie Main vehicle Tish (1942), Susan earned a co-starring part and met actor Richard Quine on the set. Quine played her husband in the film. The couple also appeared together in the film Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant (1942), and married in real life in November of 1943.

Susan won the role of Ronald Colman's sister's teenage stepdaughter (and a potential love interest of the Colman character) in the profoundly moving film Random Harvest (1942) and earned an Academy Award nomination for "Best Supporting Actress" for her efforts. Her potential in that film was quickly discovered and she continued to offer fine work in lesser movies such as the WWII spy tale Assignment in Brittany (1943), the slight comedy Young Ideas (1943) and the romantic war drama Song of Russia (1944), in which she touchingly played Nadya, a young Soviet pianist who falls for Robert Taylor. For these performances, Susan was named "Star of Tomorrow" along with Van Johnson and others.

Then tragedy struck a little more than a year after her wedding day. While on a 1945 New Year's Day duck-hunting trip in the San Diego area with her husband and friends, one of the hunting rifles accidentally discharged when Susan went to retrieve it. The bullet lodged in her spine. Permanently paralyzed from the waist down, MGM paid for her bills but was eventually forced to settle her contract. Susan valiantly forged on with frequent work on radio. In 1946 Susan and Richard happily adopted a son, Timothy Richard, but two years later she divorced Quine -- some say she felt she was too much of a burden.

Appearing with Lana Turner as a demure soldier's wife in Keep Your Powder Dry (1945), which was filmed before but released a year after her accident, Susan made a film "comeback" with The Sign of the Ram (1948), the melodramatic tale of an embittered, manipulative, wheelchair-bound woman who tries to destroy the happiness of all around her, but audiences were not all that receptive. She also turned to the stage with tours of "The Glass Menagerie," in which she played the crippled daughter Laura from a wheelchair (with permission from playwright Tennessee Williams), and "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" opposite Tom Poston, wherein she performed the role of poet and chronic invalid Elizabeth Barrett Browning entirely from a couch.

In March of 1951 she portrayed an Ironside-like lawyer in the TV series Miss Susan (1951) but the show ran for less than one season, folding in December of that year. After this, the increasingly frail actress, who was constantly racked with pain, went into virtual seclusion. Suffering from acute depression and plagued by kidney problems and pneumonia, she finally lost her will to live and died at the age of 31 on October 23, 1952, of kidney failure and starvation, prompted by a developing eating disorder (anorexia nervosa). It was a profoundly sad and most unfortunate end to such a beautiful, courageous spirit and promising talent.

Blanche Friderici was born on 21 January 1878 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for It Happened One Night (1934), Sadie Thompson (1928) and Secrets (1933). She was married to Donald Campbell. She died on 23 December 1933 in Visalia, California, USA.

Buxom and attractive brunette Renee Harmon was born Renate Elisabeth Harmon on May 18, 1927. Renee married an American G.I. in Germany, where she had a background in ballet. Since her husband was a colonel in a surface-to-air missile program, she moved with him to West Texas and started a theatrical group amongst the officers' wives. Harmon eventually became involved in a handful of offbeat low-budget independent exploitation features as a writer, actress, and producer. Renee was especially funny and memorable as the sexually frustrated wicked stepmother in Al Adamson's gloriously ghastly futuristic sci-fi musical abomination "Cinderella 2000." Her other noteworthy movie roles are evil scientist Lil Stanhope in the incredibly muddled fright flick "Frozen Scream," the deadly, yet alluring Linda Allen in the enjoyably cruddy martial arts action oddity "Lady Streetfighter," and pesky journalist Celia Amherst in the hilariously horrendous urban vigilante opus "The Executioner, Part II." Moreover, Harmon was an acting teacher with her own workshop in California and taught screenwriting at the College of Sequoias community college in Visalia, California. Renee wrote the books "Film Producing: Low Budget Films That Sell," "Teaching a Young Actor: How to Train Children of All Ages for Success in Movies, TV, and Commercials," "Film Directing: Killer Style and Cutting Edge Technique," "How to Audition for Movies & TV," and "The Beginning Filmmaker's Guide to a Successful First Film." Renee Harmon died at age 79 on November 26, 2006 in Visalia, California.

Allen Pinson was born on 30 October 1916 in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. He was an actor and producer, known for Dan Raven (1960), Killer's Carnival (1966) and What's the Matter with Helen? (1971). He died on 22 January 2006 in Visalia, California, USA.

Charlene Wyatt was born on 13 July 1930 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. She was an actress, known for Under the Big Top (1938), Untamed (1940) and Valiant Is the Word for Carrie (1936). She died on 27 May 1969 in Visalia, Tulare County, California, USA.

Maurice Marks was born on 6 November 1918 in Toledo, Ohio, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Alligator (1980), Hopscotch (1980) and Wonder Woman (1975). He died on 11 December 2017 in Visalia, California, USA.

Charles Dederich, born in Toledo, Ohio, was the founder and leader of Synanon, a controversial drug rehabilitation program, active 1958-1991. He moved to Santa Monica, Ca. and become a beach bum in and out of jobs, till he found his way to a local AA group. Inspired by reading "Self-Reliance: Change Your Life for the Better" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Dederich gathered his own following in The Tender Loving Care Club. The original name that soon would be updated to Synanon, a mix of the concepts "Symposium" and "Seminar." The group survived on small donations, tried hard to stay sober and played the "Game" in which anyone was allowed to say anything, true or not, to someone to cause an effect. Dederich's version of attack therapy. Soon the local drug addicts found their way to the Synanon House which required a more elaborate structure of the operation. Control over members occurred through the "Game", which was presented as a therapeutic tool, and likened to a form of group therapy. In 1964 Columbia Pictures decided to make a feature film of the Synanon project, starring Edmond O'Brien, Eartha Kitt, Stella Stevens, Chuck Connors and Alex Cord. European Intertel TV produced the documentary "The House on the Beach" (1965) while the number of members and volunteers rapidly increased in number. The socially interested public were welcome to the Synanon House. Politicians and actors were frequent guests. Eventually the movement changed name to the Church of Synanon. After a long period in bad health, Charles Dederich died of cardiorespiratory failure, on Feb. 28, 1997. The bankrupted Synanon organization formally dissolved in 1991.

Roger Stafford was born on 6 January 1943 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK. He is known for Teen Scene (1964), The Cinnamon Cinder Show (1963) and Cinnamon Cinder Show Christmas Special (1965). He died on 27 January 2012 in Visalia, California, USA.

Sean Bonniwell was born on 16 August 1940 in San Jose, California, USA. He was a composer, known for Chappaquiddick (2017), The Day of the Wolves (1971) and Night of the Witches (1970). He died on 20 December 2011 in Visalia, California, USA.

Olive Jones was born on 4 August 1910 in Columbus, Ohio, USA. She was an actress, known for The Goose and the Gander (1935). She died on 27 November 1974 in Visalia, California, USA.

Doug Harvey was born on 13 March 1930 in South Gate, California, USA. He was an actor, known for A League of Their Own (1993), 1974 World Series (1974) and 1984 World Series (1984). He was married to Joy. He died on 13 January 2018 in Visalia, California, USA.

Roy Rice was born on 4 April 1887 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Up from the Depths (1915), The Wood Nymph (1916) and The Lily and the Rose (1915). He was married to Mary Werner. He died on 29 December 1966 in Visalia, California, USA.

Eric Willems was an actor, known for Death Rattle: Crystal Ice (2009). He died on 29 November 2010 in Visalia, California, USA.

J. Kevin Gann was a producer, known for Death Rattle: Crystal Ice (2009). J. Kevin died on 5 April 2013 in Visalia, California, USA.

Cora Caballes was born on 8 June 1945 in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, Philippines. Cora was a writer and producer, known for Y'ur Height Only (1981), Sila... Sa bawat bangketa (1977) and Chopsuey Met Big Time Papa (1978). Cora died on 5 May 2017 in Visalia, California, USA.