Susan Hayward

Several actresses were considered for the role of Margot Channing.

Mankiewicz's original choice was Susan Hayward, but at 32 years old, she was deemed too young.

As the script was being written, Channing was favorable to casting Claudette Colbert or Barbara Stanwyck.

By February 1950, the role had been awarded to Claudette Colbert.

Catherine Hepburn, this would be Catherine Hepburn's sixth nomination for an Academy Award.

Susan Hayward, this was her fourth Academy Award nomination.

Eleanor Park, this was her third and final Academy nomination.

And then Jennifer Jones, this was her fifth and final Academy nomination.

Yes, all played by Frederick March.

And he's arguing with his fiancée Estelle, played by Susan Hayward.

And it's the night before they're to be married.

Wallace is running for governor, but really, only has one true friend, Dudley, played by Robert Benchley.

And I think the juxtaposition against that was this...

This woman he was going to marry that kind of seemed a little bit awful and maybe made him seem that much more earnest because she seemed kind of like a terrible choice.

So did you like Susan Hayward playing that awful character?

Oh, she was good in the character.

No, no, me neither.

Hey, Susan Hayward, I'm not going to put any shame on you.

Or was it Lee Van Cleef and William Conrad that did it for you? I thought you were

going to say William

Be careful, everyone.

It's coming.

Susan Hayward is laying around eating some grapes, having a grand old time until two people on a horseback come by.

And by God, one of them is John Wayne as a Mongolian.

Oh, have you? Oh, great.

Named after Susan Hayward.

Well, yes, that's, you know, my mum's favourite.

You know, she used to go to see a lot of movies, right? And it was always at the Futurist Cinema, and she'd go with me dad, Don.

That was not really a great career move for her.

It's probably more like Susan Hayward when she's basically said you can take this job and shove it.

But Betty, what happened is she was, her second husband, Charles Kern, he was the choreographer.

what happens is when you are such a big star, people attach themselves to you.

October 2nd, 1946, brings us to Suspense, episode four, Dame Fortune.

Susan Hayward stars as Jean Nicholson, a popular singer whose life with her wealthy husband, Frank, is interrupted by a telephone call from Charlie Prescott, a man from her past.

As Prescott's return places Jean under pressure, Frank Nicholson is drawn into a blackmail scheme.

Hans Conried appears as Prescott, with Wally Maher as Frank.

Yeah.

But also it sort of makes fun of this sort of idea of marriage in which a man will get to the age of 40-something, be running for governor, be, had all these opportunities, maybe had several relationships, and then he chooses the one young woman, and we have Susan Hayward here, you know, as Estelle, one appropriate young wife for himself.

Mm-hmm.

But, but really, you know, the side that Hollywood is on is always the side of, um, young Jennifer falling for someone.

Robinson promoted his next film, House of Strangers, after the episode.

The film also starred Richard Conti and Susan Hayward.

It's based on Jerome Weidman's novel, I'll Never Go There Anymore.

It is essentially Shakespeare's King Lear, as told through an Italian-American immigrant banking family in New York.