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Susanna Foster

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Susanna Foster
File:Susanna phantom.jpg
Susanna Foster with Claude Rains in Phantom of the Opera (Template:Yf).
Born
Suzanne DeLee Flanders Larson
Occupation(s)actress, singer
SpouseWilbur "Wib" Evans

Suzanne DeLee Flanders Larson (known professionally as Susanna Foster) (December 6, 1924[1] – January 17, 2009[2]) was an American film actress best known for her role as Christine in the 1943 film, The Phantom of the Opera.

Early life

Foster was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[3] She was taken to Hollywood at the age of twelve by MGM, who sent her to school and groomed her for an acting and singing career. Two of her classmates at this school were Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. She was also originally slated to star in the MGM production of B Above High C, a film that was never made. The movie's title referred to the top of her vocal register.[4] MGM offered her the lead in National Velvet which she declined because there "wasn't any singing in it".[citation needed] This in part, led to MGM dropping her. It later would become Elizabeth Taylor's break-out role.

Career

After hiring agent Milo Marchetti, Foster was signed by Paramount where she began to study voice for the first time with Marchetti's wife Gilda. She soon would go on to make her first film at fourteen years of age where she was introduced as 'Susanna Foster' in The Great Victor Herbert (1939) opposite Mary Martin and Allan Jones.[4] After seeing Foster in The Great Victor Herbert, William Randolph Hearst flew her to his 67,000-acre (270 km2) estate "Wyntoon" for a private recital for him and Marion Davies. The following year for Paramount she appeared in There's Magic in Music opposite Allan Jones and Glamour Boy opposite Jackie Cooper. She then moved to Universal, where she portrayed the ingénue in the 1943 film version of the Gothic melodrama Phantom of the Opera. The film garnered two Academy Awards and was Universal's biggest money-maker that year. In the following twenty two months, she starred in six motion pictures. Despite a meteoric rise that delivered wondrous prosperity to her poverty-stricken family and a dozen movies for Universal and Paramount on her resume, she abruptly quit the film business in 1945. She soon would attempt to rescue her two younger teenage sisters from am abusive alcoholic mother by selling her mink coat and renting Jean Arthur's house on the Monterrey peninsula. Desperate to hold onto their star, Universal sought to make her dream of grand opera come true, financing a six-month tour of a post war Europe in 1946 with Dusolina Giannini. On her return from Europe she was pressed by Universal to appear as guest soloist for the White House Press Photographer’s Ball with President Truman and Eleanor Roosevelt in attendance. After the performance, Truman and Roosevelt praised Foster with their turn at the microphone. She shared the table with Roosevelt, Truman and his daughter Margaret. With Margaret being only ten months Foster’s senior and an aspiring singer herself, she was thrilled to meet the musical guest.

Back in New York, she accepted the lead role in the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera’s production of Naughty Marietta headed by Rodgers and Hammerstein associate Edwin Lester. In 1948 she married her leading man Wilbur "Wib" Evans, a renowned baritone 20 years her senior.[5] The couple performed in operettas and stage musicals, touring extensively. After a debilitating and tragic miscarriage, their first son Michael was born 9 weeks premature. Evans was soon chosen as Mary Martin’s co-star in London’s South Pacific,[6] the show that gave Sean Connery his start as a dancing and singing sailor.[7] During the London engagement is when their second son was born, brought into the world by Queen Elizabeth’s doctor, John Peel, who also attended in the births of others to the royal family, including Prince Charles and Princess Anne. Philip was named in honor of the Queen’s husband Prince Philip.[8]

Later Life

Foster suffered from alcoholism and mental illness in her adult life. Her mother and sister were heavily afflicted by mental illness and alcoholism. With no warning, Foster walked out of her marriage to Evans, citing the reason that she was not in love with him. She could barely support her two young sons, who endured a hellish childhood sometimes living in squalor. Wilbur Evans apparently was long unaware of his ex-wife's problems and instability as a single mother. By 1983 Foster had been on and off Welfare, lived in her car, then moved back to Hollywood from the east coast to make a "comeback." She lived for a time with a doting fan in a tiny apartment on Cherokee Avenue in Hollywood. For a time she attended the occasional film convention or "Phantom of the Opera" screening and signed autographs, interacting with her fans. In 1985 son Philip lapsed into hepatic coma (liver failure) on Susanna's living room floor and died three days later in Van Nuys Hospital. Eventually, Foster's excellent acting ability could not conceal her mental problems; she was unable to keep a job or support herself. Her surviving son, Michael, brought her back to the east coast where she spent the last years of her life living in nursing homes.[9]

Death

Susanna Foster died unexpectedly at 5:30 a.m. EST on January 17, 2009(2009-01-17) (aged 84). She had been residing at The Lillian Booth Actor's Home in Englewood, New Jersey since 2004[2].

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Mank, Gregory W. (1999). Women in Horror Films, 1940s. McFarland & Co. p. 224. ISBN 0786404647. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ a b Evans, Michael David. (2009). "The Susanna Foster Chronicles: Phantom of the Heart". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ Katz, Ephraim (1994). The Film Encyclopedia. HarperCollins. p. 477. ISBN 0062730894. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ a b Coons, Robin (1940-06-1). "The High C's Are Very Low Down When Susanna Foster Sings". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 30 December 2008. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ Lamparski, Richard (1982). Whatever Became of-?. p. 109. ISBN 9780517543467. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Davis, Ronald L. (2008). Mary Martin, Broadway Legend. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 177. ISBN 0806139056. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ Pfeiffer, Lee (2001). The Films of Sean Connery. Citadel Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 0806522232. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Son to Susanna Foster". New York Times. 1952-09-05. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Rich, Sharon http://maceddy.com/blog/interviewing-susanna-foster-in-regards-to-working-with-nelson-eddy-in-phantom-of-the-opera
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