19211939: Early life Peters was born
Suzanne Carnahan on July 3, 1921, in
Spokane, Washington, the elder of two children born to Robert and Abby Carnahan. Her father was a civil engineer of
Irish descent, while her mother was of
French descent, and a grand-niece of
Robert E. Lee. Peters had one younger brother, Robert Jr., born in 1923. Shortly after her birth, the Carnahan family moved to
Portland, Oregon. Peters' mother supported herself and her two children by working in a dress shop and managing an apartment building. "We were poor but we managed, and we had fun," Peters recalled of her upbringing. She was an avid swimmer and tennis player, and also grew up riding horses; her talent as an equestrian allowed her to earn additional income by
breaking and showing other people's horses. Peters transferred to
Hollywood High School during her senior year, and began taking drama classes in which she opted to enroll in place of cooking courses: "I took a drama course instead of a cooking course because I thought it was easier," Peters said. "Acting meant money, and [my family] needed money." While still in high school, she signed with a talent agent. She graduated from Hollywood High School During the shoot, Peters was reportedly so nervous that she fainted in front of the camera. Despite her apprehension on set, Peters became a protégée of Cukor, who personally assigned her to private acting lessons with drama coach Gertrude Vogler. Cukor believed Peters had star potential, but needed to not "talk through [her] nose." He later recalled that she reminded him of "a young
Katharine Hepburn. Not as aggressive as Kate, but that same finishing school appearance and drive."
19401941: Contract with Warner Bros. In early 1940, Peters screen tested for
Warner Bros. Pictures, who subsequently offered her a contract. Then credited under her birth name, Suzanne Carnahan, Peters was cast in various small parts in Warner Bros. films; many of these were uncredited bit parts or walk-on roles, such as in ''
River's End, The Man Who Talked Too Much, Money and the Woman, and Always a Bride (all released in 1940). She had her first credited role in the big-budget Western film Santa Fe Trail'' (1940), opposite
Errol Flynn and
Olivia de Havilland. In the film, Peters portrayed a young woman from
Boston in love with a
Kansas military officer. During the
press junkets to promote the film, Peters found interviews overwhelming, and later admitted: "I wasn't a good sport. I locked myself in my compartment during most of the trip." After
Santa Fe Trail, Peters had small roles in
The Strawberry Blonde,
Meet John Doe,
Here Comes Happiness (1941), and
Scattergood Pulls the Strings (all 1941), the latter of which earned her favorable reviews. She then had a lead role as an
ingénue in the comedy ''
Three Sons o' Guns (1941), followed by a dramatic part playing the girlfriend of a convict in The Big Shot (1942), opposite Richard Travis and Humphrey Bogart. She was also in shorts such as Young America Flies
(1940) and Sockaroo'' (1941). At the urging of the studio (who initially suggested she change her name to Sharon O'Keefe), she dropped her birth name and took the stage name Susan Peters. By 1942, however, Warner Bros. chose not to renew her contract.
19421944: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and critical success promoting
Tish (1942) Several months after being dropped by Warner Bros., Peters was contacted by MGM to test for a supporting role in the film
Tish (1942), a loose adaptation of a series of stories by
Mary Roberts Rinehart. She won the role and also signed a contract with the studio. At the time, Peters was one of the most screen-tested actresses in Hollywood. While filming
Tish, Peters met future husband, actor
Richard Quine, with whom she also starred in her second film with MGM, ''
Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant'' (1942), alongside
Van Johnson. Quine and Peters later married on November 7, 1943, at Westwood Community Church in West Los Angeles. in ''
Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant'' (1942) After completing ''
Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942) in which she appeared with Mickey Rooney in the very short final scene, Mervyn LeRoy cast Peters in the drama Random Harvest'' (also 1942), in which she portrayed a young woman who falls in love with her step-uncle. The film was one of the top 25 highest-earning films of the year, and Peters' performance garnered her critical acclaim, earning her an
Academy Award nomination for
Best Supporting Actress. The success of
Random Harvest led MGM to give Peters lead roles in other major pictures such as
Assignment in Brittany (1943), in which she portrayed a French peasant girl. This was followed with a minor but top-billed credit in the comedy
Young Ideas (1943) with
Herbert Marshall and
Mary Astor, directed by
Jules Dassin. She was subsequently cast as the female lead in
Song of Russia (1943) opposite Robert Taylor. The role earned her further excellent notices, with a review in
The Hollywood Reporter noting her as "a dramatic actress of the first rank." The film however was controversial, as its portrayal of the
Soviet Union was interpreted by some audiences and critics as being favorable and of a pro-
Communist stance. In early 1944, Peters was one of ten actors and actresses who were elevated from "featured player" status to the studio's official "star" category; the others included
Esther Williams,
Laraine Day,
Kathryn Grayson, Van Johnson,
Margaret O'Brien,
Ginny Simms,
Robert Walker,
Gene Kelly, and
George Murphy. An official portrait taken of MGM's contracted players during this period prominently features Peters sharing the front row with the head of the studio himself,
Louis B. Mayer, and alongside such actors as
James Stewart, Mickey Rooney,
Margaret Sullavan, Katharine Hepburn,
Hedy Lamarr, and
Greer Garson. In late 1944, Peters filmed
Keep Your Powder Dry, a war drama co-starring
Lana Turner and
Laraine Day, She was rushed to
Mercy Hospital, roughly away, and underwent emergency surgery. The injury to her
spinal cord left her permanently
paralyzed from the waist down, and she was required to use a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
Keep Your Powder Dry premiered three months after the incident, on March 8, 1945. Peters' mother, who had maintained a bedside vigil during her stay in the hospital, died nine months later in December 1945, which left Peters even more distraught. MGM continued to pay Peters a $100 weekly salary and medical expenses, but, unable to find suitable projects, she subsequently left the studio. She later recalled: "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer kept sending me
Pollyanna scripts about crippled girls who were all sweetness and light, which I kept turning down. Two years after my accident, I gave up and broke my contract. I won't trade on my handicap." Among the projects offered to her were
Joe Pasternak and
Henry Koster's
The Unfinished Dance (1947), a remake of
Jean Benoît-Lévy's
Ballerina. In the film, Peters was offered the role of a ballerina who receives a spinal injury that leaves her unable to perform, but she declined. Just prior to her injury, she had begun filming the drama
The Outward Room. The film's producers considered completing the project with stand-ins and refitting the script to allow Peters to appear in a wheelchair, but the project was ultimately shelved. Upon leaving MGM, Peters was approached for numerous acting jobs on
radio programs. She guest-starred on a December 11, 1945, episode of
Seventh Heaven opposite previous film co-star Van Johnson. In 1946, Peters and husband Quine adopted a son, Timothy Richard. and Peters told reporters that she had never played a character "with the emotional range that this character has. It was a real challenge for me." The film's production was difficult, as Peters had to have Quine on set to care for her son. After production ended, Peters separated from Quine, claiming that he was cruel and would not speak to her for days at a time. Their divorce was finalized on September 10, 1948.
The Sign of the Ram was released in March 1948, and critic
Bosley Crowther of
The New York Times gave the film an unfavorable review, writing: "The fortitude of Susan Peters in returning to the screen after a cruelly crippling accident, suffered three years ago, is worthy of a more substantial token of respect than it—and she—receives in
The Sign of the Ram, a Columbia picture which came to Loew's State yesterday. And the talents of several other actors of competence who are with her in this film are deserving of fuller protection against embarrassment than any of them get." In light of her divorce and facing a lack of opportunity as an actress, Peters began having chronic
depression at this time. The play was slightly altered under Williams's supervision in order for Peters to be allowed to perform the part in a wheelchair. She received a standing ovation during the play's opening night, and the production toured throughout the East Coast. The following year, in 1950, she was cast in a stage production of
Rudolph Besier's
The Barretts of Wimpole Street, playing the disabled poet
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, which earned her positive critical reception among press. In March 1951, Peters signed onto the live
NBC-TV television drama
Miss Susan, in which she played an attorney who used a wheelchair.
19511952: Health problems and death After the cancellation of
Miss Susan, Peters began a relationship with Robert Clark, a U.S. Army colonel, and the two announced their engagement to be married; however, Clark broke off the engagement, which sent Peters into a deeper depression. She relocated to
Lemon Cove, California, to live on her brother's cattle ranch, and her health began to steadily decline. In mid-1952, Peters was admitted to a hospital in
Exeter, California, to undergo a
skin graft procedure, after which she returned to her brother's home and lived in seclusion. She had plans to resume another touring stage production of
The Barretts of Wimpole Street the following year, but her strength had dwindled and she struggled to put on weight. In August 1952, Peters told her physician, Dr. Manchester: "I'm getting awfully tired. I think it possibly would be better if I did die." Over the following two months, she began
starving herself. Peters' funeral was held on October 27 in
Glendale, California, after which she was buried at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park next to her mother. At the time of her death, Peters' son Timothy was living with her ex-husband. Her estate was worth $6,000 (). ==Legacy==