Susan Harrison
| Susan Harrison | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 26, 1938 Leesburg, Florida, United States |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1956–1963 |
| Spouse(s) | Cass Conger (died in 1999) |
Susan Harrison (born August 26, 1938, in Leesburg, Florida) is an American actress. She is most famous for her appearance in the 1957 film noir classic Sweet Smell of Success as the sister for whom Burt Lancaster has an unhealthy affection as well as in The Twilight Zone episode "Five Characters in Search of an Exit".
She is a graduate of the High School of Performing Arts in New York City, where she played Frankie in Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers and Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion. She attended Boston University, briefly studying under Peter Kass, who directed her in the role of Abigail in Arthur Miller's The Crucible. Her professional debut was in the live television drama Can You Coffeepot on Skates?, presented in 1956. This was followed by television appearances on Matinee Theatre and Alfred Hitchcock Presents and her cinematic debut in Sweet Smell of Success. On October 19, 1957, she opened on Broadway at the Bijou Theater, playing "the Girl" in William Saroyan's new play The Cave Dwellers to uniformly good reviews.[1][2][3] The following year she was in the Playhouse 90 production of In Lonely Expectation, which brought her to the attention of Rod Serling and led to her role as the ballerina in the iconic Twilight Zone episode. She had several later television and stage roles, most notably in an episode of the television show Bonanza, "Dark Star." In 1960 she played Ruby, the female lead, in the little-seen film Key Witness with Jeffrey Hunter and Dennis Hopper.
By 1963 she had left public life and acting and devoted herself to family matters, though in the 1990s she played Elberta in a Jackson County Stage Company (Carbondale, Illinois) production of Mixed Couples. She has since appeared at various film and science fiction conventions.
She is the mother of Darva Conger, best known as the winner of the reality television show Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?.
References
- ↑ Atkinson, Brooks "A Sunny Tale" The New York Times, Monday, October 21, 1957
- ↑ Aston, Frank "Saroyan Eyes Little Lives" New York World-Telegraph and Sun, Monday, October 21, 1957
- ↑ Watts, Richard, Jr "William Saroyan Returns To Us" New York Post, Monday, October 21, 1957