Susan Peters

Susan Peters has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to Motion Pictures, at 1601 Vine St. Roberti died from a heart attack while bending to tie her shoelace. Her health continued to deteriorate until her death, in Visalia, California, from kidney disease and pneumonia, complicated by anorexia nervosa. She began to work less frequently although two days before her death she performed a radio show with Al Jolson. Her career began to falter, and as her marriage ended, Peters began to suffer from depression. Roberti replaced Thelma Todd in a couple of films after the death of Todd, but her health was failing due to heart disease. She toured in stage productions of The Glass Menagerie and The Barretts of Wimpole Street, and her performances were highly regarded, but her disability made her a difficult actress to cast. In Roberta (1935), Ginger Rogers played the role that Roberti had originated on Broadway, with reviewers commenting that Rogers' performance was a completely accurate imitation of Roberti's idiosyncratic speech and mannerisms.

An unsympathetic role in The Sign of the Ram (1948) failed to win an audience, and a starring role as a detective in the television series Miss Susan (1951) was also unsuccessful. She found success as a comedienne and was also popular as a singer on radio. The accident left her permanently paralysed from the waist down and confined to a wheel chair, however she attempted to continue her acting career. Her sexy but playful characterisations, along the unusual accent she had acquired during her years in Europe and Asia, made her popular with audiences. Married to the actor Richard Quine, she was with him on a hunting vacation in early 1945, when a rifle accidentally discharged, causing a bullet to be lodged in her spine. She moved to Hollywood and during the 1930s played in a string of films. A starring role in Song of Russia (1943) earned her critical acclaim but the film was not a commercial success. She made her Broadway debut in You Said It in 1931, and with its success became an overnight sensation.

MGM began to groom her for starring roles, casting her in several lesser productions that allowed her to learn her craft. They moved to the United States in the late 1920s where Roberti began singing in nightclubs. Her first substantial role, in Random Harvest (1942), earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. As the family toured Europe and Asia, Roberti's mother left her husband, settling in Shanghai, China where the younger Roberti earned money singing. For the first two years she used her given name and played small, often uncredited parts in films such as Meet John Doe (1941), before adopting her stage name. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Roberti was the daughter of a clown and as a child performed in the circus as a trapeze artist, and as a singer on vaudeville. Before long she had impressed studio executives with her own talent, and they began casting her in films. Lyda Roberti (May 20, 1906 - March 12, 1938) was a film actress.

Her first job was to read with potential actors in their screen tests. Born Suzanne Carnahan in Spokane, Washington, Peters began working for MGM Studios after completing high school. Susan Peters (July 3, 1921 - October 23, 1952) was an American film actress.