MOVIES
York:
Susannah
Girl with a Future
and a Problem
She's a beauty with outstanding talents, but one
filled with anger and doubts By PEER J. OPPENHEIMER
Director John Huston who guided
her through the most demanding
scenes in his production of "Freud," in
which she stars opposite Montgomery
Clift calls her the most brilliant young
actress of our time, one who will be as
well known as Ingrid Bergman, Vivien
Leigh, and Deborah Kerr.
The name of the future, says Huston, is Susan
nah York.
Born in London, she comes from a large family
three sisters and a brother but seldom knew
a close family relationship because she was
shuttled to a succession of schools, staying never
more than two years at one place.
She's tall, gangling, blonde,' blue-eyed, and
very appealing. Except for accentuating her
"yea, she doesn't wear make-up, not even lipstick.
When she's in the mood or when she's in a
rush or when she simply doesn't care, Susannah
wears whatever is closest, whether it fits the
occasion or not. And she is liable to wear her
hair any way, even in pigtails.
Another thing she is likely to do is turn cold
toward press interviews. She hopes the time will
come when she no longer has to face the press
at all, although she has been in the limelight
barely a year. '
One reason is her concern for her marriage
with actor Michael Wells. "Everyone asks me
how my marriage can work out now that I'm
more successful than Mike. I don't think that's
fair. Besides, Mike's career is climbing along
fine, and in fields outside acting he is the stronger
of us. He handles our finances and makes all
decisions that concern our private lives."
Susannah is running away from reality and
knows it. She is handing over tasks to her hus
band to give him added importance, though he is
probably no better qualified for them than she is.
She is avoiding interviews primarily because
they draw attention to her more than him. For
the same reason she leaves her career problems
at the studio. She fears that if they monopolized
her home life, it might have an adverse affect
on her marriage.
Aside from her obvious acting talent, Susannah
is tremendously fortunate that people sincerely
like her. Asked how she got along with men, she
told me candidly: "They either look at me as a
younger sister, a friend, or a lover. But they all
want my friendship for a long time."
As a result of this attitude, plus her intelli
gence and beauty, one would think she had many
friends. But she doesn't. "There are only two
people I feel really close to," she confessed. She
wouldn't elaborate. Presumably they are , her
husband and one of her parents but which one
is hard to tell, for Susannah comes from a
broken home.
Her parents were divorced when she was six.
More than 10 years passed before she saw or
heard from her father again, while her mother
married twice more. Yet no bitterness exists
toward her father. While we had lunch in London
recently, she told me her father had just come to
town to spend a couple of days with her and
Michael.
Typical of Susannah's behavior is her willing
ness when she is at ease with you to talk
freely about herself. Yet when I complimented
her on her frankness, she promptly came back:
"But I didn't tell you the whole truth. You only
know one side of me. Even Michael doesn't know
me fully."
When she acts like this, half-serious, half
child, half-woman, you feel she is playing
games with you. Dr. David Stafford-Clark, emi
nent psychiatrist and technical advisor on
"Freud," believed she was doing this on the
movie set, where, according to him, she frequently
played Montgomery Clift against Huston and
vice versa. Susannah herself admitted she tried to
make Huston mad a few times, "so he wouldn't
treat me as his blue girl all the time."
Susannah's biggest problem in the years to
come is not professional. It's the adjustment she
faces as an individual with the complexities of
career and attention.
On four occasions during the past three years,
for example, her anger so overwhelmed her that
she actually struck people. "They were arrogant,"
she insisted. "This is one trait I can't stand."
The only loss of self-control I witnessed oc-
:f.,'.: W "ft .7;
Susannah's performance with Montgom
ery Clift in "Freud" was termed
brilliant by veteran director John Huston.
curred after she finished an extremely difficult
scene with Montgomery Clift After 33 takes,
John Huston finally called it a day. A few seconds
later, the assistant director asked her which
flight she wanted to take to London. Without a
word, Susannah burst into sobs and fled to her
dressing room. She came back 10 minutes later
and apologized.
Quite likely, she inherited some of her com
plex qualities from her father, whom she de
scribes as "a businessman, dreamer, bank di
rector, a man of many professions and moods."
"Everyone says that I've nothing to worry
about now, that I'm in a position to make a lot of
money in the next couple of years," Susannah
says. "But I think emotional security is more
important than financial security. I'm madly in
debt right now, but I won't be soon. This worries
me a bit I find financial security rather frighten
ing. At 21, it's not good to know that everything
is going to be all right"
But will it be?
family Wrrkly, March 3. 1MI 7