Suzan Ball Profile

Suzan Ball

	(Susan Ball)
3 February 34	is born in Jamestown, New York, of French, English and Irish descent. She's a second cousin of comedienne Lucille Ball.
38	moves with her family to Miami, Florida, but later moves back to Buffalo
47	moves with her family to North Hollywood, California, around the corner of Universal-International
48 - 53	sings with Mel Baker's Orchestra
51	lives at the House of the Seven Garbos, a boarding house high in the hills on La Brea Avenue
	gets her first movie part, that of a harem girl, in Aladdin and His Lamp, at Monogram
	actress Mary Castle discovers her at the boarding house and arranges an interview with the head of Universal-International's talent department
24 October 51	signs a standard term contract with Universal-International
52	Universal-International proclaims her "The New Cinderella Girl of '52"
	has a fleeting romance with Scott Brady, whom she meets on the set of Untamed Frontier. They plan to marry.
	loses her role in Horizons West to Julie Adams
53	falls deeply in love with Anthony Quinn during the filming of City Beneath the Sea. He's still very much married to actress Katherine DeMille, but the romance will last for about a year.
	Hedda Hopper picks her as one of the most important "New Stars of 1953"
	becomes a close friend of actress Mara Corday during rehearsals for the studio play The Big Knife
	suffers the first injury to her right leg during the dance number for East of Sumatra
	while promoting East of Sumatra in the East, she's involved in a car accident in the Berkshire Mountains, which slightly injures her knee
	breaks off her love affair with Anthony Quinn and makes her home at Toluca Lake, with her menagerie of pets
	becomes inseparable from actor Dick Long, whom she met at the Universal-International commissary
	during the filming of War Arrow, she's told by her doctor that she has developed tumors on her leg
	Universal-International's Vice President Matty Fox presents her with a new black Cadillac convertible
	while preparing lunch in her apartment kitchen, she slips on some water that her poodle, Cezanne, spilled on the floor from his drinking dish and breaks her leg
	she's immediately hospitalized and, as a first operation to remove the tumor fails, the amputation of the leg becomes necessary
December 53	becomes engaged to Dick Long. Their December 12th wedding plans in Las Vegas are postponed due to the pending operation
	gallantly fights to overcome the malignant condition of her leg. The doctors who first told her that her leg might have to be amputated are bitterly opposed to the medical treatment she is receiving now. One warns her that she is endangering her life.
12 January 54	her right leg is amputated at Orchard Grove Sanitarium
11 April 54	marries Richard Long on Palm Sunday in Santa Barbara, wearing her new artificial limb. Rock Hudson, Lori Nelson, Jeff Chandler, Barbara Rush, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, David Janssen, Julie Adams, Mary Castle, Hugh O'Brian, Mala Powers, and more than a hundred other guests attend. Long's brother-in-law Marshall Thompson is the usher.
55	director George Sherman refuses to replace her with Susan Cabot for Chief Crazy Horse. She loses fifteen pounds during the production.
May 55	embarks with Long on a nightclub tour, playing Phoenix and Palm Springs
	guest stars on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and The Horace Heidt Show
July 55	Universal-International rents a sumptuous home so that she might spend her last days amid the splendor that her beauty and talent warrant
	while rehearsing a "Climax" television drama, she collapses and is rushed to City of Hope Hospital where the doctors discover that the cancer had spread to her lungs. She will have only a few more weeks to live.
	because of the pressure put upon Long, he slides into an affair with Suzan's nurse, Kay Biddle
	due to the heavy medication, her personality changes into a female Jekyll and Hyde
5 August 55	as Suzan Ball Long, she dies of cancer six months after her 21st birthday. Dick Long suffers a tremendous emotional blow when her last words are a whispered "Tony," in reference to Anthony Quinn.
?	pallbearers and ushers at her funeral ceremony at Forest Lawn Cemetery include John Agar, Hugh O'Brian, and writer Danny Arnold
November 55	the press reminds Hollywood producers to not forget Richard Long, the devoted and loving husband of Suzan Ball, when casting new pictures. Hollywood confirms it will never forget Richard Long's devotion during the 16 months his courageous bride battled cancer.

Sources: Fallen Angels by Kirk Crivello, The Hollywood Reporter, Modern Screen, Movieland, Photoplay, www.Ancestry,com
Recommended Books: Fallen Angels by Kirk Crivello
Links: Filmography