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Susan Peters Collection

After an hunting accident that left her wheelchair bound, Susan Peters found more work on radio than in film.

Susan Peters

10 old time radio show recordings
(total playtime 6 hours, 13 min)
available in the following formats:

1 MP3 CD
or
7 Audio CDs


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Play a sample episode from January 21, 1946:

"Lux Radio: Johnny Eager"



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Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

Susan Peters
(1921 – 1952)

Susan PetersTragedy comes into everyone's life sooner or later. How we deal with these unhappy events helps to define us to an even greater extent than our triumphs, but it is also true that some setbacks are simply too horrific to deal with in any ennobling fashion. The notion of simply giving up is not one that we want to celebrate, but it is one that we can sympathize with in certain cases.

Actress Susan Peters may not have been at the pinnacle of success when she was struck down, but she as an MGM A-lister, she was certainly on that path. Born Suzanne Carnahan in Spokane, Washington, 1921, the family moved to Portland, Oregon, when she was very young. The first major catastrophe in Susan's life occurred as she lost her civil engineer father in a traffic accident in 1933. She moved with her mother to Los Angeles afterwards to be with her grandmother.

During high school, she worked in a department store to help the family make ends meet, and began to take an interest in acting during her senior year at Hollywood High School. She engaged an agent and won a scholarship to the Max Reinhardt School of Dramatic Arts in 1939. It seems inevitable that she would be spotted by a Warner Bros scout and signed to a contract, but she maintained a "zesty independent streak" and refused to accept the stage-name that the studio chose for her, Sharon O'Keefe. She received a break when she was given fourth billing in the Humphrey Bogart thriller The Big Shot (1942).

Warner's dropped her soon enough, but MGM quickly found a spot for her and gave her a new stage name, the more acceptable Susan Peters. Louis Mayer saw more potential in her than anyone at Warner Bros, and gave her a supporting role in Tish (1942) and began grooming her as a leading lady. While on the set of Tish, Susan met actor and budding director Richard Quine who would become her husband in November 1943.

Susan PetersThe studio elevated Susan from "featured player" to their official "star" category in 1944 along with Esther Williams, Laraine Day, Kathryn Grayson, Van Johnson, Margaret O'Brien, Ginny Simms, Robert Walker, Gene Kelly, and George Murphy. In an official studio photo of MGM's contract players including James Stewart, Mickey Rooney, Margaret Sullivan, Katherine Hepburn, Hedy Lamarr, and Greer Garson, Susan is featured in the front row standing next to studio chief Louis B. Mayer.

In 1945, Peters and her husband, Richard Quine, joined friends for a New Year's Day duck hunting trip near San Diego.  One of the firearms accidentally discharged, and a projectile was lodged in Susan's spinal cord, paralyzing her from the waist down. The studio covered her medical expenses and actually tried to find appropriate projects for her, but eventually dismissed her. She began appearing more frequently on radio and was given the lead in Columbia's The Sign of the Ram (1948) but the picture failed at the box office.

Playwright Tennessee Williams gave his blessing for her to play a crippled Laura from her wheelchair in a touring production of The Glass Menagerie, and she was given a couple of TV roles as a paraplegic, but she was unable to work beginning in 1951 as the pain became unbearable. Susan Peters passed away at a hospital in Visalia, California, from a kidney infection and pneumonia which were complicated by malnutrition and dehydration. Hospital staff reported that she had lost the will to live and refused sustenance during the last week of her life. She was 31.

A Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1601 Vine St honors Susan Peters' contributions to Motion Pictures.

Text on OTRCAT.com ©2001-2024 OTRCAT INC All Rights Reserved. Reproduction is prohibited.

These classic recordings are available in the following formats:

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    COMMENTS

    So lovely. Such a shame about the accident.

    Dan

    Such a beauty.

    Dan Verified Purchase

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  • MP3 CDs are delivered by mail. These archival quality MP3 CDs are playable in your computer and many MP3 player devices.



    10 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00. Total playtime 6 hours, 13 min
    10 recordings on 1 MP3 CD for just $5.00
    total playtime 6 hours, 13 min
    Add MP3 CD Collection to Cart

    1. 10 shows - total playtime 6 hours 13 minutes
    2. Encore Theater 460730 09 Dark Victory.mp3
    3. Ft 470508 013 Awakening.mp3
    4. Ft 480205 052 God And Red Scooter.mp3
    5. Lux Radio Theater 431206 417 Mrs Miniver.mp3
    6. Lux Radio Theater 460121 511 Johnny Eager.mp3
    7. Radio Readers Digest 480311 105 Eavesdroppers Eden.mp3
    8. Studio One 480316 One More Spring.mp3
    9. Suspense 461212 They Call Me Patrice.mp3
    10. Theater Of Romance 450904 Seventh Heaven.mp3
    11. Theater Of Romance 451211 076 Love Affair.mp3
  • MP3 downloads are available instantly after purchase!



    10 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00. Total playtime 6 hours, 13 min
    10 recordings on 1 MP3 Collection Download for just $5.00
    total playtime 6 hours, 13 min
    Add Instant Download Collection to Cart

    1. 10 shows - total playtime 6 hours 13 minutes
    2. Encore Theater 460730 09 Dark Victory.mp3
    3. Ft 470508 013 Awakening.mp3
    4. Ft 480205 052 God And Red Scooter.mp3
    5. Lux Radio Theater 431206 417 Mrs Miniver.mp3
    6. Lux Radio Theater 460121 511 Johnny Eager.mp3
    7. Radio Readers Digest 480311 105 Eavesdroppers Eden.mp3
    8. Studio One 480316 One More Spring.mp3
    9. Suspense 461212 They Call Me Patrice.mp3
    10. Theater Of Romance 450904 Seventh Heaven.mp3
    11. Theater Of Romance 451211 076 Love Affair.mp3
  • Standard Audio CDs are delivered by mail on archival quality media with up to 60 minutes on each CD and play in all CD players



    10 recordings on 7 Audio CDs. Total playtime 6 hours, 13 min
    10 recordings on 7 Audio CDs
    total playtime 6 hours, 13 min

    Susan Peters Disc A001

    1. Lux Radio Theater 431206 417 Mrs Miniver

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Susan Peters Disc A002

    1. Theater Of Romance 450904 Seventh Heaven
    2. Theater Of Romance 451211 076 Love Affair

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Susan Peters Disc A003

    1. Lux Radio Theater 460121 511 Johnny Eager

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Susan Peters Disc A004

    1. Encore Theater 460730 09 Dark Victory
    2. Suspense 461212 They Call Me Patrice

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Susan Peters Disc A005

    1. Ft 470508 013 Awakening
    2. Ft 480205 052 God And Red Scooter

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Susan Peters Disc A006

    1. Radio Readers Digest 480311 105 Eavesdroppers Eden

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00
    Susan Peters Disc A007

    1. Studio One 480316 One More Spring

    Add Audio CD to Cart - $5.00

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