Susan Shaw
Susan Shaw (29 August 1929 – 27 November 1978) was an English actress.[1]
Susan Shaw | |
---|---|
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Born | Patsy Sloots 29 August 1929 |
Died | 27 November 1978 49) | (aged
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1946 - 1963 |
Spouse(s) | |
Children | 2 |
Life and career
Shaw began her film career in 1946 when she was signed to a contract by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation and trained at its "charm school".[2] She debuted on film in Walking on Air.[3][4] Her early career showed promise, and Shaw's popularity was established in such films as the Huggetts Trilogy with Jack Warner.[5] Shaw went on to have prominent female lead roles in films such as Pool of London (1951), There is Another Sun (1951) and The Large Rope (1953).
Her marriage to Albert Lieven, with whom she had a daughter, ended in divorce in 1953, and in 1954, she married the actor Bonar Colleano, with whom she had featured in the film Pool of London (1951).[5] In 1955, their son Mark was born, and in 1958, Colleano was killed in a traffic collision.[6] Badly affected by Colleano's death, Shaw began to drink heavily, and unable to care for her son because of her emerging alcoholism, she gave him to his paternal grandmother to raise.[7]
She resumed her career, but was unable to sustain it and made her final acting appearance in 1963. She died of cirrhosis of the liver and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, North London. The Rank Organisation paid for her funeral.[8]
Critical assessment
The film historians Steve Chibnall and Brian McFarlane praise the "sulky, spiky tenacity that differentiated her from many of her contemporaries".[9]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1946 | London Town | Extra | Uncredited |
Walking on Air | |||
1947 | The Upturned Glass | 2nd Girl Student | |
Holiday Camp | Patsy Crawford | ||
Jassy | Cecily | Uncredited | |
It Always Rains on Sunday | Vi Sandigate | ||
1948 | My Brother's Keeper | Beryl | |
London Belongs to Me | Doris Josser | ||
To the Public Danger | Nancy Bedford | Short | |
Quartet | Betty Baker | (segment "The Kite") | |
Here Come the Huggetts | Susan Huggett | ||
1949 | Vote for Huggett | ||
It's Not Cricket | Primrose Brown | ||
The Huggetts Abroad | Susan Huggett | ||
Marry Me! | Pat Cooper | ||
Train of Events | Doris Hardcastle | (segment "The Engine Driver") | |
1950 | Waterfront | Connie McCabe | |
The Woman in Question | Catherine Taylor | ||
1951 | Pool of London | Pat | |
There Is Another Sun | Lillian | ||
1952 | Wide Boy | Molly | |
1953 | The Intruder | Tina | |
The Large Rope | Susan Hamble | ||
Small Town Story | Patricia Lane | ||
1954 | The Good Die Young | Doris | |
Time Is My Enemy | Evelyn Gower | ||
1955 | Stolen Time | Carole Carlton | |
Stock Car | Gina | ||
1956 | Fire Maidens from Outer Space | Hestia | |
1958 | Davy | Gwen | |
The Diplomatic Corpse | Jenny Drew | ||
Chain of Events | Jill Mason | ||
1959 | Carry On Nurse | Mrs Jane Bishop | |
1960 | The Big Day | Phyllis Selkirk | |
1963 | Stranglehold | Actress | |
The Switch | Search officer | (final film role) |
References
- "Susan Shaw". BFI. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012.
- "Susan Shaw - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie". AllMovie.
- "Susan Shaw | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
- "Obituary: Peter Noble". The Independent. 29 August 1997.
- Ross, Andrew (19 October 2011). Carry-On Actors. ISBN 9781908382085.
- "Susan Shaw - The Private Life and Times of Susan Shaw. Susan Shaw Pictures". glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com.
- "BBC ON THIS DAY - 15 - 1958: Film stars raise cash for Colleano". bbc.co.uk.
- "184: The Sad Story of Susan Shaw". norwoodsociety.co.uk.
- Steve Chibnall & Brian McFarlane, The British 'B' Film, Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2009, p. 184.
- Leslie Halliwell, Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies, 14th edition, 2001, edited by John Walker, published by HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-093507-3