Evelyn Louise Keyes (November 20, 1916 – July 4, 2008) was an American film actress. She is best known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in the 1939 film ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

''.

Early life

Evelyn Keyes was born in

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in the state of Texas, United States of America, located east of metro Houston. Part of the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area, the city lies primarily in Jefferson County, with a small extension in Orange County. ...

, to Omar Dow Keyes and Maude Ollive Keyes, the daughter of a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister. After Omar Keyes died when she was three years old, Keyes moved with her mother to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, where they lived with her grandparents. According to her memoir, Keyes was sexually molested by one of her brother's friends when she was five years old. As a teenager, Keyes took dancing lessons and performed for local clubs such as the Daughters of the Confederacy.

Film career

A chorus girl by age 18, Keyes came out to Hollywood and was introduced to

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

who in her own words "signed me to a personal contract without even making a test". After a handful of

B movie A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second ...

s at

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

, she was cast in '' Say It in French'' (1938). However, Keyes had to drop out to have an abortion and was replaced by Olympe Bradna. Later, she auditioned for the role of

Scarlett O'Hara Katie Scarlett O'Hara is the protagonist of Margaret Mitchell's 1936 in literature, 1936 novel ''Gone with the Wind (novel), Gone with the Wind'' and the 1939 Gone with the Wind (film), film of the same name, where she is portrayed by Vivien Le ...

in ''

'' (1939). Though she failed to get the part, Selznick was impressed by her Southern accent and cast her as

's sister Suellen in January 1939.

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

signed her to a contract. In 1941, she played an ingenue in '' Here Comes Mr. Jordan''. She spent most of the early 1940s playing leads in many of Columbia's B dramas and mysteries. She appeared as the female lead opposite Larry Parks in Columbia's blockbuster hit '' The Jolson Story'' (1946). She followed this up with an enjoyable minor screwball comedy, '' The Mating of Millie'', with

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006), known as Glenn Ford, was a Canadian-born American actor. He was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the biggest box-office draws of th ...

. She was then in a 1949 role as Kathy Flannigan in '' Mrs. Mike''. Keyes' last role in a major film was a small part as Tom Ewell's vacationing wife in ''

The Seven Year Itch ''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, who co-wrote the screenplay with George Axelrod. Based on Axelrod's 1952 The Seven Year Itch (play), play of the same name, the film stars Marilyn Monroe ...

'' (1955). Keyes officially retired in 1956, but continued to act.

Personal life

In her autobiography ''Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister: My Lively Life In and Out of Hollywood,'' Keyes described being raped by her director Andrew Stone while working on ''Say It in French.'' Keyes became pregnant and got an abortion in late 1938, which got her fired from the picture, and replaced with Olympe Branda. Only weeks later, she was cast in ''Gone With the Wind''. She married Barton Bainbridge shortly after. Bainbridge was an alcoholic, and threatened Keyes with a gun on at least one occasion. They separated and in 1940, he committed suicide with a shotgun in her car, leaving a note. Keyes wrote: "The note said it was because I had left him. I never left a man again. I made them leave me." Later, she married and divorced director Charles Vidor (1943–1945), actor/director

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

(23 July 1946 – February 1950), and

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

Artie Shaw Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky; May 23, 1910 – December 30, 2004) was an American clarinetist, composer, bandleader, actor and author of both fiction and non-fiction. Widely regarded as "one of jazz's finest clarinetists", Shaw led ...

(1957–1985). Keyes said of her many love affairs: "I always took up with the man of the moment and there were many such moments." While married to Huston, the couple adopted a twelve-year-old Mexican child, Pablo, whom Huston had discovered while filming on location in Mexico for '' The Treasure of the Sierra Madre''. In her memoir, Keyes claimed that her adoptive son sexually molested her and that they lost contact after only a few years. Keyes expressed her opinion that '' Mrs. Mike'' was her best film. Among her many love affairs in Hollywood she recounted in ''Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister'', were those with film producer Michael Todd (who left Evelyn for

Elizabeth Taylor Dame Elizabeth Rosemond Taylor (February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011) was an English and American actress. She began her career as a child actress in the early 1940s and was one of the most popular stars of classical Hollywood cinema in the 19 ...

), actors

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor, and Marine. A leading man for most of his career, he specialized in Westerns and film noir throughout the 1950s, in film ...

, Dick Powell,

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known as Anthony Quinn, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in over 100 ...

, David Niven and

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in '' The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. ...

. She had to regularly fend off

studio head

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...

's advances during her career at the studio. Keyes died of uterine cancer on July 4, 2008 at the Pepper Estates in

Montecito, California Montecito (archaic use of Spanish for woodland or countryside) is an unincorporated town in Santa Barbara County, California, United States.McCormack, Don (1999). ''McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000''. Mccormacks Guides. p. 58. ...

, and was cremated. Half her ashes were sent to Lamar University in Port Arthur, Texas and the rest were divided among relatives and buried in a family plot at Waco Baptist Church Cemetery, Waco, Georgia, with a small tombstone bearing the epitaph ''Gone with the Wind''.

Filmography

:''Excluding appearances as herself.''

Film

Television

Bibliography

* * *

References

External links

Evelyn Keyes, Actress in 'Gone with the Wind' dies at 91

* *

by Ned Scott {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyes, Evelyn 1916 births 2008 deaths Methodists from Georgia (U.S. state) American film actresses Deaths from cancer in California People with Alzheimer's disease Deaths from uterine cancer in the United States People from Port Arthur, Texas Actresses from Greater Los Angeles Actresses from Texas Actresses from Georgia (U.S. state) Actresses from Atlanta 20th-century American actresses Columbia Pictures contract players Huston family California Democrats Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats Texas Democrats People from Montecito, California