Susanna "Susan" Kohner (born November 11, 1936) is an American actress who worked in film and television. She played Sarah Jane, a young African-American woman attempting to "pass" as white, in '' Imitation of Life'' (1959), for which she was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. She won two

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

awards for her performance. Kohner married menswear designer and writer John Weitz in 1964. Their two sons, Paul Weitz and

Chris Weitz Christopher John Weitz (; born November 30, 1969) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, and actor. He is best known for his work with his brother Paul on the comedy films '' American Pie'' and '' About a Boy''; the latter earned ...

, both became film directors and producers, screenwriters, and occasional actors.

Early life

Kohner was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, daughter of Lupita Tovar, a Mexican-born actress who had a career in Hollywood, and

Paul Kohner Paul Kohner (May 29, 1902 – March 16, 1988) was an Austrian-American talent agent and producer who managed the careers of Ingrid Bergman, Maurice Chevalier, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, John Huston, Liv Ullmann and Billy Wilder, as well as act ...

, a film producer who was born in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

, Austria-Hungary. Her mother was Roman Catholic, and of Irish and Mexican descent; her father was Bohemian Jewish.

Career

Most of Kohner's film roles came during the late 1950s and early 1960s, including co-starring with Sal Mineo in both '' Dino'' (1957) and '' The Gene Krupa Story'' (1959). In her best-known role, Kohner played Sarah Jane in '' Imitation of Life'', portraying a light-skinned black woman who " passes" as white. The 1959 film was the second film adaptation of the 1933 book of the same name. The plot had major changes to better reflect its own time. The first

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

was released in 1934. The expensive, glossy Ross Hunter production, directed by

Douglas Sirk Douglas Sirk (born Hans Detlef Sierck; 26 April 1897 – 14 January 1987) was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. However, he also directed comedies, westerns, and war f ...

and starring

Lana Turner Julia Jean "Lana" Turner ( ; February 8, 1921June 29, 1995) was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. ...

, was a box-office hit. In addition, Kohner was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for her role in the film. She won a Golden Globe as Best Supporting Actress and another as Best New Actress. Following her role in ''Imitation of Life'', Kohner appeared in '' All the Fine Young Cannibals'' opposite

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood (née Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress. She began acting at age four and co-starred at age eight in ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947). As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy Award f ...

and

Robert Wagner Robert John Wagner Jr. (born February 10, 1930) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the television shows ''It Takes a Thief (1968 TV series), It Takes a Thief'' (1968–1970), ''Switch (American TV series), Switch'' (1975–1978), ...

. Kohner's TV debut was on February 4, 1956, in the "Long After Summer" episode of ''

The Alcoa Hour ''The Alcoa Hour'' is an American anthology television series sponsored by the Alcoa Corporation that aired live on NBC from October 16, 1955, to September 22, 1957. Overview ''The Alcoa Hour'' is a one-hour live anthology series that primar ...

''. A review in the trade publication ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' said that she "failed to impress." She later had guest roles on various television series, including ''

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

'', ''

Going My Way ''Going My Way'' is a 1944 American musical comedy drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Written by Frank Butler and Frank Cavett, based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a new young priest ...

'', and '' Temple Houston''. She made her last film appearance in 1962, costarring with

Montgomery Clift Edward Montgomery Clift (October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) was an American actor. A four-time Academy Award nominee, he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men", according to ''The New York Times''. He is best remembered f ...

in '' Freud: The Secret Passion''. She retired from acting in 1964.

Personal life

In 1964, Kohner married John Weitz, a German-born novelist and fashion designer. She retired from acting to devote time to her family. The couple had two sons together,

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

and Paul Weitz, who both became film directors and producers in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. Together they produced films such as '' American Pie'' (1999) and '' About a Boy'' (2002). Chris Weitz is also known for directing ''

New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

'' (2009), part of '' The Twilight Saga''. On April 23, 2010, a new print of ''Imitation of Life'' (1959) was screened at the TCM Film Festival in Los Angeles, California, to which Kohner and co-star

Juanita Moore Juanita Moore (October 19, 1914 – January 1, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actress. She was the fifth black actor to be nominated for an Academy Awards, Academy Award in any category, and the third in the Academy Award for ...

were invited. After the screening, the two women appeared on stage for a question-and-answer session hosted by TCM's

Robert Osborne Robert Jolin Osborne (; May 3, 1932 – March 6, 2017) was an American film historian, author, actor and the primary television host for the premium cable channel Turner Classic Movies (TCM) for over twenty years. Prior to hosting at TCM, Os ...

. Kohner and Moore received standing ovations.

Theater

* 1958: ''Love Me Little'' by John G. Fuller at Helen Hayes Theatre. Role: Emily Whittaker. Broadway debut. * 1962: ''Pullman Car Hiawatha'' by

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', and a U. ...

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, within the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The current Broadway theater, completed in 1972, i ...

. Role: Harriet Milbury. * 1963: '' Saint Joan'' by

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

at Vancouver Theater Festival. With

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Igor Mikhail Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theatre director and comedian. He worked across a range of genres and had an aptitude for getting the best out of actors regardless of ...

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kohner, Susan Living people 1936 births 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American actresses of Mexican descent American film actresses American people of Czech-Jewish descent American people of Irish descent American television actresses Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Jewish American actresses Kohner family New Star of the Year (Actress) Golden Globe winners 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women