One would have thought that the daughter of the famous acting teacher, Lee Strasberg, would have gone on to major stardom either on the stage or in movies, but instead, Susan Strasberg ended up featured in this blog.
She certainly had a promising start, playing the title role of Anne Frank in the Broadway production of The Diary of Anne Frank, as well as having a supporting role opposite William Holden in the movie Picnic, but mainstream fame never followed.
Her most interesting work and probably her most famous was in the Roger Corman low budget classics, The Trip and Psych-Out. And even though those films helped launch the careers of Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern, they only seemed to get Susan Strasberg guest starring roles in many forgettable television shows like Lancer and Marcus Welby, M.D.
She was a talented actress, though, that certainly had the connections to be a part of bigger and better projects, but like so many other gifted performers, it just wasn't in the cards. Susan Strasberg lost her battle with cancer in 1999, closing the book on a promising career that never really took off.
She certainly had a promising start, playing the title role of Anne Frank in the Broadway production of The Diary of Anne Frank, as well as having a supporting role opposite William Holden in the movie Picnic, but mainstream fame never followed.
Her most interesting work and probably her most famous was in the Roger Corman low budget classics, The Trip and Psych-Out. And even though those films helped launch the careers of Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Bruce Dern, they only seemed to get Susan Strasberg guest starring roles in many forgettable television shows like Lancer and Marcus Welby, M.D.
She was a talented actress, though, that certainly had the connections to be a part of bigger and better projects, but like so many other gifted performers, it just wasn't in the cards. Susan Strasberg lost her battle with cancer in 1999, closing the book on a promising career that never really took off.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteSusan wrote about her life in her memoirs...she put her career aside as she felt it was threatening to her love affair with Christopher Jones who was quite abusive to her. Then, she devoted her life to being a mom.
There are all sorts of reasons why a person doesn't emerge as a big star but in Susan's case, she ultimately pursued a path of self exploration in order to grow as a human being -- I think that's more important than how big a star you are. :)
I agree one hundred percent. This blog is not about fame. It's about actors that the mainstream public may never have heard of. My only hope with this blog is that people may not only discover the work of these wonderful artists, but their talents as well. And also to prove that one doesn't have to be famous to be the best.
DeleteShe was so sweet-looking--a beautiful actress.
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