[Deathwatch] Evelyn Keyes, actress, 91

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Actress Evelyn Keyes dies at 91 in California

By BOB THOMAS, Sat Jul 12

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Evelyn Keyes, who played Scarlett O'Hara's younger
sister Suellen in "Gone With the Wind" and counted director John Huston
and bandleader Artie Shaw among her famous husbands, has died. She was
91.

The actress died July 4 of uterine cancer at her home in Montecito,
near Santa Barbara, producer and close friend Allan Glaser said Friday.


Glaser said the news was withheld because lawyers wanted to wait until
the death certificate was filed.

Keyes' personal life often overshadowed her acting career. Besides her
often turbulent marriages to Shaw and directors Huston and Charles
Vidor, she lived with the flamboyant producer Mike Todd for three years
during his preparation and filming of "Around the World in 80 Days."
She played a cameo role in the movie and helped on publicity.

Todd sent her to the premiere in Caracas, then called her abruptly from
Paris with this message: "Listen, I have to tell you. I've fallen in
love with Elizabeth (Taylor)."

"Oh well, nothing lasts forever," she philosophized in 1977. "The good
part was that I invested all my money in `Around the World in 80 Days,'
and that set me up for life."

Keyes gave a frank account of her romances and marriages in her 1977
autobiography, "Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister." Her role in the 1939
classic led to a contract at Columbia Pictures and stardom.

Among her notable roles: as Robert Montgomery's lover in "Here Comes
Mr. Jordan" (1941), the Ruby Keeler role as Al Jolson's wife in "The
Jolson Story" (1946), and as Dick Powell's wife in "Mrs. Mike" (1949).

She also starred in B pictures that were later praised by movie critics
as prime examples of film noir: "Johnny O'Clock" (1947), "The Killer
That Stalked New York" (1950), "The Prowler" (1951), "99 River Street"
(1953) and "The Big Combo" (1955).

Keyes' marriages and divorces made her the darling of gossip columns
and fan magazines. Her first marriage, to a handsome Englishman and
heavy drinker named Barton Bainbridge, ended in headlines when he
fatally shot himself during a separation.

Vidor, a handsome Hungarian who directed her first Columbia film, "The
Lady in Question," became romantically involved with Keyes, though both
were married at the time. When her husband committed suicide and
Vidor's wife, actress Karen Morley, divorced him, Vidor and Keyes
married. The marriage ended two years later when she discovered he was
unfaithful to her as well.

Husband No. 3 was Huston. She was impressed when they met at a
Hollywood dinner party, and more impressed when he took her afterward
to his Tarzana horse ranch and made no effort to seduce her.

Their marriage in 1946 led to an adventurous life. Just one of the
examples she recalled in 1971 involved Huston returning home from the
1949 film "We Were Strangers," with a gift from actress Jennifer Jones,
a pet chimpanzee.

"The chimp fell in love with John, and he brought it home to live with
us in our all-white apartment."

David Niven wrote in his memoir "Bring on the Empty Horses" that Keyes
became exasperated at the non-housebroken animal and issued an
ultimatum: "One of us has to go. It's the monkey or me."

According to Niven, Huston replied, "Honey, it's you." Keyes reported
in her own memoir that it was the chimp that got the boot.

The Huston marriage did end in 1950, however, and Keyes sought analysis
to recover from the failure. Her conclusion: "I was always looking for
the same man ? a strong father figure."

Keyes' marriage to Shaw in 1957 seemed to follow the same pattern. He
had given up his brilliant career as a clarinetist and bandleader and
had been seeking intellectual challenges.

Shaw played Henry Higgins to her Eliza Doolittle, giving her a new
name, Keri, introducing her to literature and leading her on his world
travels. For a time they lived in Spain. After several years she tired
of his dominance and they separated. They divorced in 1985.

After Shaw died in 2004 at age 94, she battled in court for a share of
his estate, saying he had promised it to her. A jury backed her in
2006, but the executor of the estate vowed to appeal.

Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1916, according to state birth
records; some references give a later year. She grew up fatherless and
poor in Atlanta. A glowing blond beauty with an alluring figure, she
danced in nightclubs and at 17 set out for Hollywood. Cecil B. DeMille
signed her to a seven-year contract and cast her in "The Buccaneer."

After a few minor roles at Paramount, she appeared in "Gone With the
Wind" and then moved to Columbia, where her career blossomed.

After her film career and marriages ended, she turned author, producing
an autobiographical novel, "I Am a Billboard," two memoirs, "Scarlett
O'Hara's Younger Sister" and "I'll Think About It Tomorrow," film
scripts and articles.

Keyes took a frank view of her life and career in a 1999 interview:

"To become a big movie star like Joan Crawford you need to wear
blinders and pay single-minded attention to your career. Nobody paid
attention to me, including me. I was the original Cinderella girl,
looking for the happy ending in the fairy story. But my fantasy prince
never came."

Many thanks to Deathwatch Central for posting this obituary