Eveleyn Keyes, who has died of cancer aged 91, was the actress 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.
Keyes's 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 said philosophically 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 had led to a contract at Columbia Pictures and stardom.
Among her notable parts were 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-movies that were later praised by movie critics as prime examples of film noir: Johnny O'Clock (1947) and The Big Combo (1955).
Keyes's weddings (and divorces) made her the darling of gossip columns and fan magazines. Her first, to a handsome Englishman and heavy drinker called Barton Bainbridge, ended in headlines when he fatally shot himself.
John Huston was her third husband, after Vidor. She was impressed when they met at a Hollywood dinner party, and more impressed when he took her afterwards to his Tarzana horse ranch and made no effort to seduce her. When the marriage ended after four years, Keyes sought analysis to recover from the failure. Her conclusion: "I was always looking for the same man - a strong father figure." But her marriage to Shaw in 1957 seemed to follow the same pattern. He had given up his brilliant career as a clarinettist and bandleader to seek intellectual challenges, giving her a new name, Keri, introducing her to literature and leading her on his world travels. They divorced in 1985.
Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1916, although some references give a later year. She grew up fatherless and poor in Atlanta. A glowing blonde 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. When her film career ended, she turned author, producing an autobiographical novel, I Am a Billboard, and two memoirs, as well as film scripts and articles.
Keyes took a frank view of her life in a 1999 interview: "To become a big movie star you need to 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."
BOB THOMAS
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