Susan Shaw

Petite and blonde, Susan Shaw was groomed by the Rank Organisation in England for a film career in the 1940s and 1950s. Born on August 29, 1929, in West Norwood, England, she was at her best when cast as a pretty young slip of a girl with her nose in the air. Her British nationality was central to her early screen persona, and she became a familiar face in British cinema of that era.

Shaw married actor Albert Lieven in 1949; they had a daughter and divorced in 1953. She then married American actor Bonar Colleano, known for his roles as the wisecracking Yank in British films. The two made a handsome couple, Susan with her petite blondeness and Bonar with his loud mouth and dark good looks. Their son, actor Mark Colleano, was born in 1955. Bonar died suddenly in a tragic road accident in 1958. After that, Shaw was never the same and spent most of her life battling a drinking problem until her death in 1978. She died on November 27, 1978, at age 49.

Her husband's mother became the legal guardian of little Mark and groomed him for an acting career. As a child star, Mark went on to star opposite Rock Hudson in "Hornets' Nest", playing a 14-year-old Italian youth. After Bonar's death, Shaw married Ronald Rowson in 1959, but they divorced the following year. She passed away in 1978, leaving behind a legacy of 1940s and 1950s British film roles.