Job Actress
Years active 1929-1960
Top Roles Klara Novak, , Daisy Heath, Judy Linden, Ray Smith
Top GenresDrama, Romance, Comedy, War
Top TopicsRomance (Comic), Mistaken Identity, Based on Play
Top Collaborators (Director), , (Director),
Shares birthday with Henry Fonda, Harry Carey Jr., Julius Tannen  see more..

Fan Favorites:
See Full Filmography

I Loved a Soldier

I Loved a Soldier

Fan rating: 9.00
The Shining Hour

The Shining Hour

Fan rating: 9.00
The Shop Around the Corner

The Shop Around the ...

Fan rating: 7.83

Margaret Sullavan Overview:

Legendary actress, Margaret Sullavan, was born Margaret Brooke Sullavan Hancock on May 16, 1909 in Norfolk, VA. Sullavan appeared in 22 film and tv roles. Her best known films include The Mortal Storm and The Shop Around the Corner, both released in 1940 and both co-starring James Stewart. Sullavan died at the age of 50 on Jan 1, 1960 in New Haven, CT and was laid to rest in Saint Mary's Whitechapel Episcopal Churchyard Cemetery in Lancaster, VA.

MINI BIO:

A petite actress of high stage reputation, Margaret Sullavan became the June Allyson of the thirties in a succession of high-class weepies. Like Alyson, she was touching and beguiling on screen, and hot-tempered off. In later days her stage career was less successful than it had been and, in 1956, she committed herself to a sanatorium. She was married to Henry Fonda for two months (from 1931-1932), William Wyler (from 1934-1936) and Leland Hayward (from 1936-1947) (the first, second and third of four husbands).

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Although Sullavan was nominated for one Oscar, she never won a competitive Academy Award.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1938Best ActressThree Comrades (1938)Pat HollmannNominated
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She was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures.

Margaret Sullavan BlogHub Articles:

Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, and Joan Blondell “Cry ‘Havoc’”

By Stephen Reginald on May 21, 2021 From Classic Movie Man

Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, and Joan Blondell “Cry ‘Havoc’” Cry ‘Havoc’ (1943) is an American World War II drama directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Margaret Sullavan, Ann Sothern, and Joan Blondell. The film features a strong supporting cast that inc... Read full article

The Shopworn Angel (1938): Remembering Margaret Sullavan

By 4 Star Film Fan on Apr 13, 2021 From 4 Star Films

“Dreaming’s alright if it’s all you got but if you find the real thing you’re just not satisfied with it anymore.” – Jimmy Stewart as Bill It’s 1917: the eve of the U.S. entry in WWI. The nation is yet to feel the jadedness of everyone else in mainland Europ... Read full article

Only Yesterday (1933): Margaret Sullavan Shines

By 4 Star Film Fan on Apr 6, 2021 From 4 Star Films

In the opening designs of Only Yesterday, the New York Stock Exchange is encapsulated by its usual hubbub only to hit the skids of pandemonium when the market crashes. We’re talking about the Big Crash of 1929. It plays as the backdrop to our story, very much functioning as current events. The... Read full article

On Blu-ray: Margaret Sullavan and Jimmy Stewart in The Mortal Storm (1940)

By KC on Jan 6, 2021 From Classic Movies

The Mortal Storm (1940) presents a personal view of how the Nazi regime first began to devastate the world. It finds the poison at the root of its rise and demonstrates how quickly it spread. While it is a difficult film to watch, the charm of its stars and director Frank Borzage’s powerful im... Read full article

Margaret Sullavan made sixteen movies during her Hollywood career

By Art on May 19, 2014 From Classic Cinema Gold

Margaret Brooke Sullavan (May 16, 1909 ? January 1, 1960) was an American stage and film actress who preferred working on the stage, making only sixteen movies during her Hollywood career. Margaret Sullavan was born May 16, 1909 in Norfolk, Virginia to Cornelius Sullavan, a wealthy stockbroker, a... Read full article

See all Margaret Sullavan articles

Margaret Sullavan Quotes:

Klara Novak (Miss Novak): [In her letter to Alfred] : Oh, my Dear Friend, my heart was trembling as I walked into the post office, and there you were, lying in Box 237. I took you out of your envelope and read you, read you right there.

[Alfred Kralik has just disclosed to Klara Novak that he is her anonymous pen pal]
Alfred Kralik: Are you disappointed?
Klara Novak (Miss Novak): Psychologically, I'm very confused... But personally, I don't feel bad at all.

Judy Linden: Hannah's quoting the bible again. One of these days we're going to put her in all the hotel rooms.

read more quotes from Margaret Sullavan...



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Best Actress Oscar 1938
WINNER
Bette Davis
(as Julie Morrison)
in Jezebel
Nominee
Fay Bainter
(as Hannah)
in White Banners
Nominee
Wendy Hiller
(as Eliza Doolittle)
in Pygmalion
Nominee
Norma Shearer
(as Marie Antoinette)
in Marie Antoinette
Nominee
Margaret Sullavan
(as Pat Hollmann)
in Three Comrades
See more Best Actress awards>>
Margaret Sullavan on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame

1751 Vine Street


Ceremony Date: Feb 8, 1960
Category: Motion Pictures
See All Walk of Fame Stars >>
Margaret Sullavan Facts
As written in a 1940s [i]Architectural Digest[/i] piece about her Brentwood, California home, Sullavan shared that she chose the Connecticut-style colonial home due to her love of New England. After years of searching for the quintessential property, she and her then-husband Leland Hayward purchased a rambling saltbox house on 100 bucolic acres in Brookfield, Connecticut.
On January 4, 1960, after having received the toxicologist's report on the contents of the vital organs, the coroner ruled Sullavan's death accidental. Her death was caused by barbiturate poisoning, "but not such a massive overdose as one would expect in a suicide attempt".
Margaret Sullavan was married four times. She married Henry Fonda on December 25, 1931 in Baltimore, while both were performing with the University Players in its 18-week winter season there. However, Fonda's lack of experience and confidence did not go well with Sullavan and the marriage lasted only two months. In late 1934, she married William Wyler, the director of her next movie, The Good Fairy (1935). The marriage lasted just over a year and they divorced in March 1936. Sullavan's third husband was agent and producer Leland Hayward. Hayward had been Sullavan's agent since 1931 and their relationship had been deepening all through 1936; they had already become lovers, and Brooke, their "love child", had been conceived that October. They both wanted the baby and married on November 15, 1936. Their marriage lasted about 11 years and ended when Sullavan discovered that Hayward was cheating on her. three years later she married Kenneth Wagg, an English investment banker, to whom she was married at the time of her death.
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