Tom Weaver

I found this comment by Tom Weaver on a related blog. He apparently had met my mother.
I found his words illuminating and to the point and worth posting here. Thanks Tom.

"In the latter-day bio of Susanna Foster, there's not a lot to be happy about but I AM happy to report that the "elder abuse" rumor was wrong wrong wrong -- fuhgeddabout.

All the lurkers come to me at times like this -- again from my e-mailbox:

Susanna did not qualify for the Motion Picture Home -- she didn't have enough "work days" by their definitions. Believe me, it was tried. And every time friends tried to get her SAG work days that would help her qualify (such as a sure-thing guest shot on MURDER SHE WROTE) she deliberately sabotaged them...that was in her quixotic nature.

The NJ Home came about only through the great kindness of Kitty Carlisle Hart, who had appeared with Wilbur Evans (Susanna's ex, the famous baritone) and out of the goodness of her heart bent rules and "made it happen". Mrs. Hart was in charge of the charity in later years... bless her.

Susanna had a tremendous gift. She also had a fiery personality and was her own worst enemy. And especially in later years, a tremendous -- madness took possession of her. It seemed to intensify after her son Philip died in her arms, a sick broken shell of a human at age 33.... but go look at the You Tube videos (www.YouTube.com/MicahVita), and the story they tell, and you will learn that Susanna was a victim -- and then in her own way, victimizer, the keeper of the flame who passed on her family's madness and broken dreams ..... and on, and on.

When I knew her she had been asked to read for a few things and always had a reason for not doing them, so I don't doubt it. I was told they wanted her to come down and read for the Gloria Stuart character in Titanic and she was totally against it. This had gone on as far back as her Universal days, truth be told, from all I was able to gather. She had a lot of fear it seemed. She was an amazing person, well read, eccentric in an artistic (good) way, giving, and all of the other superlatives, but she never scratched the surface of what she could do talent wise, and probably in her personal life as well. Still, she's certainly missed on this part of the orb."