Margaret Sullavan

Born

1909

Died

1960

From

Norfolk, Virginia, USA·New Haven, Connecticut, USA

Height

1.57 m (5'2")

Also:
Actress

Credits on file

Decades active

Awards

In short · Acted for nine decades — 28 credits.

Remembered for

Ranked by community engagement + sustained interest across this person's credits in our database.

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Biography

Margaret Brooke was born in Norfolk, Virginia, to Cornelius Hancock Sullavan, a wealthy stockbroker, and Garland Council Sullavan, an heiress. Despite a childhood muscle weakness, she became a rebellious teenager at elite private schools. She performed with the University Players at Harvard and made her Broadway debut in *Hello, Lola* in 1926. She married Henry Fonda on Christmas Day in 1931, but the marriage lasted only 15 months. Her later marriages to director William Wyler and agent Leland Hayward were also marked by turmoil. Two of her three children, Bridget and Bill, spent time in mental institutions and later committed suicide. Friends observed that the breakdown of her family life contributed to her own mental collapse. Her condition deteriorated over time, and she was found unconscious from barbiturate poisoning in a hotel room. The county coroner ruled her death accidental.