Roger
Corman star Susan Cabots
life was every bit as tragic and
sensational as her films. She was
born Harriet Shapiro on July 9th 1927 in Boston. She grew up
shuffled between 8 foster homes.
After attending school in
Manhattan, Cabot married at 17
perhaps to escape her transient
state. She soon developed an
interest in acting and singing
performing evenings at
Manhattans Village Barn. A
film career seemed destined when
quite by chance the lovely
nightclub singer appeared in the
1947 20th Century Fox
film Kiss of Death
with Colleen Gray and Victor
Mature. After the film she
remained in New York for a bit
and did some television work.
Soon the
gorgeous stardom-seeking brunette
moved to Hollywood. She was cast
in Columbias On
The Isle of Samoa
before coming under exclusive
contract with Universal Pictures.
At the studio she was cast
primarily in westerns along with
periodic harem
adventures some of
her titles from this period
include The Duel at
Silver Creek (with
Audie Murphy and Faith Domergue),
Gunsmoke,
Son of Ali Baba,
Flame of Araby,
Tomahawk,
and Ride Clear of
Diablo.
Dissatisfied with the direction
her career was going (or rather
not going) she headed back to New
York for theater work. Her stage
career proved less than
illustrious and in 1957 she made
a decision that would insure her
screen immortality
she
signed an exclusive contract with
producer Roger Corman (whom she
briefly dated as well). First up
she was the villainous Enger in
The Viking Women
and The Sea Serpent
with Abby Dalton and Gary Conway.
She filmed beautifully. In that
1957 feature she is mauled to
death by dogs. The same year she
played Natalie Cook in Carnival
Rock and also
starred in one of her most
deliciously twisted roles
Sorority Girl
both costarred Dick
Miller. In the latter Cabot
played a rejected sorority pledge
that seeks revenge on her
sisters. As the
lovely psychotic she was
determined to ruin their
reputations and lives! The film
costarred June Kenny, Barbara
Crane, Barboura Morris and Fay
Baker. It was a deliciously
wicked showcase for her talents.
Another notable film from this
period in her career is Machine
Gun Kelly (1958)
with a young Charles Bronson.
However,
Susan Cabots most famous
role was also her final film. In
1960 she played cosmetics company
president Janice Starlin in
The Wasp Woman.
The $50,000 film has since become
a cult classic. In order to save
her company and reverse the aging
process and 40-year-old Starlin
injects an experimental drug made
of wasp enzymes to turn her into
a 22 year old
but this
experimental drug has some wicked
side effects. Eventually the vain
and powerful businesswoman
becomes a ruthless buzzness-woman
--- periodically taking the form
of a giant wasp and attacking,
stinging, and
devouring her enemies with
aplomb. In the end, the giant
insect/woman gets hers and is
doused in carbolic acid and falls
out a window to her death. The
film costarred Barboura Morris,
Anthony Eisley, and Bruno VeSota.
(The film was popular enough to
be remade in 1995 with Jennifer
Rubin in the title role.)
After the
film Cabot decided to return to
her singing and stage career,
which proved rather
lackadaisical. She was twice
married and twice divorced and
even had a well publicized
relationship with King Hussein of
Jordan. In 1964 the 5
2 Cabot gave birth to a son
Timothy who suffered from
dwarfism.
On December
10th 1986 at the age
of 59 Susan Cabot was murdered,
bashed to death while she slept
with a dumbbell weight bar. When
police entered the residence they
found the home in a state of
absolute squalor and disarray.
Ms. Cabot was found in the
bedroom, lying on her stomach in
bed and wearing a purple v-neck
nightgown. Her skull had been
completely crushed. Police noted
blood splattered on the mirrored
walls and (ahem!) ceiling of the
bedroom. Initially son Timothy
contested that a Latino
intruder dressed as a Ninja
warrior had broken into
their Encino home and attacked
his mother. Police were somewhat
skeptical about the intruder tale
for several reasons Latino
ninja aside, there were FOUR
attack Akitas in the house as
well a very good deterrent
against most intruders, even
ninjas.
A short
time later Timothy confessed to
police the he had in fact
committed the murder, citing
years of mental and physical
abuse. He revealed the weight bar
as the murder weapon. Hed
hidden it in a box of laundry
detergent. According to neighbors
the mother and son were
inseparable, though Timothy
resented his overprotective
mother for several reasons; not
the least of which was she
supposedly had been taking the
experimental growth hormone
prescribed for him due to his
dwarfism. The drug had greatly
affected her mental
state
and the son had been
taking it for 15 years! Following
a very messy trial, Timothy
received a three year suspended
sentence and was placed on
probation.
Susan
Cabot was interred at Hillside
Memorial Park in Culver City. She
is in the Sunland Gardens
section, Wall Crypt C, space
#242. |