Actress. She is best remembered for her portrayal of the strong-willed Angie Kinyon in the motion picture "Utah Blaine" (1957). Born Gerda Susanne Tafel, she relocated with her parents from Germany to the United States in the spring of 1938 shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Raised initially in Newark, New Jersey, she began her career as a model for the prestigious John Powers Agency in New York City, New York, where she was discovered by the acclaimed lyricist Richard Rodgers during a War Bond Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Impressed by her blonde good looks, charm, poise, and maturity, he personally arranged for her to begin a newfound career in theatrics beginning with her having a recurring part on the variety series "At Home" starting in 1944. One year later, after being christened as Susan Cummings per Rodgers, she appeared as the lead in the original Broadway production of "Carousel". In 1946, she relocated to Los Angeles, California, and began her career in the film industry beginning with her appearing in "Merrily We Sing". For the next 30 years, she went on to flourish as reputable character actress; often portraying wives, mothers, bombshells, exotics, femme fatales, love interests, best friends, neighbors, secretaries, educators, nurses, businesswomen, retail clerks, chorines, playgirls, debutantes, reporters, and, in her later years, matriarchs. She appeared in such feature films as "An American in Paris" (1951), "Security Risk" (1954), "Headline Hunters" (1955), "Swamp Women" (1955), "Secret of Treasure Mountain" (1956), "Tomahawk Trail" (1957), "Man from God's Country" (1958), "Verboten!" (1959), "The Street is My Beat" (1966), and "A Time for Love" (1974). With the advent of television, she became a household name appearing in various guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "Soldiers of Fortune," "The Millionaire," "Science Fiction Theatre," "The Frank Sinatra Show," "Union Pacific," "Bat Masterson," "Perry Mason," "Man With a Camera," "The Dennis O'Keefe Show," "Gunsmoke," "Peter Gunn," "The Untouchables," "Laramie," "Cheyenne," "Riverboat," "The Twilight Zone," and "McHale's Navy." During her career, she was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, and she was married to fellow actors Wayne Dunafon, Keith Larsen, and Charles Pawney (her first 2 unions ended in divorce, she had one child with Larsen, actor Keith Larsen, Jr., and her marriage to Pawney ended upon his death in 1975). In addition, she was a naturalized United States citizen, was supportive of the Republican party, was a chairwoman for Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, and The March of Dimes, and she was a regular parishioner of the LDS church (she converted from Lutheranism to Mormonism following her second marriage). In 1974, she officially retired from acting and spent the remainder of her life spending time with her family, focused on her final marriage to accountant Robert Strasser until his death in 2012, and dividing time between her homes in Laguna Niguel, California, and Chandler, Arizona.