Susan Peters, born Suzanne Carnahan on July 3, 1921, in Spokane, Washington, was an American actress who appeared in more than twenty films over the course of her decade-long career. Raised by her widowed mother after her father's death in a car accident when she was seven, she moved with her family to Los Angeles to live with her grandmother.

She attended Hollywood High School, where she studied drama and was spotted by a talent scout. She signed a contract with Warner Bros. Pictures in 1940 and began her career with uncredited and ingénue roles.

Her breakthrough came with the film "Random Harvest" (1942), where she played a supporting role that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

She continued to work with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), starring in films such as "Assignment in Brittany" (1943), "Song of Russia" (1944), and "Keep Your Powder Dry" (1945). On New Year's Day 1945, she suffered a spinal cord injury from an accidental gunshot wound, which left her permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

Despite her injury, Susan Peters returned to acting, portraying a villainess who used a wheelchair in "The Sign of the Ram" (1948). She also transitioned to theater, appearing in a critically acclaimed production of Tennessee Williams's "The Glass Menagerie" in 1949, which was slightly altered to accommodate her wheelchair.

Her personal life included a marriage to actor Richard Quine from 1943 to 1948. She struggled with clinical depression and limited career options in her later years, leading to her tragic death on October 23, 1952, at the age of 31 from pneumonia and chronic kidney problems.