Veteran Actress Stays Busy Bringing Positive Attitude to Others

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Henning, who immigrated to America from Sweden at age 4 in 1924, got her start in acting late, when she was in her 40s. Her road to the silver screen was born out of personal tragedy — in 1937, her father was murdered while looking over a property in Texas, and in 1947, she lost her 2-year-old son to a rare heart ailment.

“I was holding him in my arms. That just about killed me,” Henning said. “We didn’t know it, but he had only a half a heart. The state coroner said they wanted his heart because they’d never seen a child live that long.”

Her first acting gig was portraying a mother in an advertisement. “They sent a Limousine for me. When we got to the studio, they put me in a satin and lace negligee. They bring me tea and I think, ‘Wow, this is work?’ I got something like $80 or $100 an hour. I said, this is the job for me.”

Ads for clients such as United Airlines, Chevrolet, Quaker Oaks soon followed, both in print and television. “You name it, I’ve done it.”

Henning said her book took “27 years to write.” The process began when her first husband, a photographer, died in 1977. And for 10 years, she took up writing “on and off.” When her second husband passed away unexpectedly in 1988, and her mother died soon afterwards, her daughters urged her to continue writing “and finish the book!”

The result was “Song of Promise,” the story of an orphan in the post-Civil War era seeking personal love and a family to love, something Henning says echoes her own childhood.

“It was something I felt when I was young, that wanting to be a part of a large family,” Henning told the audience.

“I was so absolutely gone, there was nothing left of me and my first husband and I were so close. We’d been married for 40 years,” Henning said of her return to writing. “My family told me, ‘instead of walking the floor all night, do something.’ That’s when I started writing.

“People look at me and think I’ve had it so easy, and I really haven’t. When my mother came to America, she worked for 50 cents a day cleaning houses,” she continued. “Now, I find out that both the president and vice president have my book, and Dr. Wayne Dyer told me, ‘You are my inspiration!’ Isn’t that something?”

As proud as she is of her own accomplishments, Henning is equally proud of her daughters Susan and Bonita. After working at a Los Angeles department store, Henning opened her own fashion shop. One day, Lucille Ball’s agent saw Susan and Bonita and arranged to have them appear in print advertising and, later, more ads and acting roles.

“After my son died, my mother and her friends said, ‘Get her out of the house,’” Henning recalled. “My cousin worked at Robinson’s in Los Angeles and got me a job as a stocker, and ended up as a buyer. One day, the agent came in, saw my little girls, and said she was looking for a pig-tailed blonde girl for a Bette Davis movie. Susan got the part.”

Bonita Brening, who appeared in “The Gnomemobile” along with Susan, is married to entrepreneur Richard Brening (Brening Enterprises). “She did a lot of series guest work,” Henning noted. “In fact, they wrote a script for her – ‘Super Girl.’”

Susan Schutte – as Susan Henning – was Hayley Mills’ body double in “The Parent Trap,” won a Miss Teen USA title, and had a successful modeling career, appearing in national commercials for Sea & Ski and Pepsi and the Elvis Presley movie “Live a Little, Love a Little.”

Schutte left modeling to pursue her passion of raising and breeding horses.

“Susan is not at all interested in show business. She was the top choice for a while and was so busy, there were times she couldn’t do it,” Henning said. Now, it’s all about horses. They have a wonderful business.”

While being in show business has had its rewards, Henning points out that, in the end, what matters the most is family.

“They’re always number one,” she said. “With them, it’s all about love. When you have love and real sincerity … well, that’s what the book is all about, what it is and what it means. All this other stuff is incidental in life. What really counts is what’s in your heart.”

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