On January 1, 1945, Susan Peters and Richard Quine went duck hunting. Carla Valderrama, who wrote the book “This Was Hollywood” about stars who faded into obscurity, told Fox News that the hunt resulted in an accident that puzzles her: “No one knows what really happened except for Susan and Richard It wasn’t impossible, but it certainly leaves you wondering how something like this could possibly happen.” Per reports, a rifle accidentally discharged and a bullet lodged in Peters’ spine, paralyzing her from the waist down. According to Valderrama, “Susan was an avid hunter and was familiar with guns. Her version of the event was that they left the gun under a bush. She went under the bush to get it…Bullet fragments entered her spine. It all seems so strange. But Susan had always said she alone was to blame for it,” (per Fox News)

When it became clear that Peters wouldn’t walk again, MGM started sending her scripts that incorporated her disability. Per Valderrama, “She was the one who kept turning the scripts down because she was looking for something that wouldn’t just capitalize on her injury.” Peters got a specially made car, continued hunting, and even started flying lessons. She and Quine adopted a son, Timothy, in 1946. Two years later, she starred in the movie “Sign of the Ram” as a woman who uses her paralysis to manipulate and control her family members. Per Turner Classic Movies, she and Quine divorced at Peters’ insistence to release Quine from having to care for her.