Susan Hufford

Susan Hufford was born on December 15, 1938, in Lebanon, Ohio, and built a career that spanned acting, writing, and psychotherapy before her death on November 28, 2006. She is noted for her Broadway appearance in Fiddler on the Roof, her authorship of more than 20 books, and her advocacy work on behalf of ALS research.

Hufford's performing career included regional theater work as well as her Broadway credit in Fiddler on the Roof, which opened in 1964. It was during that production that she met actor Michael Zaslow. The two married on June 7, 1975, and remained married for 23 years. Together they had two daughters, Marika and Helena. Zaslow died on December 6, 1998, after a battle with ALS. Their daughter Helena Hufford-Zaslow died on December 28, 2004, in Connecticut at the age of 19, shortly after completing her first semester at Wellesley College.

Following her acting career, Hufford transitioned into psychotherapy, maintaining a private clinical practice in Manhattan. She also became a prolific author, producing more than 20 books across several decades. Her titles include Midnight Sailing (1975), The Devil's Sonata (1976), A Delicate Deceit (1976), Satan's Sunset (1977), Trail of Innocence (1978), Skin Deep (1978), Melody of Malice (1979), Going All the Way (1980), Reflections (1981), Miracles (1989), How to Create Your Own Luck (2004), and Not That Man Anymore: A Message From Michael (2005). The last of these drew on a manuscript Zaslow had begun before his death and recounted his experience with ALS.

Hufford served on the national board of trustees of the ALS Association and on the board of directors of its Greater New York Chapter. Through her advocacy and fundraising efforts, she helped raise more than one million dollars toward ALS research. She died of cancer on November 28, 2006.