SUSAN HANNAFORD 'SURGERY,THE SULLIVANS & MY SECRET CHILDREN!'

The billionaire child star tells all about her crazy life in LA and why she went into hiding all those years ago

- Phillip Koch

Australia was shocked when the star of The Sullivans was found living the high life in Los Angeles five years ago, having reinvented herself as a billionaire real estate mogul, 25 years after she turned her back on fame.

With striking long blonde hair and a killer body draped in designer clothes, she was barely recognisable. The woman who became known as Australia's sweetheart playing naive schoolgirl Kitty in The Sullivans was no more.

There's no mistaking her famously girlish voice, however, as Susan opens up to Woman's Day about her life, loves, adopted children, plastic surgery, billion-dollar fortune, a new career as a fashion designer - and her comeback to the small screen.

And she blames Kitty Sullivan for the air of mystery that evolved around her family, fortune and love affairs, even though the last episode of the much-loved drama series aired on television 40 years ago.

"I guess I got into the habit of being mysterious because Crawford Productions were very strict about my press and my publicity and they didn't particularly want to reveal any details. They taught me to be mysterious," she says.

FAMILY SECRETS

Susan, who now prefers to go by Suzie, maintained the mystery when she had daughter Marquessa, refusing to let fans know her father and only revealing years later that it was controversial real estate tycoon Emmanuel Margolin.

Now for the first time ever, she's decided to reveal details about their relationship and other family secrets, including how she became infatuated with superstar Mel Gibson, and why she adopted Marquessa's two children shortly after they were born.