Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur on March 23, 1904 in San Antonio, Texas. She was the product of a broken home before she was born in that her parents already separated before she was born. Her Mother had a hard time keeping husbands having been married three times. This effected her throughout her life. Joan was fond of dance and had entered several dance contests. She wanted a career in show business because it was much more glamorous than the odd jobs she was working. One dance contest led her to be in a Chorus Line. Before long, she was dancing in big cities of the Mid West and along the Atlantic Coast. After almost two years of dancing, Joan decided to take and chance and packed her bags and moved to Los Angeles. She felt that movies might offer her a chance of fame and glory and she was determined to succeed. Not long after moving to California, Joan got her first bit role as a show girl in "Pretty Ladies" in 1925.
Joan with Rosalind Russell, Norma Shearer, Joan Fontaine and Paulette Goddard in "The Women".
Three other movies quickly followed. Throughout 1927 and the first part of 1928 she was given menial roles. That ended with the role of Diana Medford in "Our Dancing Daughters". Even though her success in "Our Dancing Daughters" launched her career, she was worried about how she would do in the transition from silent films to "talkies". Many stars of that era suddenly worried about their future in Hollywood. With silent pictures, it didn't matter what kind of voice you had, but with sound pictures it made a tremendous difference. While some stars saw their career fading, Joan's strong voice enabled her to make the transition. Her first "talkie" was "Untamed". As she entered into the 1930's, Joan became one of the top stars at MGM. Films such as "Grand Hotel", "Sadie McKee", "No More Ladies", and "Love on the Run" kept movie patrons and film executives happy. By the time the 1940's came around, Joan was begining to notice that she was no longer getting the winning roles that she used to get. There were new stars and the public wanted to see them. She left MGM and went to rival Warner Brother Studios where ahe landed the role of a lifetime. In 1945, Joan landed the lead role in "Mildred Pierce", a movie about a housewife who becomes a successful business woman to try and raise her daughters after her husband leaves her.
Joan with Bette Davis in "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?".
The movie landed Joan her first and only Best Actress Oscar. The following year she appeared in "Humoresque" with John Garfield. In 1947, Joan landed the role of Louise Graham in Possessed. Again she was nominated for an Oscar, but lost it to Loretta Young for "The Farmer's Daughter." In 1952 she was nominated again for her role as Myra Hudson in "Sudden Fear". She lost again, this time to Shirley Booth for "Come Back, Little Sheba". Her career became less successful as the years went by and she wasn't getting the kinds of roles that she had come to depend on. Besides for her role in "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?" she did not get roles that were helpful to her career. In 1974, she saw a picture of herself and was horrified so she decided to retire. She devoted the rest of her life to Christian Science. She died May 10, 1977 in New York City. Her adopted children inherited little from her two million dollar estate. Cindy and Cathy each inherited $77,500. Christina and Christopher did not inherit anything for "reasons best known to them".
Biography courtesy: Classic Movie Stars.
Joan with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
Crystal's Favorite Joan Crawford Films:
The Women (1939) - Crystal Allen
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) - Blanche Hudson
Click on Joan to go back.
