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Joan Crawford (March 23, 1904 in film|1904 –
May 10, 1977 in film|1977) was an Academy Award
winning United States|American Actor|actress.

==Early life==
She was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio,
Texas|San Antonio, Texas, the third child of
Thomas E. LeSueur (1868-1938, of French-Canadian
extraction, who abandoned the family) and Anna
Bell Johnson (1884-1958). Her older sister and
brother were Daisy LeSueur, who died as a very
young child, and Hal LeSueur.

Her mother later married Henry J. Cassin (born
1867). The family lived in Lawton, Oklahoma, where
Cassin ran a movie theater. The 1910 Comanche
County, Oklahoma, Federal Census, enumerated on
April 20, shows Henry and Anna Cassin living at
910 "D" Street in Lawton. Lucille was then six
years of age, so she was not born in 1908 as she
later claimed.

Lucille preferred the nickname Billie, and she
loved watching live acts of vaudeville perform on
the stage of her stepfather's theater. Her
ambition was to be a dancer. Unfortunately, she
cut her foot deeply on a broken milk bottle when
she leapt from the front porch of her home in an
effort to escape piano lessons to run and play
with friends. A neighbor, Don Blanding, who became
a poet, carried her into the house and phoned the
doctor. She was unable to attend elementary school
for a year and a half and eventually had three
operations on her foot. Demonstrating
determination, she overcame the injury.

In about 1916, the family moved to Kansas City,
Missouri. Henry Cassin was first listed in the
City Directory in 1917, dwelling at 403 East Ninth
Street.

While still in elementary school, she was placed
in St. Agnes Academy, a Catholic school in Kansas
City. Later, after her mother and stepfather broke
up, she stayed on at St. Agnes as a work student.
She then went to Rockingham Academy as a work
student. And in 1922 she registered at Stephens
College in Columbia, Missouri, where she attended
for less than a year as she recognized that she
was not academically prepared for college at that
time.

==Career==
===Dancing===
She began her career as a chorus line dance|dancer
under the name Lucille LeSueur, eventually making
her way to New York City|New York. In 1925, she
signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as
Lucille LeSueur and arrived in Culver City,
California, in January of that year.

===Motion pictures===
Starting out in Silent film|silent film|movies,
she worked hard to ensure that her contract with
the movie studio|studio would be renewed. Studio
chief Louis B. Mayer was unhappy with her name,
reportedly saying that "LeSueur" sounded too close
to "sewer." A contest in the fan (aficionado)|fan
magazine Movie Weekly was the source of her
well-known stage name. The female contestant who
entered the name "Joan Crawford" was awarded $500.

Though she at first hated the name, saying it
sounded like "crawfish," and called herself JoAnne
for some time, she finally became used to it. She
was named one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1926 in
film|1926, along with Mary Astor, Mary Brian,
Dolores Costello, Dolores Del Rio, Janet Gaynor,
and Fay Wray.

Joan tirelessly studied diction and elocution to
rid herself of her Southwestern United
States|Southwestern accent (linguistics)|accent.
Her first sound film|talkie was Untamed (1929 in
film|1929). During the 1930s, she was "Queen of
the MGM Lot", and was best-known for her steamy
pairings opposite Clark Gable in eight movies.


Eventually, her movies began to lose money and she
was one of the unfortunate movie stars to be
labeled "box-office poison." After appearing in
numerous productions at MGM, Joan's contract was
terminated by mutual consent on June 29, 1943. In
lieu of one more movie owed under her contract,
she paid the studio $100,000. That same day, she
drove herself to the studio and personally cleaned
out her dressing room. With a lot to prove, she
signed with Warner Bros. for $500,000 for three
movies and was placed on the payroll July 1.

She received the Academy Award for Academy Award
for Best Actress|Best Actress in a Leading Role
for her performance in Mildred Pierce (1945 in
film|1945).

Mildred Pierce was a huge hit for Warners and
greatly expanded her status as a star. In the
movie, Joan played opposite a stellar cast,
including Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden,
Ann Blyth, and Butterfly McQueen. film
director|Director Michael Curtiz and film
producer|producer Jerry Wald developed the
property specifically for Joan from the popular
James M. Cain novel, which was adapted for the
screen by Ranald MacDougall. In what may have been
a publicity stunt, Joan was "ill" the night of the
Oscar ceremony and the award was delivered to her
home, where she rallied for the cameras. The
now-iconic photograph of Joan holding her award
from her boudoir in a negligee made the front
pages of every newspaper in the U.S.  

She was later nominated for Oscars for Possessed
(movie)|Possessed (1947 in film|1947), opposite
Van Heflin and Raymond Massey; and for Sudden Fear
(1952 in film|1952), the movie that introduced
co-star Jack Palance.

Joan Crawford acted in 81 motion pictures over the
course of her career. She also worked in radio
programming|radio and television
program|television.

==Marriages==

In 1929, at the time she wed her first husband,
Joan bought a mansion at 426 North Bristol Avenue
in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California|Brentwood,
midway between Beverly Hills, California|Beverly
Hills and the Pacific Ocean, which was her primary
dwelling for the next 26 years. Over the years,
Joan had her home on Bristol decorated and
re-decorated by William Haines, her former silent
movie co-star and lifelong friend, who was much in
demand as an interior designer after receiving
Joan's blessing. 

She had four husbands: actors Douglas Fairbanks,
Jr. (married June 3, 1929 in New York, divorced
1933), Franchot Tone (married October 11, 1935 in
New Jersey, divorced 1939), and Phillip Terry
(married July 21, 1942 at Hidden Valley Ranch in
Ventura County, California, divorced 1946); and
Pepsi-Cola president Alfred N. Steele (married May
10, 1955 in Las Vegas, Nevada).

Joan moved to a lavish apartment, number 22-G in
the Imperial House, in New York with her last
husband, Al Steele. He died there on April 19,
1959. She then sold her Brentwood mansion and
stayed on in New York, although she kept a small
apartment in Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles
for her frequent trips there.

Allegedly in 2005, transcripts from Marilyn
Monroe's sessions with her psychologist revealed
that she had had a one-night stand with Crawford.
According to Monroe Crawford enjoyed the encounter
intensely and wished to participate in further
sexual sessions with Monroe. Monroe claims to have
declined Crawford's offer. 



==Adopted children==
She adoption|adopted six children, according to
Los Angeles Times|L.A. Times articles from the
time, though she kept only four.

The first was Christina (born June 11, 1939). Joan
was a single, divorced woman when she adopted her
in 1940. The second was a boy she named
Christopher Crawford (born April 1941). She
adopted him in June of that year. In 1942, his
biological mother found out where he was and
managed to get him back. The third was an eight
year old boy she named Phillip Terry, Jr. (born
1935). She and Terry adopted him in April 1943,
but did not keep him either. The fourth was
Christopher (born October 15, 1943). She and Terry
adopted him that same year, and he remained her
son after she and Terry divorced. (According to
Christina, Joan changed this second Christopher's
birth date to October 15 because she was afraid he
would also be taken away.) The fifth and sixth
were twin girls Cynthia "Cindy" Crawford (born
January 13, 1947) and Cathy Crawford (born January
13, 1947). Joan adopted them in June of that year,
while she was a single woman. (According to
Christina, Joan called them twins but they were
not. Cindy and Cathy both dispute that claim.
According to them, they are twins born in
Dyersburg, Tennessee, to an unwed mother who died
seven days after their birth. They said that Joan
was afraid their biological parents might try and
get them back and would therefore say they were
not twins. And that is actually the way the story
was reported in newspaper articles at the time she
adopted them.)

==Work at Pepsi==
Besides her work as an actress, from 1955 to 1973,
Joan Crawford traveled extensively on behalf of
husband Al Steele's company, PepsiCo. Two days
after Steele's death in 1959, she was elected to
fill his vacancy on the board of directors. She
was forcibly retired from the company in 1973 at
the behest of company executive Don Kendall, whom
Joan had referred to for years as "Fang."

She was the recipient of the Sixth Annual Pally
Award, which was awarded to the employee making
the most significant contribution to company
sales. It was in the shape of a bronze Pepsi
bottle.

==Final Years==
In 1970, Joan was presented with the Golden Globe
Cecil B. DeMille Award|Cecil B. DeMille Award on
the Golden Globe Award|Golden Globes at the
Coconut Grove in the Ambassador Hotel in Los
Angeles by John Wayne. She also spoke at her alma
mater, Stephens College.

Her book, My Way of Life, was published in 1971 in
literature|1971 by Simon and Schuster.

In September 1973, she moved from apartment 22-G
to the smaller apartment 22-H in the Imperial
House. Her last public appearance was September
23, 1974, at a party honoring Rosalind Russell at
New York's Rainbow Room.

On May 8, 1977, she gave away her Shih Tzu named
Princess Lotus Blossom.

Joan Crawford died two days later at her apartment
in New York of a myocardial infarction|heart
attack while ill with pancreatic cancer at the age
of 73. A funeral was held at Campbell Funeral
Home, New York, on May 13, 1977, at 10 a.m. All
four of her adopted children attended, as did her
niece, daughter of Hal LeSueur. Joan's will
(law)|last will and testament was read to the
family that evening.

In the will, which was signed February 28, 1976,
she bequeathed to the two youngest of her
children, Cindy and Cathy, $77,500 each from her
$2,000,000 estate. But she explicitly disinherited
the eldest two, Christina and Christopher, with
the phrase "...for reasons which should be well
known to them."

A memorial service was held for Joan at All Souls'
Unitarian Church on Lexington Avenue in New York
May 16, attended by, among other, her old
Hollywood friend Myrna Loy. Another memorial
service, organized by George Cukor, was held June
24 in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater at the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills.

She was cremated and her ashes placed in a crypt
with her last husband, Al Steele, in Ferncliff
Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York.

==Legacy==
After her death, the eldest of her children,
Christina Crawford, published an exposé
containing allegations that Joan was emotionally
and physically abusive. The book was later made
into a movie of the same title starring Faye
Dunaway. For further detail and comment, see:
Mommie Dearest.

Joan Crawford's hand and foot prints are
immortalized in the forecourt of Grauman's Chinese
Theater on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood,
California|Hollywood, and she has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1750 Vine Street.

==Filmography==
*Lady of the Night (1925 in film|1925) (MGM)
(uncredited) ... double for Norma Shearer
*Proud Flesh (1925 in film|1925) (MGM)
(uncredited) ... bit part
*A Slave of Fashion (1925 in film|1925) (MGM)
(uncredited) ... mannequin
*The Merry Widow (1925 in film|1925) (MGM)
(uncredited) ... extra
*Pretty Ladies (1925 in film|1925) (MGM) (credited
as Lucille LeSueur) ... Bobby, a showgirl
*The Circle (1925 movie)|The Circle (1925 in
film|1925) (MGM) (uncredited) ... Young Lady
Catherine
*The Midshipman (1925 in film|1925) (MGM)
(uncredited) ... extra
*Old Clothes (1925 in film|1925) (MGM) (credited
as Lucille LeSueur) ... Mary Riley
*The Only Thing (1925 in film|1925) (MGM)
(uncredited) ... party guest
*Sally, Irene and Mary (1925 in film|1925) (MGM)
(credited as Joan Crawford) ... Irene
*Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926 in film|1926) (First
National) ... Betty Burton
*Paris (1926 movie)|Paris (1926 in film|1926)
(MGM) ... the girl
*The Boob (1926 in film|1926) (MGM) ... Jane
*Winners of the Wilderness (1927 in film|1927)
(MGM) ... Renée Contrecoeur
*The Taxi Dancer (1927 in film|1927) (MGM) ...
Joslyn Poe
*The Understanding Heart (1927 in film|1927) (MGM)
... Monica Dale
*The Unknown (1927 in film|1927) (MGM) ...
Estellita or Nanon, Zanzi's Daughter
*Twelve Miles Out (1927 in film|1927) (MGM) ...
Jane
*Spring Fever (1927 in film|1927) (MGM) ... Allie
Monte
*Dream of Love (1928 in film|1928) (MGM) ...
Adrienne Lecouvreur
*Our Dancing Daughters (1928 in film|1928)
(Cosmopolitan Production/MGM) ... Diana Medford
*Four Walls (1928 in film|1928) (MGM) ... Frieda
*Across to Singapore (1928 in film|1928) (MGM) ...
Priscilla Crowninshield
*Rose-Marie (1928 in film|1928) (MGM) ...
Rose-Marie
*The Law of the Range (1928 in film|1928) (MGM)
... Betty Dallas
*West Point (1928 movie)|West Point (1928 in
film|1928) (MGM) ... Betty Channing
*Hollywood Snapshots #11 (1929 in film|1929) (MGM)
... Herself
*The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929 in film|1929)
(MGM) ... Specialty (With sound. In color.
Singing, dancing, and part of an all-star cast
performing the song "Singin' In The Rain.")
*Untamed (1929 in film|1929) (MGM) ... Alice
"Bingo" Dowling
*Our Modern Maidens (1929 in film|1929) (MGM) ...
Billie Brown
*The Duke Steps Out (1929 in film|1929) (MGM) ...
Susie
*Paid (1930 movie)|Paid (1930 in film|1930) (MGM)
... Mary Turner
*Our Blushing Brides (1930 in film|1930) (MGM) ...
Gerry Marsh
*Montana Moon (1930 in film|1930) (MGM) ... Joan
"Montana" Prescott
*Possessed (1931 movie)|Possessed (1931 in
film|1931) (MGM) ... Marian Martin
*This Modern Age (1931 in film|1931) (MGM) ...
Valentine "Val" Winters
*Laughing Sinners (1931 in film|1931) (MGM) ...
Ivy "Bunny" Stevens
*The Slippery Pearls (1931 in film|1931) ...
Herself
*Dance, Fools, Dance (1931 in film|1931) (MGM) ...
Bonnie "Bon" Jordan
*Letty Lynton (1932 in film|1932) (MGM) ... Letty
Lynton
*Grand Hotel (film)|Grand Hotel (1932 in
film|1932) (MGM) ... Flaemmchen
*Rain (1932 movie)|Rain (1932 in film|1932)
(United Artists) ... Sadie Thompson
*Screen Snapshots (1932 in film|1932) ... Herself
*Today We Live (1933 in film|1933) (MGM) ... Diana
"Ann" Boyce-Smith
*Dancing Lady (1933 in film|1933) (MGM)  ... Janie
"Duchess" Barlow
*Sadie McKee (1934 in film|1934) (MGM) ... Sadie
McKee Brennan
*Chained (1934 movie)|Chained (1934 in film|1934)
(MGM) ... Diane Lovering, also called "Dinah"
*Forsaking All Others (1934 in film|1934) (MGM)
... Mary Clay
*No More Ladies (1935 in film|1935) (MGM) ...
Marcia Townsend
*I Live My Life (1935 in film|1935) (MGM) ... Kay
Bentley
*The Gorgeous Hussy (1936 in film|1936) (MGM) ...
Margaret O'Neal "Peggy" Eaton
*Love on the Run (1936 in film|1936) (MGM) ...
Sally Parker
*The Bride Wore Red (1937 in film|1937) (MGM) ...
Anni Pavlovitch
*The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937 in film|1937)
(MGM) ... Fay Cheyney
*Mannequin (1937 movie)|Mannequin (1937 in
film|1937) (MGM) ... Jessica Cassidy
*The Shining Hour (1938 in film|1938) (MGM) ...
Olivia Riley
*Ice Follies of 1939 (1939 in film|1939) (MGM) ...
Mary McKay
*The Women (1939 in film|1939) (MGM) ... Crystal
Allen
*Strange Cargo (1940 in film|1940) (MGM) ... Julie
*Susan and God (1940 in film|1940) (MGM) ... Susan
Trexel
*A Woman's Face (1941 in film|1941) (MGM) ... Anna
Holm
*When Ladies Meet (1941 in film|1941) (MGM) ...
Mary Howard
*They All Kissed the Bride (1942 in film|1942)
(Columbia) ... Margaret Drew
*Reunion in France (1942 in film|1942) (MGM) ...
Michelle de la Becque
*Above Suspicion (1943 in film|1943) (MGM) ...
Frances Myles
*Hollywood Canteen (1944 in film|1944) (Warmer
Bros.) ... Herself
*Mildred Pierce (1945 in film|1945) (Warner Bros.)
... Mildred Pierce
*Humoresque (1946 in film|1946) (Warner Bros.) ...
Helen Wright
*Possessed (movie)|Possessed (1947 in film|1947)
(Warner Bros.) ... Louise Howell Graham
*Daisy Kenyon (1947 in film|1947) (20th Century
Fox) ... Daisy Kenyon
*Flamingo Road (1949 in film|1949) (Warner Bros.)
... Lane Bellamy
*It's a Great Feeling (1949 in film|1949) (Warner
Bros.) (uncredited) ... Herself
*The Damned Don't Cry! (1950 in film|1950) (Warner
Bros.) ... Ethel Whitehead / Lorna Hansen Forbes
*Harriet Craig (1950 in film|1950) (Columbia) ...
Harriet Craig
*Goodbye, My Fancy (1951 in film|1951) (Warner
Bros.) ... Agatha Reed
*This Woman Is Dangerous (1952 in film|1952)
(Warner Bros.) ... Beth Austin
*Sudden Fear (1952 in film|1952) (RKO) ... Myra
Hudson
*Torch Song (1953 movie)|Torch Song (1953 in
film|1953) (MGM) ... Jenny Stewart
*Johnny Guitar (1954 in film|1954) (Republic) ...
Vienna
*Female on the Beach (1955 in film|1955)
(Universal) ... Lynn Markham
*Queen Bee (1955 in film|1955) (Columbia) ... Eva
Phillips
*Autumn Leaves (movie)|Autumn Leaves (1956 in
film|1956) (William Goetz/Columbia) ... Millicent
Wetherby
*The Story of Esther Costello (1957 in film|1957)
(Valiant Films/Columbia) ... Margaret Landi
*The Best of Everything (1959 in film|1959) (20th
Century Fox) ... Amanda Farrow
*What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962
movie)|What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962 in
film|1962) (Seven Arts/Warner Bros.) ... Blanche
Hudson
*The Caretakers (1963 in film|1963) (United
Artists) ... Lucretia Terry
*Strait-Jacket (1964 in film|1964) (Columbia) ...
Lucy Harbin
*I Saw What You Did (1965 in film|1965)
(Universal) ... Amy Nelson
*Berserk! (1968 in film|1968) (Columbia) ...
Monica Rivers
*Trog (1970 movie)|Trog (1970 in film|1970)
(Warner Bros.) ... Dr. Brockton

==Television performances==
*Revlon's Mirror Theater (1953 in television|1953)
(CBS) Because I Love Him ... Margaret Hughes 
*General Electric Theater (1954 in
television|1954) (CBS) The Road to Edinburgh ...
Mary Andrews
*General Electric Theater (1958 in
television|1958) (CBS) Strange Witness ... Ruth
*General Electric Theater (1959 in
television|1959) (CBS) And One Was Loyal ... Ann
Howard
*The Joan Crawford Show (1959 in television|1959)
(Pilot) Woman On The Run ... Susan Conrad
*Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater (1959 in
television|1959) (CBS) Rebel Range ... Stella
Faring
*Zane Grey Theater|Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater
(1961 in television|1961) (CBS) One Must Die ...
Sarah/Melanie Davidson
*The Foxes (1961 in television|1961) ... Millicent
Fox
*Route 66 (1963 in television|1963) (CBS) Same
Picture, Different Frame ... Morgan Harper
*Della (1966 in television|1966) (TV Movie) AKA
Fatal Confinement ... Della Chappell
*The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (1967 in television|1967)
(NBC) The Karate Killers or The Five Daughters
Affair ... Amanda True
*The Lucy Show (1968 in television|1968) (CBS)
Lucy and Joan Crawford or The Lost Star ...
Herself
*The Secret Storm (1968 in television|1968) (CBS)
(daytime soap opera) ... Joan Boreman Kane #2
(temporary replacement for Christina Crawford)
*Night Gallery (1969 in television|1969) (NBC)
Eyes ... Claudia Menlo
*The Virginian (1970 in television|1970) (NBC) The
Nightmare ... Stephanie White
*The Name of the Game (1971 in television|1971)
(NBC) Los Angeles ... Board Member
*Beyond the Water's Edge (1972 in television|1972)
(TV Movie) ... Allison Hayes
*The Sixth Sense (TV series)|The Sixth Sense (1972
in television|1972) (ABC) Dear Joan: We're Going
To Scare You To Death! ... Joan Fairchild (Later
re-edited into the syndication package of Night
Gallery.)

==Archive footage==
*Four Days in November (1964 in film|1964) ...
Herself (signs autographs)
*MGM's Big Parade of Comedy (1964 in film|1964)
... AKA The Big Parade of Comedy
*That's Entertainment! (1974 in film|1974)
*That's Dancing! (1985 in television|1985)

==External links==
* http://www.classicactresses.com/joanc.html Joan
Crawford at Classic Actresses
*http://www.joancrawfordbest.com/  The Best of
Everything: A Joan Crawford Encyclopedia
*http://members.tripod.com/thenightporter/joan/jog
al1.htm Joan Crawford Photo Gallery
*http://community-2.webtv.net/winslet2000/JOANCRAW
FORD/ Joan Crawford Boulevard - Photo Gallery
*imdb name | id=0001076 | name=Joan Crawford
*http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050806/en_nm/people_
monroe_dc Tapes said to reveal Marilyn Monroe's
secrets-Reuters