Joan Crawford

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March 23, 1905

May 10, 1977 (age 72) in New York City, New York, USA (pancreatic cancer)
Interred at Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York, USA.

Lucille Fay LeSueur

Alfred Steele (14 January 1956 - 6 April 1959) (his death)

Phillip Terry (21 July 1942 - 25 April 1946) (divorced) 1 child

Franchot Tone (11 October 1935 - 11 April 1939) (divorced)

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (3 June 1929 - 12 May 1933) (divorced)

James Welton (1923 - 1924) (divorced)

Actress:

"The Sixth Sense" (1 episode, 1972)

Beyond the Water's Edge (1972) (TV)

"The Name of the Game" (1 episode, 1971)

Trog (1970)

"The Virginian" (1 episode, 1970)

"Night Gallery" (1 episode, 1969)

Journey to the Unknown (1969) (TV)

"The Secret Storm" (5 episodes, 1968)

Journey to Midnight (1968) (scenes deleted)

Berserk (1967)

"The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1 episode, 1967)

I Saw What You Did (1965)

Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) (uncredited)

Strait-Jacket (1964)

Della (1964)

"Route 66" (1 episode, 1963)

The Caretakers (1963)

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)

"Your First Impression" (1 episode, 1962)

The Foxes (1961) (TV)

"Zane Grey Theater" (2 episodes, 1959-1961)

The Best of Everything (1959)

"On Trial" (1 episode, 1959)

Woman on the Run (1959) (TV)

"General Electric Theater" (3 episodes, 1954-1959)

The Story of Esther Costello (1957)

Autumn Leaves (1956)

Queen Bee (1955)

Female on the Beach (1955)

Johnny Guitar (1954)

Torch Song (1953)

"The Revlon Mirror Theater" (1 episode, 1953)

Sudden Fear (1952)

This Woman Is Dangerous (1952)

Goodbye, My Fancy (1951)

Harriet Craig (1950)

The Damned Don't Cry (1950)

Flamingo Road (1949)

Daisy Kenyon (1947)

Possessed (1947)

Humoresque (1946)

Mildred Pierce (1945)

Above Suspicion (1943)

Reunion in France (1942)

They All Kissed the Bride (1942)

When Ladies Meet (1941)

A Woman's Face (1941)

Susan and God (1940)

Strange Cargo (1940)

The Women (1939)

The Ice Follies of 1939 (1939)

The Shining Hour (1938)

Mannequin (1937)

The Bride Wore Red (1937)

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937)

Love on the Run (1936)

The Gorgeous Hussy (1936)

I Live My Life (1935)

No More Ladies (1935)

Forsaking All Others (1934)

Chained (1934)

Sadie McKee (1934)

Dancing Lady (1933)

Today We Live (1933)

Rain (1932)

Letty Lynton (1932)

Grand Hotel (1932)

Possessed (1931)

This Modern Age (1931)

Laughing Sinners (1931)

Dance, Fools, Dance (1931)

Paid (1930)

Our Blushing Brides (1930)

Montana Moon (1930)

Great Day (1930)

Untamed (1929)

Our Modern Maidens (1929)

Tide of Empire (1929)

The Duke Steps Out (1929)

Dream of Love (1928)

Our Dancing Daughters (1928)

Four Walls (1928)

Across to Singapore (1928)

Rose-Marie (1928)

The Law of the Range (1928)

West Point (1927)

Spring Fever (1927)

Twelve Miles Out (1927)

The Unknown (1927)

The Understanding Heart (1927)

The Taxi Dancer (1927)

Winners of the Wilderness (1927)

Paris (1926)

The Boob (1926)

Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926)

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) (uncredited)

Sally, Irene and Mary (1925)

The Only Thing (1925) (uncredited)

Old Clothes (1925)

The Circle (1925)

The Merry Widow (1925) (uncredited)

A Slave of Fashion (1925) (uncredited)

Pretty Ladies (1925)

Producer:

Della (1964) (producer) (uncredited)

Woman on the Run (1959) (TV) (executive producer) (uncredited)

The Story of Esther Costello (1957) (co-producer) (uncredited)

Sudden Fear (1952) (executive producer) (uncredited)

Appearances:

"The Merv Griffin Show" (17 episodes, 1963-1972)

"The David Frost Show" (3 episodes, 1970-1971)

Journey to Murder (1971)

"The Tim Conway Comedy Hour" (1 episode, 1970)

Garbo (1969) (TV)

"Girl Talk" (7 episodes, 1965-1969)

"The Mike Douglas Show" (5 episodes, 1968)

"The Lucy Show" (1 episode, 1968)

"The Joey Bishop Show" (1 episode, 1968)

"House Party" (1 episode, 1968)

"The Hollywood Palace" (2 episodes, 1965-1967)

The 39th Annual Academy Awards 1967 (TV)

What's My Line? (5 episodes, 1957-1966)

The 38th Annual Academy Awards 1966 (TV)

The Oscar (1966) (uncredited)

"To Tell the Truth" (1 episode, 1965)

"ABC's Nightlife" (1 episode, 1965)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (5 episodes, 1962-1965)

The 37th Annual Academy Awards 1965 (TV)

"The Celebrity Game" (1 episode, 1964)

The 36th Annual Academy Awards 1964 (TV)

How to Plan a Movie Murder (1964)

"I've Got a Secret" (2 episodes, 1961-1963)

The 35th Annual Academy Awards 1963 (TV)

"Password" (1 episode, 1962)

"Here's Hollywood" (1 episode, 1962)

Lykke og krone (1962)

The 34th Annual Academy Awards 1962 (TV)

"The DuPont Show of the Week" (1 episode, 1961)

The 33rd Annual Academy Awards 1961 (TV)

"The Bob Hope Show" (2 episodes, 1958-1960)

The 32nd Annual Academy Awards 1960 (TV)

"Startime" (1 episode, 1960)

"Sunday Showcase" (1 episode, 1959)

"Caesar's Hour" (1 episode, 1957)

"Tonight! America After Dark" (1 episode, 1957)

"Picture Parade" (1 episode, 1956)

"The Colgate Comedy Hour" (1 episode, 1955)

"Tonight!" (2 episodes, 1954-1955)

Hollywood Mothers and Fathers (1955)

A Star Is Born World Premiere (1954) (TV)

The 25th Annual Academy Awards 1953 (TV)

At Home with Joan Crawford (1953)

Cancer Fund Film Notables Attend Glittering Benefits (1951)

Screen Actors (1950) (uncredited)

It's a Great Feeling (1949) (uncredited)

Hollywood Canteen (1944)

Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8 (1939)

Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6 (1938)

Screen Snapshots Series 16, No. 12 (1937)

Hollywood on Parade No. B-6 (1934)

Screen Snapshots (1932)

Wir schalten um auf Hollywood (1931)

The Slippery Pearls (1931)

Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 1 (1930)

Screen Snapshots Series 9, No. 11 (1930)

The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)

Hollywood Snapshots #11 (1929)

Voices Across the Sea (1928)

WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1926 (1926)

1925 Studio Tour (1925)

Academy Awards

1953 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role for: Sudden Fear (1952)

1948 Nominated Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role for: Possessed (1947)

1946 Won Oscar Best Actress in a Leading Role for: Mildred Pierce (1945)


BAFTA Awards

1964 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Foreign Actress for: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) USA.


Golden Apple Awards

1946 Won Golden Apple Most Cooperative Actress

1945 Won Golden Apple Most Cooperative Actress


Golden Globes

1970 Won Cecil B. DeMille Award

1955 Nominated Cecil B. DeMille Award

1953 Nominated Golden Globe Best Motion Picture Actress - Drama for: Sudden Fear (1952)


Laurel Awards

1966 Nominated Golden Laurel Female Star 15th place.


National Board of Review, USA

1945 Won NBR Award Best Actress for: Mildred Pierce (1945)


Walk of Fame

Star on the Walk of Fame Motion Picture At 1750 Vine Street.

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Joan Crawford won a dance contest in 1923 and was awarded her professional name after a contest hold by Photoplay magazine. she survived decades in the business as a top-ranking star, projecting an innate toughness and terrifying style that masked the fact that she wasn't as talented as Bette Davis, as beautiful as Greta Garbo, as sexy as Barbara Stanwyck, or as mysterious as Marlene Dietrich.

In the mid-1920s she was the incarnation of the jazz age - notably in Our Dancing Daughters (1928) - and married into the nearest thing Hollywood had to royalty by becoming Mrs. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (it didn't last). Unlike such sensations of the roaring twenties as Clara Bow, Crawford survived into the talkie era, although she soon sought standout roles (surprisingly often as whores) amid strong casts: as the ambitious stenographer out to snare a wealthy patron in Grand Hotel (1932) and Somerset Maugham's island temptress Sadie Thompson in Rain (1932). she also started indiscriminately taking title roles, such as Letty Lynton (1932), Sadie McKee (1934), The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), and The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937). She suffered from being unable to hold her own - unlike Katharine Hepburn or Myrna Loy - in an equal onscreen relationship with a male movie star, seeming forced and shrill next to Clark Gable in Love on the Run (1936) and Spencer Tracy in Mannequin (1937). Crawford's transformation from pinup to diva was sealed by The Women (1939), in which she relishes queening it over the all-female cast ("There is a name for you ladies, but it isn't used in high society...outside of a kennel"), and tipped over into kitsch with Strange Cargo (1940) and A Woman's Face (1941). After another Anita Loos comedy (Susan and God, 1940), MGM ran out of things for Crawford to do, and she transferred to Warner Brothers. The studio gave her a signature role in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she won her Best Actress Oscar (she was to be nominated twice more after this success). As Mildred, a career woman who goes from housewife to tycoon, Crawford plays an insanely devoted mother (to a worthless slut), is bewitching to a range of middle-aged men, and shows off her striking eyes and cheekbones in a succession of noirish portrait shots. She made other high-class melodramas, toying with violinist John Garfield in the romance Humoresque (1946) and cracking up in the thriller Possessed (1947).

Tough lady of melodrama

By the time Crawford assumed her roles as a pants-wearing Western saloonkeeper in Johnny guitar (1954) and the archly named Queen Bee (1955), her image was so fixed that her films had to partake of camp to get by. Robert Aldrich cast her as an older woman miserably in love with a younger man in Autumn Leaves (1956), and later revived her career (and Bette Davis's) by persuading her to play the wheelchair-bound, creepily reasonable, tight-faced victim in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962). although she refused to return for Aldrich in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), Crawford found a late-career niche in psychohorror, as an axe murderess in Strait Jacket (1964), a victim of a reverse shower murder in I Saw What you Did (1965), and a ringmistress in Berserk! (1967). since her death, her own screen image has been commingled in the public mind with the strange portrait of her delivered by Faye Dunaway ("No wire hangers!") in Mommie Dearest (1981).

Joan vs. Bette

One possessed movie looks and glamour while the other had the acting credentials and chalked up ten Oscar nominations. By the time Joan Crawford and Bette Davis teamed up as the warring sisters in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), the jealousy between the two Hollywood stalwarts was legendary. But Davis said that there was no feud and that they weren't competitors, because they played different types. The crew on Baby Jane testified to their polite professionalism on set. Crawford claimed that the idea of a feud was exploited for publicity purposes. Yet neither actress was ever at a loss for words when it came to the other, and the pair kept the public entertained with their sniping remarks:

- Bette of Joan: "She's slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie."

- Joan of Bette: "I don't hate [Davis], I resent her. I don't see how she built a career out of a set of mannerisms...Take away the pop eyes, the cigarette, and those funny clipped words and what have you got? She's phony. But I guess the public likes that."

- Bette of Joan: "I admire her, and yet I feel uncomfortable with her. To me, she is the personification of the Movie Star. I have always felt her greatest performance is Crawford being Crawford."

- Joan of Bette: "She can be such a bitch, but she's so talented and dedicated."

Nobody can imitate me. You can always see impersonations of Katharine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. But not me. Because I've always drawn on myself only.

I think the most important thing a woman can have -- next to talent, of course, is -- her hairdresser.

Was asked to take over Carole Lombard 's role in They All Kissed the Bride (1942) after she died in a air crash during a war bond tour. She then donated all of her salary to the Red Cross who found Lombard's body, and promptly fired her agent for taking his usual 10%.

She was so dedicated to her fans that she always personally responded to her fan mail by typing them responses on blue paper and autographing it. A great deal of her spare time and weekends were spent doing this.

She would never smoke a cigarette unless she opened the pack herself, and would never use another cigarette out of that pack if someone else had touched it.

Her final words before dying were quoted as being "Damn it . . . Don't you dare ask God to help me." which was said to her housekeeper, who had begun to pray aloud.

Was approached twice by the producers of the Airport disaster movie series. She was offered two different roles in both Airport 1975 (1974) and Airport '77 (1977), but refused.

Salary

Trog (1970) $50,000 (roughly)

"Night Gallery: Night Gallery (#1.0)" (1969) $50,000

I Saw What You Did (1965) $50,000

Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) $50,000 + 25% in profits + $5,000 in living expenses

Strait-Jacket (1964) $50,000 + % of profits

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) $30,000 + 15% of the net profits

The Best of Everything (1959) $65,000

The Story of Esther Costello (1957) $200,000

Torch Song (1953) $125,000 (paid in 83 installments for tax purposes)

Sudden Fear (1952) 40% of profits

This Woman Is Dangerous (1952) $3,205.13 per week

Goodbye, My Fancy (1951) $3,205.13 per week

Possessed (1947) $167,000

Humoresque (1946) $167,000

Mildred Pierce (1945) $167,000

They All Kissed the Bride (1942) $330,000

The Bride Wore Red (1937) $9,500.00 per week

Love on the Run (1936) $8,500.00 per week

The Gorgeous Hussy (1936) $8,500.00 per week

I Live My Life (1935) $7,500.00 per week

No More Ladies (1935) $7,500.00 per week

Dancing Lady (1933) $5,000.00 per week

Rain (1932) $4,000.00 per week

Grand Hotel (1932) $3,500.00 per week

This Modern Age (1931) $3,500.00 per week

Laughing Sinners (1931) $3,000.00 per week

Montana Moon (1930) $1,000 per week

Lady of the Night (1925) $75.00 per week