Joan Crawford (1908–77,) born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress whose nearly five-decade career evolved from a vivacious Jazz Age flapper to a star of psychological melodramas. She cultivated a glamorous screen image, often appearing as a successful, elegantly dressed career woman.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, she began as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before making her Broadway début. Signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1925,) she quickly rose to fame, embodying the 1920s flapper image. By the 1930s, she was among Hollywood’s top stars, often playing hardworking women who find success and romance. Labeled “box office poison” in the late 1930s, her career briefly declined.
Crawford made a comeback with Mildred Pierce (1945,) winning an Academy Award for Best Actress. She starred in films through the 1950s and 1960s, including Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962.) She retired after Trog (1970.)
Beyond film, Crawford was involved with Pepsi-Cola after marrying its president, Alfred Steele (1955.) Following his death (1959,) she served on the company’s board until 1973.
Biographies include Bob Thomas’s A Portrait of Joan (1962) and Lawrence J. Quirk’s Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography (2002.) Her adopted daughter Christina published Mommie Dearest (1978,) detailing a harsh childhood; a film adaptation followed (1981.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Joan Crawford
Love is a fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell.
—Joan Crawford
Topics: Love
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