Joan Crawford
Biography
Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 1906 – May 10, 1977) was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford launched a publicity campaign and built an image as a nationally known flapper by the end of the 1920s. By the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money. By the end of the 1930s, she was labeled "box office poison". After an absence of nearly two years from the screen, Crawford staged a comeback by starring in Mildred Pierce (1945), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1955, she became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company, through her marriage to company president Alfred Steele. After his death in 1959, Crawford was elected to fill his vacancy on the board of directors but was forcibly retired in 1973. She continued acting in film and television regularly through the 1960s, when her performances became fewer; after the release of the horror film Trog in 1970, Crawford retired from the screen. Following a public appearance in 1974, after which unflattering photographs were published, Crawford withdrew from public life. She became more and more reclusive until her death in 1977.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (46)
Bette and Joan
as Self (archive footage)
2017
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
as Self (archive footage)
2016
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
as Self (archive footage)
2016
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
as Self (archive footage)
2016
The Shirley Eder Tapes
as Self
2012
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage)
2012
Possessed
as (archive footage)
2011
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
2010
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
as Self (archive footage)
2009
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
as Various Roles (archive footage)
2008
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
as Self (archive footage)
2007
Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
as Self
2007
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
as Self (archive footage)
2006
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
as Self (archive footage)
2006
The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
as Self (archive)
2005
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
as Self / Flaemmchen (archive footage)
2004
Complicated Women
as Self (archive footage)
2003
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
as Self (archive footage)
2002
Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'
as Self (archive footage)
2002
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
as Self (archive footage / uncredited)
2000
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
as Self (archive footage)
1996
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
as Self (archive footage)
1994
That's Entertainment! III
as (archive footage)
1994
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
as Self
1989
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)
1984
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
as (in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
1982
Showbiz Ballyhoo
as Self (archive footage)
1982
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
as Self (archive footage)
1982
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)
1976
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
as Self (archive footage)
1975
That's Entertainment!
as (archive footage)
1974
Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
as Joan Fairchild
1972
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
as Self (archive footage)
1972
Journey to Murder
as Host
1971
Trog
as Dr. Brockton
1970
Night Gallery
as Miss Menlo
1969
Garbo, by Joan Crawford
as Self - Host / Narrator (voice)
1969
Journey to the Unknown
as Self - Host
1969
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
as Self
1969
This was the MARY
as Self/Narrator
1968
Berserk!
as Monica Rivers
1967
The Karate Killers
as Amanda True
1967
The Oscar
as Joan Crawford
1966
I Saw What You Did
as Amy Nelson
1965
The Big Parade of Comedy
as Bobby (archive footage)
1964
