“If you have an ounce of common sense and one good friend you don’t need an analyst.” – Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas. Dance was Lucille’s ticket to the entertainment industry – working in a chorus line on Broadway in New York City. Looking for more work LeSueur approached Loews Theaters publicist Nils Granlund. Granlund secured a position for her with singer Harry Richman’s act and arranged for her to do a screen test which he sent to Hollywood. MGM brought her under contract for $75 a week.

MGM publicity head Pete Smith recognized her ability to become a major star, but felt her name sounded fake; he told studio head Louis B. Mayer that her last name, LeSueur, reminded him of a sewer. Smith organized a contest called “Name the Star” in Movie Weekly to allow readers to select her new stage name. The initial choice was “Joan Arden”, but after another actress was found to have prior claim to that name, the alternate surname “Crawford” became the choice. She later said that she wanted her first name to be pronounced “Jo-Anne”, and that she hated the name Crawford because it sounded like “craw fish”, but also admitted she “liked the security” that went with the name.

Crawford’s first big role came in 1928 as Diana Medford in Our Dancing Daughters.

Joan Crawford is doubtless the best example of the flapper, the girl you see in smart night clubs, gowned to the apex of sophistication, toying iced glasses with a remote, faintly bitter expression, dancing deliciously, laughing a great deal, with wide, hurt eyes. Young things with a talent for living.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald

Crawford’s star rose through the 1930s but her meteoric rise hit some speed bumps. On May 3, 1938, Crawford—along with Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Luise Rainer, John Barrymore, Katharine Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Dolores del Río, and others—was dubbed “Box Office Poison” in an open letter in the Independent Film Journal. The list was submitted by Harry Brandt, president of the Independent Theatre Owners Association of America. Brandt stated that while these stars had “unquestioned” dramatic abilities, their high salaries did not reflect in their ticket sales, thus hurting the movie exhibitors involved. Crawford’s follow-up movie, The Shining Hour (1938), co-starring Margaret Sullavan and Melvyn Douglas, was well received by critics, but it was a box office flop

Roles became sparse and Crawford had to pivot. In 1943, Crawford moved to Warner Brothers. In 1945, the title role of Mildred Pierce gave Crawford her first and only Oscar for best Leading Actress.





‘ Joan Crawford came once again into the public eye in the infamous 1961 film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane.

Crawford starred as Blanche Hudson, an elderly, disabled former A-list movie star who lives in fear of her psychotic sister Jane, in the highly successful psychological thriller. After filming was completed, the public comments between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis propelled their animosity into a lifelong feud. The film was a huge success, recouping its costs within eleven days of its nationwide release reviving Davis and Crawford’s careers. Davis was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Jane Hudson. Crawford contacted each of the other Oscar nominees in the category (Katharine Hepburn, Lee Remick, Geraldine Page, and Anne Bancroft, all East Coast-based actresses), to let them know that if they could not attend the ceremony, she would be happy to accept the Oscar on their behalf; all agreed. Both Davis and Crawford were backstage, Crawford having presented best director, when the absent Anne Bancroft was announced as the winner, and Crawford accepted the award on her behalf. Davis claimed for the rest of her life that Crawford had campaigned against her, a charge Crawford denied.

Fresh Dailies

Newest Oldest Title A-Z Title Z-A