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Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 190? – 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.
IMDb provides an overview of the life and career of Joan Crawford, a Hollywood star who won an Oscar for Mildred Pierce and co-starred with Bette Davis in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Learn about her early struggles, her roles, her controversies, and her death.
- January 1, 1
- San Antonio, Texas, USA
- January 1, 1
- New York City, New York, USA
- Who Was Joan Crawford?
- Early Life
- Big Break in 'Our Dancing Daughters'
- Oscar For 'Mildred Pierce'
- Comeback in 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?'
- Death
- Personal Life
- 'Mommie Dearest'
Joan Crawford began dancing at a young age, and went on to act in dozens of films. She was one of Hollywood's top stars of the 1930s, earning an Oscar for her lead role in 1945's Mildred Pierce. She later became known for the horror classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and was the subject of the memoir Mommie Dearest. She died on May 10, 1977, i...
Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas, on March 23, 1905 (though some sources have reported her birth date as 1904). Her parents separated before she was born, and her mother later married theater owner Harry Cassin. Crawford would come to be known as Billie Cassin growing up, and periodically throughout of her entertainment c...
After a short time at Stephens College, Crawford left to pursue a dancing career, a pastime to which she'd dedicated herself. She eventually danced in the Broadway show Innocent Eyes, and in 1925 started to work onscreen for MGM. She starred in a number of silent films during this period and was given the name "Joan Crawford" from a magazine contes...
Crawford was a major, top-earning star of the 1930s, though by the end of the decade, her pictures were meeting with limited success. She rallied again with A Woman's Face (1941) before leaving MGM and signing with Warner Brothers, eventually garnering the lead role in 1945's Mildred Pierce, about a mother who rises from humble beginnings to become...
Though garnering a series of notable roles, by the late 1950s, Crawford's career had grown quiet, only to be revitalized yet again with the 1962 horror classic Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, co-starring with Bette Davis. Crawford subsequently starred in several other thrillers and did television work. She also penned the 1971 memoir My Way of Lif...
Crawford died of a heart attack on May 10, 1977, in New York City, leaving a multifaceted film legacy that would inspire analysis for years to come.
Crawford was married four times, with three marriages to actors, one of whom was Douglas Fairbanks Jr. In 1956, she wed Alfred Steele, chairman of Pepsi-Cola. After his death in 1959, Crawford joined Pepsi's board of directors — becoming the first woman to do so — and went on to work as a spokesperson on behalf of the company. She adopted four chil...
One of Crawford's children, Christina, wrote the 1978 memoir Mommie Dearest, in which she writes of enduring highly erratic and abusive behavior from her mother during childhood. The book was adapted into a 1981 film starring Faye Dunaway as Crawford.
- Her real age is unknown. Though no birth certificate exists for Joan Crawford (née Lucille LeSueur), everyone agrees on the March 23 date of her birth. The year is another matter.
- She was discovered in a chorus. Lucille grew up mostly poor in San Antonio, Texas, Lawton, Oklahoma, and Kansas City, Missouri. The family was abandoned by her father around the time of the girl’s birth, and her mother took in laundry to make ends meet — a possible source of Joan’s later horror of wire hangers.
- Her new name was chosen in a public contest. MGM chief Louis B. Mayer saw potential in the new contract player, but not as either Lucille LeSueur or Billie Cassin.
- Crawford was a petite, freckle-faced redhead. She seems so big on screen, right? Well, the eyes and mouth were certainly large and vivid, but the woman herself was barely 5’ 3".
Mar 1, 2024 · Joan Crawford (born March 23, 1904?, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.—died May 10, 1977, New York, New York) was an American motion-picture actress who made her initial impact as a vivacious Jazz Age flapper but later matured into a star of psychological melodramas.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Learn about the life and career of Joan Crawford, one of the biggest stars of Hollywood's Golden Age. From her humble beginnings to her Oscar-winning role in Mildred Pierce, from her rivalry with Bette Davis to her tragic death, this web page covers it all.
The Joan Crawford filmography lists the film appearances of American actress Joan Crawford, who starred in numerous feature films throughout a lengthy career that spanned nearly five decades. She made her film debut in Lady of the Night (1925), as a body double for film star Norma Shearer.
