Joan Crawford

Known for ActingBorn 1906-03-23Died 1977-05-10San Antonio, Texas, USA

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Zwischen Glück und Krone

Going Hollywood: The '30s

Lykke og krone

The Casting Couch

Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'

Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story

Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story

1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year

A Star Is Born World Premiere

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

Joan Crawford: Always the Star

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe

The Understanding Heart

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

That's Entertainment!

Mildred Pierce

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

Checking Out: Grand Hotel

Harriet Craig

Complicated Women

Johnny Guitar

That's Entertainment! III

Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte

Winners Of The Wilderness

The Taxi Dancer

Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star

Bardelys the Magnificent

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

West Point

The Unknown

Della

The Big Parade of Comedy

Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces

Sudden Fear

Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition

That's Entertainment, Part II

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

The Lucy Show

Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death

Hollywood Canteen

Journey to Murder

The Name of the Game

Dream of Love

The Women

The Story of Esther Costello

Autumn Leaves

Flamingo Road

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ