Name
Joan Crawford
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1906-03-23
Deathday
1977-05-10 (71 years old)
Place of Birth
San Antonio, Texas, USA
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.
Known For
7.897
A former vaudeville child star viciously torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying ...
7
While Joel and his older ship's captain brother Mark are at sea, the latter is abandoned i...
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Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash ...
6.8
A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her...
7.484
The authorized documentary celebrating the film that redefined Hollywood, 50 years after i...
7.615
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a suc...
7
Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache....
7.304
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into mad...
7.4
On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirabl...
- 1962 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? as Blanche Hudson
- 1945 Mildred Pierce as Mildred Pierce
- 1947 Daisy Kenyon as Daisy Kenyon
- 1947 Possessed as Louise Howell
- 1939 The Women as Crystal Allen
- 1967 The Karate Killers as Amanda True
- 1929 The Hollywood Revue of 1929 as Self
- 1938 Mannequin as Jessie Cassidy
- 1982 Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid as (in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
- 1949 It's a Great Feeling as Joan Crawford (uncredited)
- 1943 Above Suspicion as Frances Myles
- 1954 Johnny Guitar as Vienna
- 1932 Grand Hotel as Flämmchen
- 1927 The Unknown as Nanon Zanzi
- 1949 Flamingo Road as Lane Bellamy
- 1947 Humoresque as Helen Wright
- 1941 A Woman's Face as Anna Holm
- 1942 Reunion in France as Michele de la Becque
- 1965 I Saw What You Did as Amy Nelson
- 1955 Queen Bee as Eva Phillips
- 1964 Strait-Jacket as Lucy Harbin
- 1950 The Damned Don't Cry as Ethel Whitehead
- 1928 Our Dancing Daughters as Diana 'Di' Medford
- 1967 Berserk! as Monica Rivers
- 1956 Autumn Leaves as Millicent Wetherby
- 1932 Rain as Sadie Thompson
- 1942 They All Kissed the Bride as Margaret Johanna 'M.J.' Drew
- 1940 Susan and God as Susan Trexel
- 1933 Dancing Lady as Janie Barlow
- 1936 Love on the Run as Sally Parker
- 1969 The Big Rock Candy Mountain as Self
- 1934 Sadie McKee as Sadie
- 1970 Trog as Dr. Brockton
- 1944 Hollywood Canteen as Self
- 1955 Female on the Beach as Lynn Markham
- 2000 Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces as Self (archive footage / uncredited)
- 1928 West Point as Betty Channing
- 1934 Chained as Diane Lovering
- 1952 Sudden Fear as Myra Hudson Blaine
- 1940 Strange Cargo as Julie
- 1931 Possessed as Marian Martin aka 'Mrs. Moreland'
- 1931 The Stolen Jools as Joan Crawford
- 1937 The Last of Mrs. Cheyney as Mrs. Fay Cheyney
- 1941 When Ladies Meet as Mary 'Minnie' Howard
- 1959 The Best of Everything as Amanda Farrow
- 2017 Bette and Joan as Self (archive footage)
- 1963 The Caretakers as Lucretia Terry
- 1950 Harriet Craig as Harriet Craig
- 1952 This Woman Is Dangerous as Elizabeth Austin
- 1942 Joan Crawford's Home Movies as Self
- 1931 Laughing Sinners as Ivy 'Bunny' Stevens
- 1933 Today We Live as Diana 'Ann' Boyce-Smith
- 1972 Hollywood: The Dream Factory as Self (archive footage)
- 1930 Montana Moon as Joan
- 1929 Our Modern Maidens as Billie Brown
- 1928 Across to Singapore as Priscilla Crowninshield
- 1934 Forsaking All Others as Mary Clay
- 1936 The Gorgeous Hussy as Margaret "Peggy" O'Neal
- 1938 The Shining Hour as Olivia Riley Linden
- 1926 Tramp, Tramp, Tramp as Betty Burton
- 2008 Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood as Various Roles (archive footage)
- 1937 The Bride Wore Red as Anni Pavlovitch
- 1935 No More Ladies as Marcia Townsend Warren
- 1951 Goodbye, My Fancy as Agatha Reed
- 1931 Dance, Fools, Dance as Bonnie Jordan
- 1930 Our Blushing Brides as Geraldine 'Gerry' March
- 1953 Torch Song as Jenny Stewart
- 1969 Journey to the Unknown as Self - Host
- 1932 Letty Lynton as Letty Lynton
- 1957 The Story of Esther Costello as Margaret Landi
- 1925 Pretty Ladies as Bobby
- 2012 The Shirley Eder Tapes as Self
- 1982 Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers! as Self (archive footage)
- 1929 Untamed as Alice "Bingo" Dowling
- 1926 The Boob as Jane
- 1927 Spring Fever as Allie Monte
- 1983 Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1931 This Modern Age as Valentine 'Val' Winters
- 1939 The Ice Follies of 1939 as Mary McKay
- 1935 I Live My Life as Kay Bentley
- 1930 Paid as Mary Turner
- 1964 Della as Della Chappell
- 2011 Possessed as (archive footage)
- 2004 Checking Out: Grand Hotel as Self / Flaemmchen (archive footage)
- 2006 42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage as Self (archive footage)
- 1984 Going Hollywood: The '30s as (archive footage)
- 2006 Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition as Self (archive footage)
- 2016 Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western? as Self (archive footage)
- 2016 Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar' as Self (archive footage)
- 2016 Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other as Self (archive footage)
- 1928 Dream of Love as Adrienne Lecouvreur
- 1989 Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre as Self
- 1928 The Law of the Range as Betty Dallas
- 1972 Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death as Joan Fairchild
- 1925 The Circle as Young Lady Catherine
- 1929 The Duke Steps Out as Susie
- 2005 The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel as Self (archive)
- 1953 At Home with Joan Crawford as Self
- 1974 That's Entertainment! as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1927 Winners of the Wilderness as René Contrecoeur
- 1996 Joan Crawford: Always the Star as Self (archive footage)
- 1927 Twelve Miles Out as Jane
- 1933 Fast Workers as Ivy Stevens (Archive Footage) (Uncredited)
- 1971 Journey to Murder as Host
- 1931 We’re Switching to Hollywood as Self
- 1925 1925 Studio Tour as Self
- 1994 Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill as Self (archive footage)
- 1994 That's Entertainment! III as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1947 Through Many Windows as Self - Narrator
- 1928 Rose-Marie as Rose-Marie
- 1939 From the Ends of the Earth as Self
- 1927 The Taxi Dancer as Joselyn Poe
- 1925 Lady of the Night as Body Double for Norma Shearer
- 1925 Proud Flesh as Party Guest (uncredited)
- 1926 The Merry Widow as Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
- 1925 Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
- 1925 The Only Thing as Party Guest (uncredited)
- 1966 The Oscar as Joan Crawford
- 1954 A Star Is Born World Premiere as Self
- 1925 A Slave of Fashion as Mannequin (uncredited)
- 1925 Old Clothes as Mary Riley
- 1925 Sally, Irene and Mary as Irene O'Dare
- 1946 Blow-Ups of 1946 as Self
- 1975 Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? as Self (archive footage)
- 1940 Hollywood: Style Center of the World as Self
- 1969 Night Gallery as Miss Menlo
- 2003 Complicated Women as Self (archive footage)
- 1976 That's Entertainment, Part II as (archive footage)
- 1937 The Romance of Celluloid as Self (archive footage)
- 1940 A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound as Self
- 1964 How to Plan a Movie Murder as Self
- 1969 Garbo, by Joan Crawford as Self - Host / Narrator (voice)
- 1959 Woman on the Run as Susan Conrad
- 2007 Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema as Self (archive footage)
- 1964 The Big Parade of Comedy as Bobby (archive footage)
- 2009 1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year as Self (archive footage)
- 2007 Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy as Self (archive footage)
- 1926 Paris as The Girl
- 1927 The Understanding Heart as Monica Dale
- 1928 Four Walls as Frieda
- 1937 Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12 as Self (uncredited)
- 1939 Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8 as Joan Crawford
- 1925 The Midshipman as Extra - Driver of Police Car (uncredited)
- 2002 Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star as Self (archive footage)
- 2002 Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket' as Self (archive footage)
- 1968 This was the MARY as Self/Narrator
- 1958 Strange Witness as Ruth Marshall
- 1938 Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6 as Self
- 1930 Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 1 as Self
- 1961 One Must Die
- 1954 The Road to Edinburgh as Mary Andrews
- Soon And One Was Loyal as Ann Howard
- Soon Rebel Range as Stella Faring
- 2010 Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
- 1982 Showbiz Ballyhoo as Self (archive footage)
- 2012 Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe as Self (archive footage)
- 1959 Zwischen Glück und Krone
- 1962 Lykke og krone
- 2009 Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
- 1964 Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte as Miriam Deering in Car (uncredited)
- 1994 Gay! Gay! Hollywood
- 1976 Bob Hope's World of Comedy as Self (archive footage)
- 1995 The Casting Couch
- 2025 Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story as Self (archive footage)
- 1926 Bardelys the Magnificent as Court Gossip (uncredited)
- 1925 Time, the Comedian as Art Student (as Lucille LeSueur)
- 2007 Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story as Self (archive)
- 2006 Stardust: The Bette Davis Story as Self (archive footage) (voice)
- 1961 Hollywood: The Selznick Years as Self - Janie Barlow (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1995 Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell as Self (archive footage)
- 1995 The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies as Self (archive footage)
- 2018 The Green Fog
- 1962 The Lucy Show ( 1 episode ) as Joan Crawford
- 1960 Route 66 ( 1 episode ) as Morgan Harper
- 1962 The Merv Griffin Show ( 5 episodes ) as Self
- 1954 The Secret Storm ( 318 episodes ) as Joan Borman Kane
- 1972 The Sixth Sense ( 1 episode ) as Joan Fairchild
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Ann Howard
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Ruth Marshall
- 1953 General Electric Theater ( 1 episode ) as Mary Andrews
- 1956 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Stella Faring
- 1956 Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Sarah / Melanie Davidson Hobbs
- 1953 The Oscars ( 8 episodes ) as Self
- 1950 The Colgate Comedy Hour ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1964 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ( 1 episode ) as Amanda True
- 1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1968 The Name of the Game ( 1 episode ) as Committee Member (uncredited)
- 1950 What's My Line? ( 5 episodes ) as Self
- 1971 Great Performances ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1962 The Virginian ( 1 episode ) as Stephanie White
- 1959 Startime ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1970 The Tim Conway Show ( 1 episode ) as Self
