Joan Crawford Overview:

Legendary actress, Joan Crawford, was born Lucille Fay LeSueur on Mar 23, 1905 in San Antonio, TX. Crawford died at the age of 72 on May 10, 1977 in New York City, NY and was laid to rest in Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum in Hartsdale, Westchester County, NY.

MINI BIO:

Dark-haired (earlier blonde), thick-browed, dominating American actress. After an apprenticeship playing bitchy, hard-headed flappers, the Crawford of the forties and fifties, great haunted eyes and jagged mouth to the fore, excelled as women born to suffer. Still in leading roles when past 50, she remains one of the few actresses to create her own genre, with its ingredients of melodrama, mayhem, murder, and mink. Academy Award for Mildred Pierce. Married to actors Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (1929-1933), Franchot Tone (1935-1939), and Phillip Terry (1942-1946). Her last husband, a businessman, left her a widow in 1959. Died from a heart attack. Also Oscar-nominated for Possessed (1947 version) and Sudden Fear.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Joan Crawford was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one for Best Actress for Mildred Pierce (as Mildred Pierce) in 1945.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1945Best ActressMildred Pierce (1945)Mildred PierceWon
1947Best ActressPossessed (1947)Louise HowellNominated
1952Best ActressSudden Fear (1952)Myra HudsonNominated
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She was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures. Joan Crawford's handprints and footprints were 'set in stone' at Grauman's Chinese Theater during imprint ceremony #15 on Sep 14, 1929.

BlogHub Articles:

: Possessed, The Damned Don’t Cry, Harriet Craig

By 4 Star Film Fan on Mar 9, 2023 From 4 Star Films

In our ongoing exploration of and Bette Davis’s filmographies, here are three more films building on Crawford’s renewed critical success in the 1940s after Mildred Pierce (1945) and Humoresque (1946). Possessed opens with wandering the city streets past cable... Read full article


Humoresque (1946): John Garfield and

By 4 Star Film Fan on Mar 7, 2023 From 4 Star Films

The manner in which Garfield is lit in the opening scene is striking. We don’t know the reason yet, but there’s a prevailing angst and discontentment spelled out over his face. It sets the tone for the rest of Jean Negulesco’s swelling drama Humoresque. I’m not sure if itR... Read full article


: Channeling the Spirit of Norma Desmond

By FlickChick on Jun 26, 2022 From A Person in the Dark

This is my entry in the MGM Blogathon hosted by Silver Scenes. Click here for more great posts about the Hollywood Golden Age's most golden studio.JoanFirst, let me state unequivocally that I am 100% on Team Joan. There will be no hating, no snarkiness and certainly no wire hangers found here. Secon... Read full article


Rain (1932): and Walter Huston

By 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 17, 2021 From 4 Star Films

Rain finds its origins in a short story by W. Somerset Maugham, and it was also preceded by a picture starring Gloria Swanson titled Sadie Thompson. She is indeed the central character of this adaptation as well, although the title of this version focuses in on the dreary poeticism. It’s true ... Read full article


“Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life” & “: The Essential Biography” Book Giveaway (April)

By Annmarie Gatti on Apr 19, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life and: The Essential BiographyTwo Biographies for Two Lucky Winners! CMH is happy to announce our next Classic Movie Book Giveaway as part of our partnership with University Press of Kentucky! This time, we’ll be celebrating two iconic actresses, ... Read full article


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Joan Crawford Quotes:

Jessie Cassidy: Look, Eddie, here's a world. You and I have this little space all to ourselves. What we feel for each other shuts out all the rest. So what more do we need? That's all people have to fight for is... a little place to themselves. Do you see what I mean?


Michael 'Mike' Anthony: I wonder where we are. Get out those maps there, will ya.
Sally Parker: What color is it down there?
Michael 'Mike' Anthony: Pinkish brown.
Sally Parker: Pinkish brown... We're over Persia.


Mrs. Davidson: I'm sorry for him and I'm sorry for you
Sadie Thompson: And I'm sorry for the whole world, I guess.


read more quotes from Joan Crawford...



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Joan Crawford Facts
As a child, Joan was playing in the front yard of her home in Texas when she got a large piece of glass lodged in her foot. After it was removed, doctors told her she would likely never walk again without a limp. Joan was determined to be a dancer, so she practiced walking and dancing every day for over six months until she was able to walk without pain. Not only did she make a full recovery, she also fulfilled her dream of becoming a chorus dancer.

In her final years at MGM, Crawford was handed weak scripts in the hopes that she'd break her contract. Two films she hungered to appear in were Random Harvest (1942) and Madame Curie (1943). Both films went to bright new star Greer Garson instead, and Crawford left the studio soon after.

She was actually Fred Astaire's first on-screen dance partner. They appeared in Dancing Lady (1933).

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