Joan Crawford
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.
Movies (160)
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
2025
Bette and Joan
2017
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
2016
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
2016
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
2016
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
2010
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
2008
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007
Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
2007
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
2006
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
2006
The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
2005
Complicated Women
2003
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
2002
Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'
2002
Lon Chaney: A thousand faces
2000
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
1996
The Casting Couch
1995
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
1994
That's Entertainment! III
1994
Gay! Gay! Hollywood
1994
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
Showbiz Ballyhoo
1982
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
That's Entertainment!
1974
Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
1972
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
Journey to Murder
1971
Trog
1970
Night Gallery
1969
Garbo, by Joan Crawford
1969
Journey to the Unknown
1969
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
1969
This was the MARY
1968
Berserk!
1967
The Karate Killers
1967
The Oscar
1966
I Saw What You Did
1965
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
Della
1964
Strait-Jacket
1964
How to Plan a Movie Murder
1964
The Caretakers
1963
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962
Lykke og krone
1962
One Must Die
1961
The Best of Everything
1959
Zwischen Glück und Krone
1959
Strange Witness
1958
The Story of Esther Costello
1957
Autumn Leaves
1956
Queen Bee
1955
Female on the Beach
1955
The Road to Edinburgh
1954
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954
Johnny Guitar
1954
Torch Song
1953
At Home with Joan Crawford
1953
Sudden Fear
1952
This Woman Is Dangerous
1952
Goodbye, My Fancy
1951
Harriet Craig
1950
The Damned Don't Cry
1950
It's a Great Feeling
1949
Flamingo Road
1949
Daisy Kenyon
1947
Through Many Windows
1947
Possessed
1947
Humoresque
1947
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946
Mildred Pierce
1945
Hollywood Canteen
1944
Above Suspicion
1943
Reunion in France
1942
They All Kissed the Bride
1942
Joan Crawford's Home Movies
1942
When Ladies Meet
1941
A Woman's Face
1941
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
Susan and God
1940
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
Strange Cargo
1940
The Women
1939
From the Ends of the Earth
1939
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
1939
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939
The Shining Hour
1938
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6
1938
Mannequin
1938
The Bride Wore Red
1937
The Romance of Celluloid
1937
Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12
1937
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937
Love on the Run
1936
The Gorgeous Hussy
1936
I Live My Life
1935
No More Ladies
1935
Forsaking All Others
1934
Chained
1934
Sadie McKee
1934
Dancing Lady
1933
Fast Workers
1933
Today We Live
1933
Rain
1932
Grand Hotel
1932
Letty Lynton
1932
Possessed
1931
This Modern Age
1931
We’re Switching to Hollywood
1931
Laughing Sinners
1931
The Stolen Jools
1931
Dance, Fools, Dance
1931
Paid
1930
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 1
1930
Our Blushing Brides
1930
Montana Moon
1930
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
1929
Untamed
1929
Our Modern Maidens
1929
The Duke Steps Out
1929
Dream of Love
1928
Our Dancing Daughters
1928
Four Walls
1928
Across to Singapore
1928
Rose-Marie
1928
The Law of the Range
1928
West Point
1928
Spring Fever
1927
Twelve Miles Out
1927
The Unknown
1927
The Understanding Heart
1927
The Taxi Dancer
1927
Winners Of The Wilderness
1927
Bardelys the Magnificent
1926
The Merry Widow
1926
Paris
1926
The Boob
1926
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
1926
Sally, Irene and Mary
1925
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925
The Only Thing
1925
Old Clothes
1925
Time, the Comedian
1925
The Midshipman
1925
The Circle
1925
Pretty Ladies
1925
A Slave of Fashion
1925
Proud Flesh
1925
1925 Studio Tour
1925
Lady of the Night
1925
And One Was Loyal
Rebel Range
TV Shows (18)
The Sixth Sense
1972
Great Performances
1971
The Name of the Game
1968
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1964
The Lucy Show
1962
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
The Virginian
1962
Route 66
1960
Startime
1959
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
The Oscars
1953
General Electric Theater
1953
General Electric Theater
1953
General Electric Theater
1953
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
What's My Line?
1950