Joan Crawford
Date of birth: 1906-03-23
Place of birth: San Antonio, Texas, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Lucille Fay LeSueur, Lucille Le Sueur, Billie Cassin, Lucille Fay Le Sueur
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.
Movie Credits
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962-10-31
A former vaudeville child star viciously torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood
Mildred Pierce
1945-10-20
A hard-working mother inches towards disaster as she divorces her husband and starts a successful re
Daisy Kenyon
1947-12-25
Daisy Kenyon is a Manhattan commercial artist having an affair with an arrogant and overbearing but
Possessed
1947-05-29
After being found wandering the streets of Los Angeles, a severely catatonic woman tells a doctor th
The Women
1939-09-01
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.
The Karate Killers
1967-04-07
International spies Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin travel around the globe in an effort to track d
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
1929-11-23
An all-star revue featuring MGM contract players.
Mannequin
1938-01-21
Jessie, a young working class woman, seeks to improve her life by marrying her boyfriend, only to fi
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982-05-21
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no acc
It's a Great Feeling
1949-08-20
A waitress at the Warner Brothers commissary is anxious to break into pictures. She thinks her big b
Above Suspicion
1943-05-31
Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe.
Johnny Guitar
1954-05-26
On the outskirts of town, the hard-nosed Vienna owns a saloon frequented by the undesirables of the
Grand Hotel
1932-05-25
Guests at a posh Berlin hotel struggle through worry, scandal, and heartache.
The Unknown
1927-05-29
On the lam, criminal Alonzo hides in the circus as The Armless Wonder – a performer who uses his fee
Flamingo Road
1949-04-30
A stranded carnival dancer takes on a corrupt political boss when she marries into small-town societ
Humoresque
1947-01-25
A classical musician from a working class background is sidetracked by his love for a wealthy, neuro
A Woman's Face
1941-05-09
A female blackmailer with a disfiguring facial scar meets a plastic surgeon who offers her the possi
Reunion in France
1942-12-25
Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed
I Saw What You Did
1965-07-21
Teenage friends Kit and Libby make prank phone calls for fun but then find themselves involved in a
Queen Bee
1955-11-07
A devilish Southern woman, married to a man who despises her, manages to manipulate those around her
Strait-Jacket
1964-01-19
After a twenty-year stay at an asylum for a double murder, a mother returns to her estranged daughte
The Damned Don't Cry
1950-05-13
Fed up with her small-town marriage, a woman goes after the big time and gets mixed up with the mob.
Our Dancing Daughters
1928-09-01
A flapper who's secretly a good girl and a gold-digging floozy masquerading as an ingénue both vie f
Berserk!
1967-11-01
A lady ringmaster milks the publicity from a string of murders.
Autumn Leaves
1956-08-01
A woman falls for a younger man with severe mental problems.
Rain
1932-10-12
Due to a possible cholera epidemic onboard, passengers on a ship are forced to disembark at Pago Pag
They All Kissed the Bride
1942-06-11
Margaret Drew runs her trucking company single-mindedly, if not ruthlessly. The only thorn in her si
Susan and God
1940-06-07
A flighty socialite neglects her family to promote a new religious group.
Dancing Lady
1933-11-24
Janie lives to dance and will dance anywhere, even stripping in a burlesque house. Tod Newton, the r
Love on the Run
1936-11-20
A runaway bride and an undercover reporter get caught up in political intrigue as they lead a merry
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
1969-01-01
Joan Crawford goes grocery shopping, in this short film for Pepsi-Cola.
Sadie McKee
1934-05-09
A maid has romances with a two-timer, a boozing millionaire and the master of the house.
Trog
1970-10-24
Anthropologist Dr Brockton unearths a primitive troglodyte — an Ice Age 'missing link': half-caveman
Hollywood Canteen
1944-12-15
Two soldiers on leave spend three nights at a club offering free of charge food, dancing, and entert
Female on the Beach
1955-08-19
Lynn Markham moves into her late husband's beach house the morning after former tenant Eloise Cranda
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
2000-10-24
Lon Chaney, the silent movie star and makeup artist, renowned for his various characterizations and
West Point
1928-01-07
Arrogant and wise-cracking Brice Wayne enrolls at the United States Military Academy at West Point a
Chained
1934-08-31
Richard, a millionaire in love with his secretary, Diane, is dispirited when his wife refuses to div
Sudden Fear
1952-08-07
Actor Lester Blaine has all but landed the lead in Myra Hudson's new play when Myra vetoes him becau
Strange Cargo
1940-03-01
Convicts escaping from Devil's Island come under the influence of a strange Christ-like figure.
Possessed
1931-11-21
Marion is a factory worker who hopes to trade the assembly line for a beautiful penthouse apartment.
The Stolen Jools
1931-04-04
Famous actress Norma Shearer's jewels are stolen… (Star-packed promotional short film intended to ra
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937-02-19
A chic American jewel thief falls in love with one of her marks, an English lord.
When Ladies Meet
1941-08-29
Mary, a writer working on a novel about a love triangle, is attracted to her publisher. Her suitor J
The Best of Everything
1959-10-09
An exposé of the lives and loves of Madison Avenue working girls and their higher-ups.
Bette and Joan
2017-01-01
Sylvia Syms looks through the BBC archives to tell the story of one of Hollywood's greatest ever feu
The Caretakers
1963-08-21
This movie chronicles the trials of the mentally ill and their care-givers in an over-crowded ward o
Harriet Craig
1950-11-02
A perfectionist woman's devotion to her home drives away friends and family.
This Woman Is Dangerous
1952-02-09
A crime gang leader is losing her sight, so while her lover goes into hiding, she checks in to the h
Joan Crawford's Home Movies
1942-01-01
The private Joan Crawford fought as hard to create a normal family life as she did to establish her
Laughing Sinners
1931-05-30
Ivy Stevens is a cafe entertainer in love with a shifty salesman who deserts her. In attempting to c
Today We Live
1933-03-03
Two lovers are living together and are not married; they had made a promise as children to get marri
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972-01-10
A documentary about the glorious history of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and its decline leading to t
Montana Moon
1930-03-20
A wild-partying flapper marries a cowboy and tries to adjust to life on a western ranch.
Our Modern Maidens
1929-09-08
Young, vivacious Billie uses her charms on influential businessman Glenn Abbott in hopes of getting
Across to Singapore
1928-04-07
While Joel and his older ship's captain brother Mark are at sea, the latter is abandoned in Singapor
Forsaking All Others
1934-12-23
A socialite only realises that her friend is in love with her when she falls for the wrong man.
The Gorgeous Hussy
1936-08-28
It's the early nineteenth century Washington. Young adult Margaret O'Neal, Peggy to most that know h
The Shining Hour
1938-11-18
A nightclub dancer shakes the foundations of a wealthy farming family after she marries into it.
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
1926-03-21
A poor cobbler's son enters a $25,000 cross-country hiking contest sponsored by the footwear company
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
2008-03-03
A look at the forces that shaped Pre-Code Hollywood and brought about the strict enforcement of the
The Bride Wore Red
1937-10-08
A poor singer in a bar masquerades as a rich society woman thanks to a rich benefactor.
No More Ladies
1935-06-14
A society girl tries to reform her playboy husband by making him jealous.
Goodbye, My Fancy
1951-05-19
Agatha has fond memories of her romance with college president Dr. James Merrill, when she was a stu
Dance, Fools, Dance
1931-02-07
When misfortune hits hard on the Jordan family of Chicago's upper class, Bonnie Jordan, a dazzling a
Our Blushing Brides
1930-07-19
Jerry, Connie, and Franky are small-town girls seeking wealthy husbands in New York City. But, while
Torch Song
1953-10-01
Jenny Stewart is a tough Broadway musical star who doesn't take criticism from anyone. Yet there is
Journey to the Unknown
1969-06-15
TV Movie consisting of two episodes of the UK TV series "Journey to the Unknown" (1968): 'Matakitas
Letty Lynton
1932-04-30
Socialite Letty Lynton is returning to New York, abandoning one-time lover Emile Renaul in South Ame
The Story of Esther Costello
1957-11-06
Eighteen-year-old Esther has been deaf and blind since the accident that killed her mother. Wealthy
Pretty Ladies
1925-09-06
Maggie, a headlining comedienne with the Follies, takes a fall off the stage into the orchestra pit
The Shirley Eder Tapes
2012-08-26
These tapes consist on two interviews and three phone conversations (recorded without the knowledge
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982-01-01
A collection of bloopers and outtakes from an enormous selection of Hollywood classic productions sp
Untamed
1929-11-23
In her first Talkie, Joan Crawford plays Bingo, a jungle-raised oil heiress, who turns Manhattan ups
The Boob
1926-05-17
To impress the girl he loves, a naive country boy tries to capture a group of local bootleggers.
Spring Fever
1927-10-22
Kelly's employer, Waters, is such a keen golfer that he asks Kelly to help him improve his game at a
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983-02-25
Out-takes (mostly from Warner Bros.), promotional shorts, movie premieres, public service pleas, war
This Modern Age
1931-08-29
A Harvard football star disobeys his upper class parents and runs off with his true love.
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939-03-10
Mary and Larry are are a modestly successful skating team. Shortly after their marriage, Mary gets a
I Live My Life
1935-10-04
A society girl tries to make a go of her marriage to an archaeologist.
Paid
1930-12-30
Mary Turner gets a three year prison sentence for a crime she didn't commit. Once released, she plot
Della
1964-08-08
Della Chappell is a very wealthy and incredibly reclusive woman. When a big company wants to develop
Possessed
2011-07-22
I had a strong, slightly illicit, urge to commandeer the original train sequence from the 1931 film
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004-02-03
Until 1932's Grand Hotel, never had there existed an all-star ensemble cast on film. Conceived by MG
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
2006-03-21
Making-of documentary about the 1933 musical, 42nd Street.
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984-01-01
Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
2006-05-30
An overview of the iconic actresses' legendary careers, as well as the rivalry that colored "What Ev
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
2016-09-20
Critics Kent Jones, B. Ruby Rich, Joe McElhaney and Miriam Bale take a closer look at the feminist o
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
2016-09-20
Larry Ceplair, co-author of The Inquisition in Hollywood, and blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernst
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
2016-09-20
Critics Kent Jones, B. Ruby Rich, Joe McElhaney and Miriam Bale discuss the unique qualities of "Joh
Dream of Love
1928-12-01
A duke has deposed Prince Mauritz's father, so Mauritz spends his time in affairs with a countess, t
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
1989-06-26
A study of the Group Theatre, a company that changed the face of American drama. The Group was found
The Law of the Range
1928-01-21
Jim Lockhart is out to capture the robbing and murdering "Solitaire Kid".
Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
1972-09-30
Joan Crawford plays a widow named Joan Fairchild who stumbles upon a group of ESP enthusiasts that d
The Circle
1925-09-22
Elizabeth Cheney has a wealthy husband, social prominence and everything she could want in life . .
The Duke Steps Out
1929-03-19
Millionaire's son Duke wants to be a champion boxer but takes time out to enroll in college when he
The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
2005-06-14
The Joan Crawford crime thriller, The Damned Don't Cry (1950), is the topic of discussion for variou
At Home with Joan Crawford
1953-04-20
Actress Joan Crawford appears in this public service announcement asking the theatre audience to giv
That's Entertainment!
1974-06-21
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year hi
Winners Of The Wilderness
1927-01-15
During the French and Indian War the Indians under Pontiac kidnap Rene. Colonel O'Hara hopes to resc
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
1996-09-30
Glamorous and hugely popular Joan Crawford raised herself from brutal poverty to Academy Award-winni
Twelve Miles Out
1927-07-08
Jerry always wins in his rivalry with Red over women, gunrunning, and diamond smuggling. While runni
Fast Workers
1933-03-10
Gunner and Bucker are friends who work as riveters. Whenever Bucker gets the urge to marry, which is
Journey to Murder
1971-01-01
Television movie that consists of two episodes from the UK TV series Journey to the Unknown (1968):
We’re Switching to Hollywood
1931-06-09
A German reporter visits Hollywood and is escorted through the MGM Studio by a German nobleman, who
1925 Studio Tour
1925-04-09
A tour of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio in 1925 shows the people who make the movies there, and giv
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
1994-09-13
Share the magical memories - and see clips from her Oscar winning performances - in this profile of
That's Entertainment! III
1994-07-01
Some of MGM'S musical stars review the studios history of musicals. From The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Through Many Windows
1947-08-29
Joan Crawford appears in and narrates a Red Feather Community Chest charity appeal for movie-goers.
Rose-Marie
1928-02-11
Sergeant Malone of the Mounties and effeminate Etienne Doray are both in love with Rose-Marie, but s
From the Ends of the Earth
1939-05-28
An MGM short showing how materials are shipped by boat 'From the Ends of the Earth' to Hollywood. Fe
The Taxi Dancer
1927-02-05
A southern girl tries her luck as a dancer in New York City.
Lady of the Night
1925-02-23
The story of two baby girls, born near in proximity but worlds apart in society: Molly Helmer, the d
Proud Flesh
1925-04-27
The snooty Fernanda decides to leave Spain to visit her uncle in San Francisco in order to escape th
The Merry Widow
1926-09-27
When Prince Danilo falls in love with American dancer Sally O'Hara, his uncle, King Nikita I of Mont
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925-12-25
Erstwhile childhood friends, Judah Ben-Hur and Messala meet again as adults, this time with Roman of
The Only Thing
1925-11-22
Thyra arrives in Chekia to wed its old and ugly king. The Duke falls in love with her. A revolution
The Oscar
1966-03-04
An amoral lowlife accidentally stumbles into an acting career that sets him on a trajectory to Holly
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954-09-28
Live television broadcast of the world premiere. Described by various participants as the biggest wo
A Slave of Fashion
1925-08-23
Katherine Emerson, an Iowa girl hungry for the good things in life, leaves her small hometown and se
Old Clothes
1925-11-09
Timothy and Max are partners in the junk business. They take poor young Mary in as a boarder. Mary g
Sally, Irene and Mary
1925-12-27
Sally, Irene and Mary are chorus girls who each have a different approach to life and love. The thre
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946-12-31
Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1946.
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975-08-06
Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American ent
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940-05-29
This short promotes the premise that movies often create a demand for the fashions seen in them. It
Night Gallery
1969-11-08
This anthology telefilm aired on NBC on November 8, 1969, and tells three strange tales: "The Cemete
Complicated Women
2003-05-06
Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, u
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976-05-16
Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time includi
The Romance of Celluloid
1937-08-27
Several behind the scenes aspects of the movie-making business, which results in the enjoyment the m
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940-10-24
This short documentary, presented and directed by MGM sound engineer Douglas Shearer, goes behind th
How to Plan a Movie Murder
1964-01-01
The writer, director and star of the 1964 horror film Strait-Jacket in a humorous featurette in whic
Garbo, by Joan Crawford
1969-11-06
Joan Crawford narrates this documentary about the career of Greta Garbo.
Woman on the Run
1959-05-15
Pilot episode, directed by Dick Powell.
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007-05-23
Before the G, PG and R ratings system there was the Production Code, and before that there was, well
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964-09-02
Film clips highlight the funniest scenes and brightest comic stars in MGM's history.
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009-07-02
This documentary focuses on 1939, considered to be Hollywood's greatest year, with film clips and in
Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
2007-01-30
One of America's best loved comedians, Tim Conway (The Carol Burnett Show, Mchale's Navy) is feature
Paris
1926-05-24
The power of love in the violent underground world of the Apaches in Paris in the early 20th century
The Understanding Heart
1927-02-26
Two men in love with the same girl are trapped with her in a forest fire.
Four Walls
1928-08-11
After completing his prison sentence for killing a rival gang leader in self-defence, Benny Horowitz
Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12
1937-08-13
A tour of Hollywood, featuring such star frequented spots as the Vendome, the Lakeside Golf Club, th
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
1939-04-08
Ice skating is the theme; at the Tropical Ice Garden, in Westwood Hills, are seen a flock of skating
The Midshipman
1925-10-04
Produced under the supervision of the U.S. Navy. James Randall, an upperclassman at the Naval Academ
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
2002-08-01
In this documentary on the life of Joan Crawford, we learn why she should be remembered as the great
Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'
2002-04-02
A look back at the classic 1964 film of horror and suspense starring Joan Crawford as an axe-murdere
This was the MARY
1968-03-01
Short 18 minute film about QM and her last Transatlantic voyage from New York to Southampton. Joan C
Strange Witness
1958-03-23
Ruth and her lover David are caught having an affair by her husband John. When John refuses to give
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6
1938-02-04
Fernand Gravey and Danielle Darrieux arrive in Hollywood; the Ritz Brothers achieve immortality, lea
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 1
1930-09-01
One Must Die
1961-01-12
John Baylor is summoned to the home of a friend of his fathers. The man is dying and wishes to leave
The Road to Edinburgh
Feisty reporter Joan insists on driving to her next assignment in Edinburgh solo. Along the way she
Because I Love Him
A successful career woman sacrifices her own future to devote herself to her husband who only has on
And One Was Loyal
Joan now a prominent artist meets the man who rescued her from a brutal and traumatized existence wi
Rebel Range
A Union law allows homes vacated by confederates to be sold at auction. A woman comes back to claim
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
2010-06-15
Explores the culture and characters of the Jazz Age through the decade's heroine, the flapper.
Showbiz Ballyhoo
1982-05-05
Rare footage reveals how stars were created and motion pictures sold, and how the the advent of soun
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012-05-15
Marilyn Monroe is one of the most famous and adored icons of the 20th century. Like no other Hollywo
Zwischen Glück und Krone
1959-03-18
The story of a young woman named Maria, who unexpectedly inherits a royal title and a castle after t
Lykke og krone
1962-04-23
Depicts the royal houses of Europe (Norwegian, British, Belgian and Dutch) as well as Iran and the P
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009-10-21
The life and career of screen siren, Brigitte Bardot.
Betty Page the Totally Naked Truth
2008-06-11
bettie page documentary
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964-12-16
An aging, reclusive Southern belle plagued by a horrifying family secret descends into madness after