Joan Crawford profile
Actor profile

Joan Crawford

23rd March 1906 San Antonio, Texas, USA Acting

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.

163 Movies 18 TV Shows 191 Credits
Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

Trog poster
Trog 24th October 1970 as Dr. Brockton
Berserk! poster
Berserk! 1st November 1967 as Monica Rivers
Della poster
Della 8th August 1964 as Della Chappell
Chained poster
Chained 31st August 1934 as Diane Lovering
Fast Workers poster
Fast Workers 10th March 1933 as Ivy Stevens (Archive Footage) (Uncredited)
Rain poster
Rain 12th October 1932 as Sadie Thompson
Possessed poster
Possessed 21st November 1931 as Marian Martin aka 'Mrs. Moreland'
Paid poster
Paid 30th December 1930 as Mary Turner
Untamed poster
Untamed 23rd November 1929 as Alice "Bingo" Dowling
Paris poster
Paris 24th May 1926 as The Girl
The Midshipman poster
The Midshipman 4th October 1925 as Extra - Driver of Police Car (uncredited)
The Circle poster
The Circle 22nd September 1925 as Young Lady Catherine