Newquist, Roy, with introduction by John Springer (1980). Designed by Adrian, the gown with large ruffled sleeves which Crawford wore in the movie became a popular style that same year, and was even copied by Macy's. When Joan and her then husband, Phillip Terry adopted this son, he … Directed by William Castle. Was introduced to Joan Crawford in May of 1942 by drama critic Harry Mines. [118][119] As of 2018, any streaming/airing of this series was stopped by restraint order from lower California courts until Olivia de Havilland could be heard by the United States Supreme Court on whether producers had the right to use her likeness (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) without permission despite her being a public figure. From the beginning of her career, Crawford considered Norma Shearer – the studio's most-popular actress – her professional nemesis. After a 10-year absence from MGM, she returned to that studio to star in Torch Song (1953), a musical drama centering on the life of a demanding stage star who falls in love with a blind pianist, played by Michael Wilding. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. [37], Her strategy worked and MGM cast her in the film where she first made an impression on audiences, Edmund Goulding's Sally, Irene and Mary (1925). She next played the title role in Sadie McKee (1934), opposite Tone and Gene Raymond. Many of Crawford's friends and co-workers, including Van Johnson, Ann Blyth, Myrna Loy, Katharine Hepburn, Cesar Romero, Gary Gray, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Crawford's first husband), and Crawford's two other younger daughters, Cathy and Cindy, denounced the book, categorically denying any abuse. In 1954, she starred in Johnny Guitar, a cult classic directed by Nicholas Ray, co-starring Sterling Hayden and Mercedes McCambridge. in the bedroom. Her success continued with a performance as a facially disfigured criminal in the melodrama A Woman's Face, which garnered her critical acclaim. Director: Nicholas Ray | Stars: Joan Crawford, Sterling Hayden, Mercedes McCambridge, Scott Brady Votes: 15,560 Both Davis and Crawford were backstage - Crawford having presented best director - when the absent Anne Bancroft was announced as the winner and Crawford accepted the award on her behalf. [15], The relationship between Crawford and Fairbanks, Sr., eventually warmed; she called him Uncle Doug, and he called her Billie, her childhood nickname, but one that close friends used throughout her life. That death is, to this day, still categorized as “mysterious” by Davis biographers. “I liked sex in a way that was considered unbecoming for a woman of my time,” Davis told her biographer Charlotte Chandler. [13], Crawford married four times. She sleeps with the boss! It was both a physical and emotional need. Alfred Steele (Joan) Joan’s final husband, Pepsi-Cola mogul Alfred Steele, wasn’t himself the source of any controversy, but long after his 1959 death from a heart attack, scandal came knocking. That same year, she co-starred in Paris with Charles Ray. Crawford's relationships with her two eldest children, Christina and Christopher, were acrimonious. Crawford then signed a motion picture contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925; her career spanned six decades, multiple studios, and controversies. William Wyler (Bette) There were many men in Davis’s life, but she famously described director William Wyler as the one that got away. Crawford later named the role as being one of her personal favorites. In lieu of the last film remaining under her contract, MGM bought her out for $100,000. "It was then", she said, "I became aware for the first time of the difference between standing in front of a camera, and acting." She next starred in The Gorgeous Hussy (1936), opposite Robert Taylor and Lionel Barrymore, as well as Tone. Crawford said one of the main reasons she signed with Warner Bros. was because she wanted to play the character "Mattie" in a proposed 1944 film version of Edith Wharton's novel Ethan Frome (1911). During the early sound era, MGM began to place Crawford in more sophisticated roles, rather than continuing to promote her flapper-inspired persona of the silent era. Love on the Run (1936), a romantic comedy directed by W. S. Van Dyke, was her seventh film co-starring Clark Gable. For the basketball player, see, Transition to sound, and continued success. The initial choice was "Joan Arden", but after another actress was found to have prior claim to that name, the alternate surname "Crawford" became the choice. Died at his home in Santa Barbara, was cremated, and his ashes scattered into the Pacific Ocean. Those expecting a racy tell-all were disappointed, although Crawford's meticulous ways were revealed in her advice on grooming, wardrobe, exercise, and even food storage. Vin Scully was so upset with the death of his wife. [57] It was one of the highest-grossing movies of the year,[58] and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. After the film's release, Crawford guest-starred as herself on The Lucy Show. Crawford and MGM Reunite. Despite the actresses' earlier tensions, Crawford reportedly suggested Bette Davis for the role of Jane. She was tough as a wife as well, emasculating her husbands by making them kneel and beg for sex. [21] Following their relocation, Cassin, a Catholic, placed Crawford at St. Agnes Academy in Kansas City. [53] Dance, Fools, Dance, released in February 1931, was the first pairing of Crawford and Gable. Crawford earned the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.[75]. No More Ladies (1935) co-starred Robert Montgomery and then-husband Franchot Tone, and was a success. [83], Crawford received the sixth annual "Pally Award", which was in the shape of a bronze Pepsi bottle. After 18 years, Crawford's contract with MGM was terminated by mutual consent on June 29, 1943. Whether it was this incident or her return to religion, Christian Science, she quit drinking in 1974.[97]. Joan didn't marry again for ten years, but she did have a home life. To Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. from June 3 rd 1929 to May 12 th 1933. Left, from Silver Screen Collection; Right by John Springer Collection/Corbis, both from Getty Images. Crawford traveled extensively on behalf of Pepsi following the marriage. [69] Richard Boleslawski's comedy-drama The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937) teamed her opposite William Powell in their sole screen pairing. From the awards race to the box office, with everything in between: get the entertainment industry's must-read newsletter. Or was it nine? [32] Rapf notified Granlund on December 24, 1924, that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) had offered Crawford a contract at $75 a week. And I never saw any witnesses William Grant Sherry (Bette): When Sherry and Davis divorced after five years of marriage (and one child, B.D. people who said we were having an affair. The Hollywood Revue of 1929 was one of the studio's first all-talking films, and their first attempt to showcase their stars' ability to make the transition from silent to sound. [100] A funeral was held at Campbell Funeral Home, New York, on May 13, 1977. Crawford told Chandler, who wrote both her biography and Davis’s: Clark was all man. She was 72. The children were adopted from Tennessee Children's Home Society, an orphanage/child-trafficking unit operated by Georgia Tann, a source used by many childless Hollywood stars to adopt[76] until Tann's discovery and death erupted in infamy in 1952.[77]. Receiving third billing, she played the middle-class stenographer to Beery's controlling general director. Her greatest success and most popular performances came from melodramas and romantic comedies, but her filmography ranges in genres from film noir and historical costume dramas to musicals and horror films. After her death, photographs of John F. Kennedy (for whom she had voted in the 1960 presidential election)[95] were found in her apartment. director Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina) . Crawford made a cameo appearance as herself in the first episode of The Tim Conway Show, which aired on January 30, 1970. “Joan Crawford wasn’t the first Hollywood actress to trade sex for stardom,” says Bret. I’ve been asked many times about him and what was Crawford was among the dozen or more MGM stars included in the movie; she sang the song "Got a Feeling for You" during the film's first act. Davis claimed for the rest of her life that Crawford had campaigned against her, a charge Crawford denied. The two collaborated on some her best work—The Letter (1940) and The Little Foxes (1941)—and conducted an affair off-screen. Joan’s third marriage was to Phillip … The couple built a small theatre at Crawford's Brentwood home, and put on productions of classic plays for select groups of friends that lived in the popular Brentwood area like Clark Gable and Charley Chase. But ‘Howard Huge’ he was not.”, 6. That, more than anything, has become Tone’s enduring legacy. While the film was only a moderate box office success, Crawford's performance was hailed by many critics.[71]. [28] She attended Stephens for only a few months before withdrawing after she realized she was not prepared for college. It is reported that Joan Crawford died at the age of 35 due to an accidental medication overdose. [50] Montana Moon (1930), an uneasy mix of Western clichés and music, teamed her with John Mack Brown and Ricardo Cortez. Costume fittings started filming off roughly when Curtiz suspected Crawford of wearing shoulder pads and he proceeded to tear the top of her dress. Crawford continued her reign as a popular movie actress well into the mid-1930s. Though Crawford was, throughout her life, always considered the more obviously sexually desirable of the two, neither woman was above using a romance for personal and professional gain. There isn’t much evident to back this up—not even in Davis’s most comprehensive and salacious biographies—but it was absolutely something Davis could have done. I would lock myself in my room and read newspapers, magazines and books aloud. [86], That same year, Crawford starred as Lucy Harbin in William Castle's horror mystery Strait-Jacket (1964). Within a few years, she became the romantic lead to many of MGM's top male stars, including Ramón Novarro, John Gilbert, William Haines, and Tim McCoy. One day in an attempt to escape piano lessons, she leapt from the front porch of her home and cut her foot severely on a broken milk bottle. Herbert L. Barnet, Steele's handpicked successor as chairman … “He was madly in love with her,” Davis would recall. This extends to the ups and downs of their careers, their ball-busting reputations, and their modern approaches to sex. [67] Crawford and Tone later rekindled their friendship, and Tone even proposed in 1964 that they remarry. It was fueled by competition over film roles, Academy Awards, and Franchot Tone (Joan Crawford's second husband), who was Davis's co-star in 1935's Dangerous. Crawford wasn’t welcome on the grounds of the couple’s famed estate—Pickfair—for the first eight months of the 1929 marriage. She remained on the list for the next several years, last appearing on it in 1936. The two were allegedly married in 1924, and lived together for several months, although this supposed marriage was never mentioned in later life by Crawford. [27], In 1922, she registered at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, giving her year of birth as 1906. ", "Joan Crawford Dies at Home; Joan Crawford, Screen Star, Dies in Manhattan Home", "The References: "Feud" Episode 7 + "Hush... Hush... Sweet Charlotte" (Viewers Request)", "Joan Crawford Takes Daughter's Soap Opera Role", "Joan Crawford's Last Will and Testament", "Playboy Ranks 100 Sexiest Stars of the Century in January Issue", ROLLING STONES EXILE ON MAIN STREET 1972 COC UK 1st Press 2LP, "Why Bette Davis and Joan Crawford's Feud Lasted a Lifetime", "Olivia de Havilland, Now 102, Will Take 'Feud' to Supreme Court", "Supreme Court won't hear Olivia de Havilland case that 'Feud' depicted her as gossipmonger", Joan Crawford awards at Brandeis University, National Board of Review Award for Best Actress, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joan_Crawford&oldid=999810432, 20th-century American non-fiction writers, Disease-related deaths in New York (state), Cecil B. DeMille Award Golden Globe winners, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages, Pages using Sister project links with wikidata namespace mismatch, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers, Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Although the film had problems with censors, it was a major success at the time of its release. Clark Gable had balls. [26] While there, she began dating, and had her first serious relationship with a trumpet player named Ray Sterling, who reportedly inspired her to begin challenging herself academically. . [56] Grand Hotel was released in April 1932 to critical and commercial success. She stated that she learned more about acting from watching Chaney work than from anyone else in her career. I have never forgiven her for that and never will.”. Her first three marriages ended in divorce; the last ended with the death of husband Alfred Steele. The episode, "Lucy and the Lost Star", first aired on February 26, 1968. I can tell you, and I can tell you in one He would return to the set, his face covered in lipstick. Her next film was Humoresque (1946), co-starring John Garfield, a romantic drama about a love affair between an older woman and a younger man. After helping a wounded gang member, a strong-willed female saloon owner is wrongly suspected of murder and bank robbery by a lynch mob. [12], In 1970 Crawford made her last theatrical film, and until a few weeks before her death, she continued to tape numerous regular radio spots and announcements for a variety of not-for-profit causes. [109], Crawford has also attracted a following in the gay community. The two stars maintained publicly that there was no feud between them. She starred alongside Van Heflin in Possessed (1947), for which she received a second Academy Award nomination. Granlund immediately wired LeSueur, who had returned to her mother's home in Kansas City, with the news; she borrowed $400 for travel expenses. [70], She made a comeback in 1939 with her role as home-wrecker Crystal Allen in The Women, opposite her professional nemesis, Norma Shearer. Left, from Everett Collection; Right, by Nina Prommer/PatrickMcmullan.com. The marriage wore thin and they divorced in the middle or late 20’s in crack of dawn and then pick her up while trying to keep out of sight. Warner Bros. defied Curtiz and cast Crawford in the film. But there are rumors that she was also briefly married in New York, before she moved to Hollywood to marry into one of the most famous families in town. [90], In 1965, she played Amy Nelson in I Saw What You Did, another William Castle vehicle. I cried for nine hours. One of Hollywood’s greatest stars, Joan Crawford, was redefined as a sadistic control freak by Mommie Dearest, her daughter’s 1978 tell-all. Following a public appearance in 1974, she withdrew from events that required her to be photographed, becoming increasingly reclusive until her death in 1977. For several years, she starred in what were called "a series of first-rate melodramas". Directed by Robert Z. Leonard. [19] Crawford's mother married Henry J. Cassin, however, the marriage is listed in the census as her first. [48], To rid herself of her Southwestern accent, Crawford tirelessly practiced diction and elocution. The alleged feud between Crawford and Bette Davis is depicted in the 1989 book Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud. The movie was Torch Song and it was a romantic musical drama. Joan Crawford (Kerr) Jones. Clark. As MGM screenwriter Frederica Sagor Maas recalled, "No one decided to make Joan Crawford a star. Arthur Farnsworth (Bette): Davis, like Crawford, married a man with an A-name who had nothing to do with Hollywood. By 1961, Joan Crawford was once again her own publicity machine, with a new script, "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? But Davis made some explosively delicious claims about the man who also dated Ava Gardner, Olivia de Havilland, Katharine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Rita Hayworth, and Gene Tierney. Fairbanks was only 19; Crawford was 4 years older. She starred on the big screen one final time, playing Dr. Brockton in Herman Cohen's science fiction horror film Trog (1970), rounding out a career spanning 45 years and more than 80 motion pictures. [79], Crawford married her fourth—and final—husband, Alfred Steele, at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas on May 10, 1955. ; "Our Blushing Brides" at Capitol Features Joan Crawford", "Leading Men of Hollywood: Clark Gable | The Saturday Evening Post", "The Academy Award That Joan Crawford Accepted in Bed Sells; Can You Guess for How Much? [82], Steele died of a heart attack in April 1959. But “Ham”—as he was better known—had even more explosive dirt on Davis: evidence of her torrid affair with director Howard Hughes. Shubert. Speaking with Chandler, Davis said she was the only woman to ever bring Hughes to “climax.” She adds: “Or so he said at the time. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. She unexpectedly slipped from seventh to sixteenth place at the box office that year, and her public popularity also began to wane. But many people also remember the film star for … Though she started by portraying flappers, Crawford often played wealthy women in distress (Dance, Fools, Dance, This Modern Age, Letty Lynton, No More Ladies, I Live My Life, Susan and God) or hard-working young women who found romance and success (Our Dancing Daughters, Paid, Laughing Sinners, Grand Hotel, Dancing Lady, Sadie McKee, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, The Shining Hour, The Bride Wore Red, Mannequin). Vincent Sherman (Joan): Like many of her male contemporaries in Hollywood, Crawford knew how to exploit sexual desire in order to get what she wanted. He was cremated.” It should be noted that many of Christina Crawford’s allegations—which filled the pages of her best-selling Mommie Dearest and inspired its hugely popular film adaptation—have been called into question by Joan’s friends and family. Denby, David, "Escape Artist, The Case for Joan Crawford", Basinger, Jeanine, The Star Machine, Knopf Books, 2007, p. 37, greatest female stars of Classic Hollywood Cinema, Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "Fact-Checking Feud: Joan Crawford and Bette Davis's 1963 Oscar Showdown", "I'll never forgive Mommie: Joan Crawford's daughter gives first interview in 10 years", "Joan Crawford's Story About Having Sex With Her Stepfather On 'Feud' Raises Serious Concerns", "SALESGIRLS IN NEW TALKIE. Many studios and stars avoided making the transition as long as possible, especially MGM, which was the last of the major studios to switch over to sound. [93], In 1970, Crawford was presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award by John Wayne at the Golden Globes, which was telecast from the Coconut Grove at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. However, Davis turned the role down. With Joan Crawford, Diane Baker, Leif Erickson, Howard St. John. For $500,000, Crawford signed with Warner Bros. for a three-movie deal, and was placed on the payroll on July 1, 1943. [81] He later was named chairman of the board and CEO of Pepsi-Cola. Since she [Joan] didn’t [23][24], Beginning in childhood, Crawford's ambition was to be a dancer. He alleged that she neglected him in order to pursue her acting. Anyway it worked with me, and it was cheaper than buying gifts. Crawford also received two Best Actress Award nominations as recognition for her work in Possessed (1947) and Sudden Fear (1952). In 1938, she was among a group of actresses deemed "box office poison" by theater owners, until her pivotal role in the all-female cast of 1939's The Women gained her praise from critics and audiences alike. At that time, Crawford was reportedly unaware that Cassin, whom she referred to as "daddy", was not her biological father until her brother Hal told her the truth. Also in 1927, she appeared alongside her close friend, William Haines, in Spring Fever, which was the first of three movies the duo made together. Crawford worked in the radio series The Screen Guild Theater on January 8, 1939; Good News; Baby, broadcast on March 2, 1940, on Arch Oboler's Lights Out; The Word on Everyman's Theater (1941); Chained on the Lux Radio Theater, and Norman Corwin's Document A/777 (1948). She later starred as a facially disfigured blackmailer in A Woman's Face (1941), a remake of the Swedish film En kvinnas ansikte which had starred Ingrid Bergman in the lead role three years earlier. Despite the success of the film at the box office, it received mixed reviews from critics, who noted that while Crawford seemed nervous at making the transition to sound, she had become one of the most popular actresses in the world. Here—ranked in order of old Hollywood scandal—are the many loves and affairs of Crawford and Davis, including the man who helped kicked off their feud in the first place. "[74] Mildred Pierce was a resounding critical and commercial success. In an August 2016 episode of the “You Must Remember This” podcast, Longworth explains in detail just how truly scandalous Crawford’s first Hollywood marriage was. She apparently was still under 20 when her first two children were born. [25], In June 1917, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, after Cassin was accused of embezzlement; although acquitted, he was blacklisted in Lawton. Our Blushing Brides (1930) the final installment in the Our Dancing Daughters franchise co-starring Robert Montgomery and Anita Page, where Crawford "carries the burden of dramatics in this photoplay and comes off splendidly and intelligently. Even though Crawford remained a respected MGM actress, and her films still earned profits, her popularity declined in the late 1930s. Following that first invitation, Crawford and Fairbanks, Jr., became more frequent guests. so attractive about him. [47] She and Pickford, however, continued to despise each other. "[96] Crawford cancelled all public appearances, began declining interviews, and left her apartment less and less. [13] Tone allegedly began drinking and became physically abusive. According to Davis, Wyler greeted her coolly and politely, as if there had never been a love affair between them. "She comes over here with her high-hat airs and her goddamn shoulder pads... Why should I waste my time directing a has-been? Crawford’s fourth and final husband didn’t fit the actor/director mold; in fact, he was a businessman and on the board of Pepsi-Cola. . James Welton (Joan): According to most official biographies, Joan Crawford only had four husbands. Crawford adopted her first child, a daughter, in 1940. In 1955, Crawford became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company through her marriage to company Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alfred Steele, although she continued to act in film and television throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The film was a huge success, recouping its costs within eleven days of its nationwide release reviving Davis and Crawford's careers. [60], On loan to United Artists, she played prostitute Sadie Thompson in Rain (1932), a film version of John Colton's 1923 play. [63], In 1935, Crawford married Franchot Tone, a stage actor from New York who planned to use his film earnings to finance his theatre group. © 2021 Condé Nast. Farnsworth was an innkeeper, and he and Davis were married until his untimely death in 1943. [89] Despite being replaced, brief footage of Crawford made it into the film when she is seen sitting in a taxi in a wide shot. 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