Joan Crawford
Acting
Born: March 23, 1906 · San Antonio, Texas, USA
Died: May 10, 1977 (aged 71)
Highest Rated
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.
Known for
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962
Johnny Guitar
1954
Mildred Pierce
1945
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
Grand Hotel
1932
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964
The Unknown
1927
The Women
1939
Sudden Fear
1952
Strait-Jacket
1964
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925
Possessed
1947
Photos (17)
Movies (113)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Blanche Hudson
Mildred Pierce
Mildred Pierce
Johnny Guitar
Vienna
Grand Hotel
Flämmchen
The Oscar
Joan Crawford
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Female on the Beach
Lynn Markham
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
The Best of Everything
Amanda Farrow
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
Forsaking All Others
Mary Clay
A Woman's Face
Anna Holm
The Women
Crystal Allen
Night Gallery
Miss Menlo
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Miriam Deering in Car (uncredited)
Sudden Fear
Myra Hudson Blaine
Daisy Kenyon
Daisy Kenyon
Strange Cargo
Julie
It's a Great Feeling
Joan Crawford (uncredited)
The Unknown
Nanon Zanzi
Humoresque
Helen Wright
I Saw What You Did
Amy Nelson
The Damned Don't Cry
Ethel Whitehead
The Karate Killers
Amanda True
Queen Bee
Eva Phillips
Strait-Jacket
Lucy Harbin
Reunion in France
Michele de la Becque
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Rain
Sadie Thompson
Susan and God
Susan Trexel
The Shining Hour
Olivia Riley Linden
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage) (uncredited)
Torch Song
Jenny Stewart
Chained
Diane Lovering
Possessed
Marian Martin aka 'Mrs. Moreland'
Berserk!
Monica Rivers
When Ladies Meet
Mary 'Minnie' Howard
Flamingo Road
Lane Bellamy
The Bride Wore Red
Anni Pavlovitch
Dancing Lady
Janie Barlow
The Boob
Jane
I Live My Life
Kay Bentley
The Green Fog
2018
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
2010
Above Suspicion
Frances Myles
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
Various Roles (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Mrs. Fay Cheyney
Trog
Dr. Brockton
Goodbye, My Fancy
Agatha Reed
The Law of the Range
Betty Dallas
The Big Parade of Comedy
Bobby (archive footage)
Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
Joan Fairchild
The Ice Follies of 1939
Mary McKay
Sally, Irene and Mary
Irene O'Dare
This Woman Is Dangerous
Elizabeth Austin
Sadie McKee
Sadie
The Stolen Jools
Joan Crawford
Autumn Leaves
Millicent Wetherby
The Story of Esther Costello
Margaret Landi
Dance, Fools, Dance
Bonnie Jordan
They All Kissed the Bride
Margaret Johanna 'M.J.' Drew
Paid
Mary Turner
The Caretakers
Lucretia Terry
Today We Live
Diana 'Ann' Boyce-Smith
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
Joan Crawford
Love on the Run
Sally Parker
The Duke Steps Out
Susie
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
Betty Burton
Proud Flesh
Party Guest (uncredited)
Possessed
Louise Howell
Our Blushing Brides
Geraldine 'Gerry' March
Fast Workers
Ivy Stevens (Archive Footage) (Uncredited)
Our Dancing Daughters
Diana 'Di' Medford
The Road to Edinburgh
Mary Andrews
The Midshipman
Extra - Driver of Police Car (uncredited)
A Slave of Fashion
Mannequin (uncredited)
Our Modern Maidens
Billie Brown
The Casting Couch
1995
Letty Lynton
Letty Lynton
Journey to Murder
Host
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009
The Merry Widow
Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
Across to Singapore
Priscilla Crowninshield
Spring Fever
Allie Monte
Mannequin
Jessie Cassidy
The Gorgeous Hussy
Margaret "Peggy" O'Neal
Montana Moon
Joan
Lady of the Night
Body Double for Norma Shearer
The Circle
Young Lady Catherine
Harriet Craig
Harriet Craig
Pretty Ladies
Bobby
Strange Witness
Ruth Marshall
Winners of the Wilderness
René Contrecoeur
No More Ladies
Marcia Townsend Warren
Bardelys the Magnificent
Court Gossip (uncredited)
This Modern Age
Valentine 'Val' Winters
One Must Die
1961
Della
Della Chappell
Gay! Gay! Hollywood
1994
The Understanding Heart
Monica Dale
Untamed
Alice "Bingo" Dowling
Twelve Miles Out
Jane
West Point
Betty Channing
Four Walls
Frieda
Laughing Sinners
Ivy 'Bunny' Stevens
Time, the Comedian
Art Student (as Lucille LeSueur)
The Taxi Dancer
Joselyn Poe
The Only Thing
Party Guest (uncredited)
Old Clothes
Mary Riley
Dream of Love
Adrienne Lecouvreur
Paris
The Girl
Rose-Marie
Rose-Marie
TV Shows (11)
The Virginian
Stephanie White · 1 eps
The Lucy Show
Joan Crawford · 1 eps
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Stella Faring · 1 eps
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Sarah / Melanie Davidson Hobbs · 1 eps
Route 66
Morgan Harper · 1 eps
The Name of the Game
Committee Member (uncredited) · 1 eps
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Amanda True · 1 eps
The Sixth Sense
Joan Fairchild · 1 eps
General Electric Theater
Ann Howard · 1 eps
General Electric Theater
Ruth Marshall · 1 eps
General Electric Theater
Mary Andrews · 1 eps
Self / Appearances (58)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · 1 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · 5 eps
Great Performances
Self · 1 eps
What's My Line?
Self · 5 eps
The Oscars
Self · 8 eps
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self · 1 eps
Startime
Self · 1 eps
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
Self (archive footage)
The Tim Conway Show
Self · 1 eps
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Self (archive footage)
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
Self (archive footage / uncredited)
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Self - Janie Barlow (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Romance of Celluloid
Self (archive footage)
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Self
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
Self (archive)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
Self (archive footage)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Self (archive footage)
Zwischen Glück und Krone
Self (archive footage)
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
Self (archive footage)
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
Self (archive footage) (voice)
Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'
Self (archive footage)
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Canteen
Self
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
Self (archive footage)
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
Self (archive footage)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Self
Lykke og krone
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
This was the MARY
Self/Narrator
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
Self (archive footage)
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Self
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Self
Journey to the Unknown
Self - Host
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 1
Self
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Self (archive footage)
We’re Switching to Hollywood
Self
From the Ends of the Earth
Self
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Self (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6
Self
Joan Crawford's Home Movies
Self
1925 Studio Tour
Self
Blow-Ups of 1946
Self
Garbo, by Joan Crawford
Self - Host / Narrator (voice)
Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12
Self (uncredited)
Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
Self (archive footage)
How to Plan a Movie Murder
Self
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
Self
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Self (archive footage)
The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
Self (archive)
At Home with Joan Crawford
Self
Bette and Joan
Self (archive footage)
Showbiz Ballyhoo
Self (archive footage)
Through Many Windows
Self - Narrator
