Joan Crawford
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- March 23, 1906
- Place of birth
- San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Died
- May 10, 1977
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 with Joan Crawford
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962 · ★ 7.9
- Johnny Guitar 1954 · ★ 7.4
- Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid 1982 · ★ 6.6
- Mildred Pierce 1945 · ★ 7.6
- Grand Hotel 1932 · ★ 7.0
- Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte 1964 · ★ 7.3
- The Unknown 1927 · ★ 7.5
- The Women 1939 · ★ 7.2
- Sudden Fear 1952 · ★ 7.2
- Strait-Jacket 1964 · ★ 6.6
- Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ 1925 · ★ 7.3
- Possessed 1947 · ★ 6.9
- Humoresque 1947 · ★ 7.0
- A Woman's Face 1941 · ★ 6.8
- That's Entertainment! 1974 · ★ 7.4
- I Saw What You Did 1965 · ★ 6.2
- Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story 2025 · ★ 7.5
- The Damned Don't Cry 1950 · ★ 7.0
- Autumn Leaves 1956 · ★ 7.0
- Rain 1932 · ★ 6.6
- Flamingo Road 1949 · ★ 7.0
- Strange Cargo 1940 · ★ 7.0
- Daisy Kenyon 1947 · ★ 6.6
- Berserk! 1967 · ★ 5.6
- The Best of Everything 1959 · ★ 6.3
- That's Entertainment, Part II 1976 · ★ 7.0
- Dancing Lady 1933 · ★ 6.9
- Trog 1970 · ★ 4.6
- The Merry Widow 1925 · ★ 6.7
- Possessed 1931 · ★ 6.9
- That's Entertainment! III 1994 · ★ 7.1
- Above Suspicion 1943 · ★ 6.2
- Queen Bee 1955 · ★ 6.3
- It's a Great Feeling 1949 · ★ 5.9
- Female on the Beach 1955 · ★ 5.7
- The Hollywood Revue of 1929 1929 · ★ 5.7
- The Stolen Jools 1931 · ★ 5.6
- Our Dancing Daughters 1928 · ★ 6.3
- Harriet Craig 1950 · ★ 7.5
- Hollywood Canteen 1944 · ★ 7.3