Joan Crawford

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 compa…

Movies & TV Shows

1. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) — Blanche Hudson
2. Johnny Guitar (1954) — Vienna
3. Mildred Pierce (1945) — Mildred Pierce
4. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) — (in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
5. Grand Hotel (1932) — Flämmchen
6. Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) — Miriam Deering in Car (uncredited)
7. The Unknown (1927) — Nanon Zanzi
8. The Women (1939) — Crystal Allen
9. Sudden Fear (1952) — Myra Hudson Blaine
10. Strait-Jacket (1964) — Lucy Harbin
11. Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ (1925) — Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
12. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) — Self
13. Possessed (1947) — Louise Howell
14. The Oscars (1953) — Self
15. A Woman's Face (1941) — Anna Holm
16. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964) — Amanda True
17. Humoresque (1947) — Helen Wright
18. I Saw What You Did (1965) — Amy Nelson
19. That's Entertainment! (1974) — (archive footage) (uncredited)
20. The Damned Don't Cry (1950) — Ethel Whitehead
21. Autumn Leaves (1956) — Millicent Wetherby
22. Flamingo Road (1949) — Lane Bellamy
23. Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (2025) — Self (archive footage)
24. Rain (1932) — Sadie Thompson
25. Strange Cargo (1940) — Julie
26. Daisy Kenyon (1947) — Daisy Kenyon
27. The Lucy Show (1962) — Joan Crawford
28. Berserk! (1967) — Monica Rivers
29. Dancing Lady (1933) — Janie Barlow
30. Trog (1970) — Dr. Brockton
31. The Best of Everything (1959) — Amanda Farrow
32. Possessed (1931) — Marian Martin aka 'Mrs. Moreland'
33. The Merry Widow (1926) — Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
34. That's Entertainment, Part II (1976) — (archive footage)
35. That's Entertainment! III (1994) — (archive footage)
36. Above Suspicion (1943) — Frances Myles
37. Queen Bee (1955) — Eva Phillips
38. Female on the Beach (1955) — Lynn Markham
39. The Virginian (1962) — Stephanie White
40. The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) — Self

Directed

1. Joan Crawford's Home Movies (1942) — Director