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Joan Crawford Biography |
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Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas, the third child of Tennessee-born Thomas E. LeSueur (1868–1938) and Anna Bell Johnson (1884–1958). Her older siblings were Daisy LeSueur, who died very young, and Hal LeSueur. Although Crawford was of mostly English descent, her surname originates from her great-great-great-great grandparents, David LeSueur and Elizabeth Chastain, French Huguenots who immigrated from London in the early 1700s to Virginia, where they lived for several generations.
Crawford`s father was said to have abandoned the family in Texas; Crawford later said she had been only a few months old when her father left. Her mother later married Henry J. Cassin. The family lived in Lawton, Oklahoma, where Cassin ran a movie theater. The 1910 Comanche County, Oklahoma, Federal Census, enumerated on April 20, shows Henry and Anna living at 910 "D" Street in Lawton. Lucille was then five years old, thus showing that 1905 was her likely year of birth, although later on, she would shave some years off and claim she was born in 1908. Growing up, she preferred the nickname "Billie", and she loved watching vaudeville acts perform on the stage of her stepfather`s theater. Her ambition was to be a dancer. Unfortunately, she cut her foot deeply on a broken milk bottle when she leapt from the front porch of her home in an attempt to escape piano lessons and run and play with friends. She was unable to attend elementary school for a year and a half and eventually had three operations on her foot. She eventually overcame the injury and returned not only to walking normally, but to dancing as well. Around 1916, the family moved to Kansas City, Missouri. Henry Cassin was first listed in the City Directory in 1917, living at 403 East Ninth Street. While still in elementary school, she was placed in St. Agnes Academy, a Catholic school in Kansas City. Later, after her mother and stepfather broke up, she stayed on at St. Agnes as a work student. She then went to Rockingham Academy as a work student. In 1922, she registered at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and gave her year of birth as 1906. She attended Stephens for less than a year, however, as she recognized that she was not academically prepared for college. She began as a dancer in a chorus line under the name Lucille LeSueur, eventually making her way to New York. In 1924, she signed a contract with MGM, and arrived in Culver City, California, in January, 1925. Crawford started out in Silent films. As Lucille LeSueur, her first film was Pretty Ladies in 1925, which starred ZaSu Pitts. Pretty Ladies was the first and only time Crawford used her birth name professionally. According to the book Stardust and Shadows: Canadians in Early Hollywood, features a quote from Crawford herself, claiming that it was Sam De Grasse who said that her name LeSueur sounded too much like `sewer`. A contest in the fan magazine Movie Weekly became the source of her well-known stage name. The female contestant who entered the name Joan Crawford was awarded $500. Though Crawford reportedly detested the name at first, saying it sounded like "crawfish", and called herself JoAnne for some time, she eventually became used to it. (Her friend, actor William Haines, quipped "You`re lucky- they could have called you Cranberry and served you up with a Turkey!") Crawford first made an impression on audiences in Edmund Goulding`s Sally, Irene and Mary ( |
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Trivia |
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BiographyMeasurementsBust: 35" - Waist: 5 " Hips: 37" (Shoe size: 4c)Friends and FamilyWiliam Haines [Friend]Trivia and QuotesQuotes [on director George Cukor] Mr. Cukor is a hard task-master, a fine director and he took me over the coals giving me the roughest time I have ever had. And I am eternally grateful. "Hollywood is like life, you face it with the sum total of your equipment." "I love playing bitches. There`s a lot of bitch in every woman - a lot in every man." "If I can`t be me, I don`t want to be anybody. I was born that way." "If you`re going to be a star, you have to look like a star, and I never go out unless I look like Joan Crawford the movie star. If you want to see the girl next door, go next door." "If you`ve earned a position, be proud of it. Don`t hide it. I want to be recognized. When I hear people say, Joan Crawford !` I turn around and say, `Hi! How are you!`" "I`d like to think every director I`ve worked with has fallen in love with me, I know Dorothy Arzner did." "Of all the actresses ... to me, only Faye Dunaway has the talent and the class and the courage it takes to make a real star." "Working with Bette Davis was my greatest challenge and I mean that kindly. She liked to scream and yell. I just sit and knit. During the filming of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), I knitted a scarf from Hollywood to Malibu". "You`re right. She was cheap, and an exhibitionist. She was never professional, and that irritated the hell out of people. But for God`s sake, she needed help. She had all these people on her payroll. Where they hell were they when she needed them? Why in the hell did she have to die alone?" (Speaking to director George Cukor after learning of Marilyn Monroe `s death) "I think the most important thing a woman can have -- next to talent, of course, is -- her hairdresser." "Look, there`s nothing wrong with my tits, but I don`t go around throwing them in people`s faces!" (Crawford, criticizing Marilyn Monroe .) "Mother and daughter feuds make for reams in print; they also make for reams of inaccuracies: the greatest inaccuracy is the feud itself. It takes two to feud and I`m not one of them. I only wish the best for Tina." - in reference to the ongoing fued between herself and her daughter Christina "Nobody can imitate me. You can always see impersonations of Katharine Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe. But not me. Because I`ve always drawn on myself only." "Not that anyone cares,but there`s a right and wrong way to clean a house." "Recently I heard a `wise guy` story that I had a party at my home for twenty-five men. It`s an interesting story, but I don`t know twenty-five men I`d want to invite to a party." "Send me flowers while I`m alive. They won`t do me a damn bit of good after I`m dead." "Women`s Lib? Poor little things. They always look so unhappy. Have you noticed how bitter their faces are?" "You have to be self-reliant and strong to survive in this town. Otherwise you will be destroyed." There was a saying around M-G-M - " Norma Shearer got the productions, Greta Garbo` supplied the art, and Joan Crawford made the money to pay for both." "I hate being asked to discuss those dreadful horror pictures I made the mistake of starring in. They were all just so disappointing to me, I really had high expectations for some of them. I thought that William Castle and I did our best on Strait-Jacket (1964) but the script was ludicrous and unbelievable and that destroyed that picture. I even thought that _Berserk! (1968)_ would be good but that was one of the worst of the lot. The other one William Castle and I did was the most wretched of them all and I just wasn`t good at playing an over-the-hill nymphomaniac. Ha! Then came Trog (1970). Now you can understand why I retired from making motion pictures. Incidentally, I think at that point in my career I was doing my best work on television. Della was a good television role for me, and I really liked working on that pilot episode of Night Gallery (1969) (TV) with young Steven Spielberg. He did a great job and I am very satisfied with my performance on that show. Funny, every time a reporter asks me about my horror pictures they never talk about that one, and it`s the only one I liked!" "I need sex for a clear complexion, but I`d rather do it for love." "I realized one morning that Trog (1970) was going to be my last picture. I had to be up early for the shoot and when I looked outside at the beautiful morning sky I felt that it was time to say goodbye. I think that may have been a prophetic thought because when I arrived on the set that morning the director told me that due to budget cuts we would wrap up filming today. The last shot of that film was a one-take and it was a very emotional moment for me. When I was walking up that hill towards the sunset I was flooded with memories of the last 50 years, and when the director yelled cut I just kept on walking. That for me was the perfect way to end my film career, however the audiences who had to sit through that picture may feel differently." "If I weren`t a Christian Scientist, and I saw Trog (1970) advertised on a marquee across the street, I`d think I`d contemplate suicide." "If you have an ounce of common sense and one good friend, you don`t need an analyst." "If you start watching the oldies, you`re in trouble. I feel ancient if Grand Hotel (1932) or The Bride Wore Red (1937) comes on. I have a sneaking regard for _Mildred Pierce (1945)_, but the others do nothing for me." "If you want to see the girl next door, go next door" "Love is fire. But whether it is going to warm your hearth or burn down your house, you can never tell." "They were all terrible, even the few I thought might be good. I made them because I needed the money or because I was bored or both. I hope they have been exhibited and withdrawn and are never heard from again." - regarding her films that followed _What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)_. "[In The Women (1939)] Norma Shearer made me change my costume sixteen times because every one was prettier than hers. I love to play bitches and she _helped_ me in this part."Trivia In 1933 she appeared in a Coca-Cola print advertisement. Some years later, in 1955, she married Pepsi-Cola board chairman Alfred N. Steele. In 1959, just after the death of her husband Alfred Steele, Joan remained employed by Pepsi-Cola, earning $60,000 per year. While touring the talk show circuit to promote What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), she told one interviewer that when she and Joan Crawford were first suggested for the leads, Warner studio head Jack L. Warner replied: "I wouldn`t give a plugged nickel for either of those two old broads." Recalling the story, Davis laughed at her own expense. The following day, she reportedly received a telegram from Crawford: "In future, please do not refer to me as an old broad!". Often wore shoulder pads. She was actually Fred Astaire`s first on-screen dance partner. They appeared in Dancing Lady (1933). After her husband died, she still continued to set a place for him at the dinner table. After she was signed to MGM, someone attempted to extort money from the studio by claiming they had a porn film that featured a young Crawford. The attempt failed when MGM pointed out they could not definitely prove the actress in the film was Crawford. The incident was mentioned in a couple of biographies. Although Crawford claimed her youngest daughters Cathy and Cindy were twins, most sources, including her two older children, claim they were just two babies born about a month apart. Her two older children claimed they couldn`t be twins because they looked nothing alike. In the early 1990s, Cathy found their birth certificate, which proved that they were indeed twins, born on January 13, 1947. The fact that they were fraternal twins, rather than identical, can account for the fact that they did not look alike. The twins eventually met their birth father and other biological relatives. They found out that their birth mother had died of kidney failure soon after birth and that their father, who had not been married to their mother, did not find out about them until after it was too late. They were sold illegally to Joan Crawford by Tennessee Children`s Home Society director Georgia Tann. Comedic actress Betty Hutton, who lived near Crawford for a time, stated that she seen some of the abuse claimed by Joan`s daughter `Christina Crawford`. Hutton would often encourage her own children to spend some time with "those poor children", as she felt they needed some fun in their lives. Her popularity grew so quickly after her name was changed to Joan Crawford that two films in which she was still billed as Lucille Le Sueur: Old Clothes (1925) and The Only Thing (1925) were recalled, and the billings were altered. In 1963, she accepted the Oscar for "Best Actress in a Leading Role" on behalf of Anne Bancroft, who wasn`t present at the awards ceremony. Met her biological father only once when he visited her on the set of Chained (1934). She would never see him again. WAMPAS Baby of 1926 Adopted four children: Christina, Christopher, and twins Cynthia and Cathy. As a child, Joan was playing in the front yard of her home in Texas when she got a large piece of glass lodged in her foot. After it was removed, doctors told her she would likely never walk again without a limp. Joan was determined to be a dancer, so she practiced walking and dancing every day for over six months until she was able to walk without pain. Not only did she make a full recovery, she also fulfilled her dream of becoming a chorus dancer. Decided to adopt children after suffering a series of miscarriages with her husbands and being told by doctors that she would never be able to have a baby. Drank excessively and smoked until she began practicing Christian Science, at which time she abruptly quit doing both. During her later years, Crawford was drinking up to a quart of vodka a day. Her little tap dancing in The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929) was the first audible tap dance on the screen. Her Oscar statuette for Mildred Pierce (1945) went on auction after her death and sold for $68,000. The auction house had predicted a top bid of $15,000. Joan adopted all of her children except Christopher Crawford while she was unmarried. Since the state of California did not allow single men and women to adopt children at that time, Joan had to search for agencies in the eastern United States. The agency in charge of the adoption of Christina Crawford was later uncovered as part of a black market baby ring. Joan never liked the name "Crawford", saying to friend, actor William Haines that it sounded too much like "Crawfish". He replied that it was much better than "Cranberry," which became the nickname he used for Crawford for over 50 years. Joan was dancing in a chorus line in 1925 when she was spotted by MGM and offered a screen test. Joan, who wanted more than anything to continue dancing, turned down the offer at first. But another chorus girl pursuaded Joan to try the test, and a few weeks later she was put under contract. Because Joan was bullied and shunned at Stephens College by the other students due to her poor homelife, she answered every single piece of fanmail she received in her lifetime except those from former classmates at Stephens. Despite being a big star, Crawford really didn`t appear in that many film classics. One she missed out on was From Here to Eternity (1953) in 1953. When the domineering actress insisted that her costumes be designed by Sheila O`Brien, studio head Harry Cohn replaced her with Deborah Kerr. Her 1933 contract with MGM was so detailed and binding, it even had a clause in it indicating what time she was expected to be in bed each night. Her final words before dying were quoted as being "Damn it . . . Don`t you dare ask God to help me." which was said to her housekeeper, who had begun to pray aloud. In her final years at MGM, Crawford was handed weak scripts in the hopes that she`d break her contract. Two films she hungered to appear in were Random Harvest (1942) and Madame Curie (1943). Both films went to bright new star Greer Garson instead, and Crawford left the studio soon after. In the early 1930s, tired of playing fun-loving flappers, Joan wanted to change her image. Thin lips would not do for her, she wanted big lips. Ignoring Crawford`s natural lip contours, Max Factor ran a smear of color across her upper and lower lips; it was just what she wanted. To Max, the Crawford look, which became her trademark, was always `the smear`. To the public, it became known as `Hunter`s Bow Lips`. Crawford is often credited as helping to rout America`s prejudice against lipstick. It was recently learned from an excellent, detailed and objective TV biography of her (including information from Christina Crawford) that Joan Crawford`s hatred of wire hangers derived from her poverty as a child and her experiences working with her mother in what must have been a grim job in a laundry. [6 August 2002] Joan always considered The Unknown (1927) a big turning point for her. She said it wasn`t until working with Lon Chaney in this film that she learned the difference between standing in front of a camera and acting in front of a camera. She said that was all due to Lon Chaney and his intense concentration, and after that experience she said she worked much harder to become a better actress. She was named as `the other woman` in at least two divorces. Was born Catholic but converted to Christian Science in later years. Her cleanliness obsession lead her to prefer showers to tubs, as she abhorred sitting in her own bathwater. Whenever she stayed in a hotel, no matter how good and well-reputed it was, Joan always scrubbed the bathroom herself before using it. After her friend Steven Spielberg hit it big, Joan sent him periodic notes of congratulations. The last one came two weeks before her death. Always slept in white pyjamas. At the time of her death, the only photographs displayed in her apartment were of Barbara Stanwyck and President John F. Kennedy. Cartoonist Milton Caniff claimed he created the character of "Dragon Lady" for his popular "Terry and the Pirates comic strip, based on Joan Crawford. Each time Crawford married, she changed the name of her Brentwood estate and installed all new toilet seats. She had a cleanliness obsession. She used to wash her hands every ten minutes and follow guests around her house wiping everything they touched, especially doorknobs and pieces from her china set. She was so dedicated to her fans that she always personally responded to her fan mail by typing them responses on blue paper and autographing it. A great deal of her spare time and weekends were spent doing this. She would never smoke a cigarette unless she opened the pack herself, and would never use another cigarette out of that pack if someone else had touched it. | ||
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