Acting
Joan Crawford
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.
Filmography
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
Film · 2025
The Green Fog
Film · 2018
Bette and Joan
Film · 2017
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
Film · 2016
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
Film · 2016
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
Film · 2016
The Shirley Eder Tapes
Film · 2012
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Film · 2012
Possessed
Film · 2011
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
Film · 2010
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Film · 2009
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
Film · 2009
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
Film · 2008
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Film · 2007
Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
Film · 2007
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
Film · 2007
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Film · 2006
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
Film · 2006
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
Film · 2006
The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
Film · 2005
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
Film · 2004
Complicated Women
Film · 2003
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
Film · 2002
Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'
Film · 2002
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
Film · 2000
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
Film · 1996
The Casting Couch
Film · 1995
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
Film · 1995
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
Film · 1995
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
Film · 1994
That's Entertainment! III
Film · 1994
Gay! Gay! Hollywood
Film · 1994
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
Film · 1989
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Film · 1984
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Film · 1983
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
Film · 1982
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Film · 1982
Showbiz Ballyhoo
Film · 1982
That's Entertainment, Part II
Film · 1976
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
Film · 1976
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Film · 1975
That's Entertainment!
Film · 1974
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Film · 1972
Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
Film · 1972
The Sixth Sense
Series · 1972
Journey to Murder
Film · 1971
Great Performances
Series · 1971
Trog
Film · 1970
The Tim Conway Show
Series · 1970
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
Film · 1969
Journey to the Unknown
Film · 1969
Night Gallery
Film · 1969
Garbo, by Joan Crawford
Film · 1969
This was the MARY
Film · 1968
The Name of the Game
Series · 1968
The Karate Killers
Film · 1967
Berserk!
Film · 1967
The Oscar
Film · 1966
I Saw What You Did
Film · 1965
Strait-Jacket
Film · 1964
Della
Film · 1964
How to Plan a Movie Murder
Film · 1964
The Big Parade of Comedy
Film · 1964
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Film · 1964
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Series · 1964
The Caretakers
Film · 1963
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Film · 1962
Lykke og krone
Film · 1962
The Lucy Show
Series · 1962
The Merv Griffin Show
Series · 1962
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Series · 1962
The Virginian
Series · 1962
One Must Die
Film · 1961
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Film · 1961
Route 66
Series · 1960
The Best of Everything
Film · 1959
Woman on the Run
Film · 1959
Zwischen Glück und Krone
Film · 1959
Startime
Series · 1959
Strange Witness
Film · 1958
The Story of Esther Costello
Film · 1957
Autumn Leaves
Film · 1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Series · 1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Series · 1956
Queen Bee
Film · 1955
Female on the Beach
Film · 1955
Johnny Guitar
Film · 1954
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Film · 1954
The Road to Edinburgh
Film · 1954
The Secret Storm
Series · 1954
Torch Song
Film · 1953
At Home with Joan Crawford
Film · 1953
General Electric Theater
Series · 1953
General Electric Theater
Series · 1953
General Electric Theater
Series · 1953
The Oscars
Series · 1953
Sudden Fear
Film · 1952
This Woman Is Dangerous
Film · 1952
Goodbye, My Fancy
Film · 1951
The Damned Don't Cry
Film · 1950
Harriet Craig
Film · 1950
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Series · 1950
What's My Line?
Series · 1950
It's a Great Feeling
Film · 1949
Flamingo Road
Film · 1949
Daisy Kenyon
Film · 1947
Possessed
Film · 1947
Humoresque
Film · 1947
Through Many Windows
Film · 1947
Blow-Ups of 1946
Film · 1946
Mildred Pierce
Film · 1945
Hollywood Canteen
Film · 1944
Above Suspicion
Film · 1943
Reunion in France
Film · 1942
They All Kissed the Bride
Film · 1942
Joan Crawford's Home Movies
Film · 1942
A Woman's Face
Film · 1941
When Ladies Meet
Film · 1941
Susan and God
Film · 1940
Strange Cargo
Film · 1940
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Film · 1940
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Film · 1940
The Women
Film · 1939
The Ice Follies of 1939
Film · 1939
From the Ends of the Earth
Film · 1939
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
Film · 1939
Mannequin
Film · 1938
The Shining Hour
Film · 1938
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6
Film · 1938
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Film · 1937
The Bride Wore Red
Film · 1937
The Romance of Celluloid
Film · 1937
Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12
Film · 1937
Love on the Run
Film · 1936
The Gorgeous Hussy
Film · 1936
No More Ladies
Film · 1935
I Live My Life
Film · 1935
Sadie McKee
Film · 1934
Chained
Film · 1934
Forsaking All Others
Film · 1934
Dancing Lady
Film · 1933
Today We Live
Film · 1933
Fast Workers
Film · 1933
Grand Hotel
Film · 1932
Rain
Film · 1932
Letty Lynton
Film · 1932
Possessed
Film · 1931
The Stolen Jools
Film · 1931
Laughing Sinners
Film · 1931
Dance, Fools, Dance
Film · 1931
This Modern Age
Film · 1931
We’re Switching to Hollywood
Film · 1931
Montana Moon
Film · 1930
Our Blushing Brides
Film · 1930
Paid
Film · 1930
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 1
Film · 1930
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Film · 1929
Our Modern Maidens
Film · 1929
Untamed
Film · 1929
The Duke Steps Out
Film · 1929
Our Dancing Daughters
Film · 1928
West Point
Film · 1928
Across to Singapore
Film · 1928
Dream of Love
Film · 1928
The Law of the Range
Film · 1928
Rose-Marie
Film · 1928
Four Walls
Film · 1928
The Unknown
Film · 1927
Spring Fever
Film · 1927
Winners of the Wilderness
Film · 1927
Twelve Miles Out
Film · 1927
The Taxi Dancer
Film · 1927
The Understanding Heart
Film · 1927
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
Film · 1926
The Boob
Film · 1926
Paris
Film · 1926
Bardelys the Magnificent
Film · 1926
Pretty Ladies
Film · 1925
The Circle
Film · 1925
1925 Studio Tour
Film · 1925
Lady of the Night
Film · 1925
The Merry Widow
Film · 1925
Proud Flesh
Film · 1925
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Film · 1925
The Only Thing
Film · 1925
Sally, Irene and Mary
Film · 1925
A Slave of Fashion
Film · 1925
Old Clothes
Film · 1925
The Midshipman
Film · 1925
Time, the Comedian
Film · 1925
And One Was Loyal
Film
Rebel Range
Film