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
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Blanche Hudson
Mildred Pierce
Mildred Pierce
Daisy Kenyon
Daisy Kenyon
Possessed
Louise Howell
The Women
Crystal Allen
The Karate Killers
Amanda True
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
Self
It's a Great Feeling
Joan Crawford (uncredited)
Above Suspicion
Frances Myles
Mannequin
Jessie Cassidy
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
Johnny Guitar
Vienna
Humoresque
Helen Wright
Grand Hotel
Flämmchen
The Unknown
Nanon
Flamingo Road
Lane Bellamy
A Woman's Face
Anna Holm
Reunion in France
Michele de la Becque
I Saw What You Did
Amy Nelson
Queen Bee
Eva Phillips
Strait-Jacket
Lucy Harbin
The Damned Don't Cry
Ethel Whitehead
Our Dancing Daughters
Diana 'Di' Medford
Berserk!
Monica Rivers
Autumn Leaves
Millicent Wetherby
Rain
Sadie Thompson
They All Kissed the Bride
Margaret Johanna 'M.J.' Drew
Dancing Lady
Janie Barlow
Love on the Run
Sally Parker
Sadie McKee
Sadie McKee
Susan and God
Susan Trexel
Trog
Dr. Brockton
Hollywood Canteen
Self
Female on the Beach
Lynn Markham
West Point
Betty Channing
Chained
Diane Lovering
Sudden Fear
Myra Hudson Blaine
Strange Cargo
Julie
Possessed
Marian Martin aka 'Mrs. Moreland'
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Mrs. Fay Cheyney
When Ladies Meet
Mary 'Minnie' Howard
The Best of Everything
Amanda Farrow
Harriet Craig
Harriet Craig
The Caretakers
Lucretia Terry
This Woman Is Dangerous
Elizabeth Austin
Laughing Sinners
Ivy 'Bunny' Stevens
Montana Moon
Joan
Our Modern Maidens
Billie Brown
Across to Singapore
Priscilla Crowninshield
Forsaking All Others
Mary Clay
The Shining Hour
Olivia Riley Linden
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
Betty Burton
No More Ladies
Marcia Townsend Warren
The Gorgeous Hussy
Margaret "Peggy" O'Neal
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
Various Roles (archive footage)
The Bride Wore Red
Anni Pavlovitch
Goodbye, My Fancy
Agatha Reed
Dance, Fools, Dance
Bonnie Jordan
Our Blushing Brides
Geraldine 'Gerry' March
Torch Song
Jenny Stewart
Letty Lynton
Letty Lynton
Pretty Ladies
Bobby
The Boob
Jane
Spring Fever
Allie Monte
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
This Modern Age
Valentine 'Val' Winters
The Ice Follies of 1939
Mary McKay
I Live My Life
Kay Bentley
Paid
Mary Turner
Della
Della Chappell
Dream of Love
Adrienne Lecouvreur
The Law of the Range
Betty Dallas
The Circle
Young Lady Catherine
The Duke Steps Out
Susie
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage)
Possessed
(archive footage)
At Home with Joan Crawford
Self
Winners Of The Wilderness
René Contrecoeur
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
Self (archive footage)
Fast Workers
Ivy Stevens (Archive Footage) (Uncredited)
Twelve Miles Out
Jane
Untamed
Alice "Bingo" Dowling
We're switching to Hollywood
Self
The Stolen Jools
Joan Crawford
The Story of Esther Costello
Margaret Landi
1925 Studio Tour
Self
Today We Live
Diana 'Ann' Boyce-Smith
That's Entertainment! III
(archive footage)
Rose-Marie
Rose-Marie
From the Ends of the Earth
Self
The Taxi Dancer
Joselyn Poe
Proud Flesh
Party Guest (uncredited)
The Only Thing
Party Guest (uncredited)
The Merry Widow
Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
Lady of the Night
Body Double for Norma Shearer
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
A Star Is Born World Premiere
Self
The Oscar
Joan Crawford
Sally, Irene and Mary
Irene O'Dare
A Slave of Fashion
Mannequin (uncredited)
Old Clothes
Mary Riley
Blow-Ups of 1946
Self
Night Gallery
Miss Menlo
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Self
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
The Romance of Celluloid
Self (archive footage)
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
Self
Fashion News
Self (1929)
How to Plan a Movie Murder
Self
Garbo
Narrator
Woman on the Run
Susan Conrad
The Love Goddesses
(archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
Self (archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
Bobby (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
Self (archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
Self
Four Walls
Frieda
The Understanding Heart
Monica Dale
Paris
The Girl
Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12
Self (uncredited)
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
Joan Crawford
The Midshipman
Extra - Driver of Police Car (uncredited)
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
Self (archive footage)
Terror in the Aisles
Blanche Hudson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'
Self (archive footage)
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
Self
Bette and Joan
Self (archive footage)
Joan Crawford's Home Movies
Self
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
Girl 27
Self (archive footage)
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
Self / Flaemmchen (archive footage)
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Self (archive footage)
The Casting Couch
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
Janie Barlow (archive footage) (uncredited)
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
Self (archive footage)
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
Self (archive footage)
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
Self (archive footage)
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
Self (archive footage)
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
Self
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
Self (archive footage / uncredited)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
Self (archive footage)
Journey to the Unknown
Self - Host
The Shirley Eder Tapes
Self
Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
Joan Fairchild
The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
Journey to Murder
Host
Shows
The Secret Storm
Joan Borman Kane
The Oscars
Self
The Lucy Show
Joan Crawford
Route 66
Morgan Harper
The Sixth Sense
Joan Fairchild
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Amanda True
What's My Line?
Self - Mystery Guest
Great Performances
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
Self
General Electric Theater
Ann Howard
General Electric Theater
Ruth Marshall
General Electric Theater
Mary Andrews
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Stella Faring
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Sarah / Melanie Davidson Hobbs
The Colgate Comedy Hour
Self
Night Gallery
Miss Claudia Menlo
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self (archive footage)
The Name of the Game
Committee Member (uncredited)