Lucille LeSueur's parents separated before she was born. By age 16 she had known three fathers, one of whom (a vaudeville theater manager) had given her the name Billie Cassin. By 1915 she and her mother lived in Kansas City and Billie worked in a laundry and also as a menial to pay school tuition. Winning an amateur dance contest in 1923 led to chorus work in Chicago, Detroit and New York. On New Year's Day of 1925 she left for Hollywood. Before her second picture, a "Photoplay" contest led to the name "Joan Crawford". With Our Dancing Daughters she became a star. She had a string of successes playing a socialite or rags-to-riches shopgirl, most notably as Crystal Allen in The Women. She stayed with MGM for 18 years, signing with Warners in 1943. Mildred Pierce was a defining role and won her an Oscar. After more than 70 films she married the Chairman of the Board of the Pepsi-Cola Co., a company with which she remained as an executive and spokesman after her husband's fatal heart attack in 1959 (in 1972 when the company's executives saw no further use for her, they pushed her out; after that she referred to the CEO as "Fang"). What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? brought new careers to both Crawford and Bette Davis in 1962--although the two despised each other--but the ensuing roles were neither numerous nor flattering. Horrified by a photo taken of her in 1974, she retired completely, devoting herself to Christian Science and increasing use of vodka. Her four adopted children received little from her $2-million estate: $77,500 each for Cathy and Cindy, nothing for Christopher or Christina Crawford "for reasons best known to them".



Trog (1970): $50,000 (roughly)
"Night Gallery: Night Gallery (#1.0)" (1969): $50,000
I Saw What You Did (1965): $50,000
Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964): $50,000 + 25% in profits + $5,000 in living expenses
Strait-Jacket (1964): $50,000 + % of profits
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962): $30,000 + 15% of the net profits
The Best of Everything (1959): $65,000
The Story of Esther Costello (1957): $200,000
Torch Song (1953): $125,000 (paid in 83 installments for tax purposes)
Sudden Fear (1952): 40% of profits
This Woman Is Dangerous (1952): $3,205.13 per week
Goodbye, My Fancy (1951): $3,205.13 per week
Possessed (1947): $167,000
Humoresque (1946): $167,000
Mildred Pierce (1945): $167,000
They All Kissed the Bride (1942): $330,000
The Bride Wore Red (1937): $9,500.00 per week
Love on the Run (1936): $8,500.00 per week
The Gorgeous Hussy (1936): $8,500.00 per week
I Live My Life (1935): $7,500.00 per week
No More Ladies (1935): $7,500.00 per week
Dancing Lady (1933): $5,000.00 per week
Rain (1932): $4,000.00 per week
Grand Hotel (1932): $3,500.00 per week
This Modern Age (1931): $3,500.00 per week
Laughing Sinners (1931): $3,000.00 per week
Montana Moon (1930): $1,000 per week
Lady of the Night (1925): $75.00 per week

Entered Stephens College, a posh university for women in Columbia, Missouri in 1922, however she left before her first academic year was over as she felt she was not academically prepared for university. Each time Crawford married, she changed the name of her Brentwood estate and installed all new toilet seats. Was asked to take over Carole Lombard 's role in They All Kissed the Bride (1942) after she died in a air crash during a war bond tour. She then donated all of her salary to the Red Cross who found Lombard's body, and promptly fired her agent for taking his usual 10%. After her friend Steven Spielberg hit it big, Joan sent him periodic notes of congratulations. The last one came two weeks before her death. Cartoonist Milton Caniff claimed he created the character of "Dragon Lady" for his popular "Terry and the Pirates" comic strip, based on Joan Crawford. Daughter-in-law of Douglas Fairbanks. Niece-in-law of Robert Fairbanks. 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. Always slept in white pyjamas. 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. Was born Catholic but converted to Christian Science in later years. 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. After hearing that a plumber had used a toilet after installing it in her Brentwood home, she immediately had the fixture and pipes ripped out and replaced. 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 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. She disliked her 'new' name and initially encouraged others to pronounce it Jo-Anne Crawford. In private, she liked to be referred to as Billie. 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. 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. Drank excessively and smoked until she began practicing Christian Science, at which time she abruptly quit doing both. When her daughter Christina Crawford decided to become an actress, Joan demanded that she change her last name, so it wouldn't appear that Christina was using it to further her career. Christina refused. 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. When Joan adopted her eldest daughter, Christina Crawford, she first named her 'Joan, Jr.'. Baby pictures from the book 'Mommie, Dearest' show baby Christina lying on a towel with 'Joan, Jr.' monogrammed on it. Later, for reasons that can only be speculated, Joan changed the baby's name to Christina. Joan did the same thing to her adopted son, who was named 'Phillip Terry, Jr.', after the man that Joan was married to at the time he was adopted. After her divorce to Phillip Terry was finalized, Joan changed the boy's name to Christopher. 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. Adopted four children: Christina Crawford, Christopher Crawford, and twins Cindy Crawford and Cathy Crawford. Wore size 4C shoes. (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) 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. WAMPAS Baby of 1926 Met her biological father only once when he visited her on the set of Chained (1934). She would never see him again. She was voted the 47th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. Was approached twice by the producers of the Airport disaster movie series. She was offered two different roles in both Airport 1975 (1974) and Airport '77 (1977), but refused. After her husband died, she still continued to set a place for him at the dinner table. She has a granddaughter, Chrystal, from son Christopher. She has a granddaughter Carla, born c. 1970, from daughter Cathy. She has eight grandchildren altogether (four from Christopher and two each from Cindy and Cathy). Bette Davis had been nominated for Best Actress in her film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962), also starring Joan Crawford. If Bette had won, it would have set a record number of wins for an actress. According to the book "Bette & Joan - The Divine Feud" by Shaun Considine, the two had a life long mutual hatred, and a jealous Joan Crawford actively campaigned against Bette Davis for winning Best Actress, and even told Anne Bancroft that if Anne won and was unable to accept the Award, Joan would be happy to accept it on her behalf. According to the book -- and this may or may not be 100% true, but it makes a good anecdote -- on Oscar night, Bette Davis was standing in the wings of the theatre waiting to hear the name of the winner. When it was announced that Anne Bancroft had won Best Actress for The Miracle Worker (1962), Bette Davis felt an icy hand on her shoulder as Joan Crawford said "Excuse me, I have an Oscar to accept". She was of French descent on her father's side, and Irish/Scottish/English descent on her mother's side. Often wore shoulder pads. Her performance as Mildred Pierce Beragon in Mildred Pierce (1945) is ranked #93 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). Thanked by Courtney Love in the liner notes of Hole's album "Celebrity Skin". She was actually Fred Astaire's first on-screen dance partner. They appeared in Dancing Lady (1933). Has once said that Clark Gable was the only man she had ever loved. In 1959, upon the death of her husband Alfred Steele, CEO of the Pepsi-Cola Company, Joan remained on the Board of Directors until her forced retirement in 1973, earning $60,000 per year. Adoptive mother of twin sisters Cathy Crawford and Cindy Crawford, both of whom she adopted in 1947. Former mother-in-law of Harvey Medlinsky. After joining Warner Bros., she was looking for her first role at the studio. Jack L. Warner had her in mind for the role of Kathryn Mason in _Conflict (1945)_ and sent the script for the film to her. However, after reading the script, she told her agent to tell Warner that "Joan Crawford never dies in her movies, and she never ever loses her man to anyone".