Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 1904 (?) – 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.
Academy Awards
Best Actress
Known For
Grand Hotel
(1932)
Flämmchen
Mildred Pierce
(1945)
Mildred Pierce
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
(1962)
Blanche Hudson
Rain
(1932)
Sadie Thompson
Above Suspicion
(1943)
Frances Myles
Johnny Guitar
(1954)
Vienna
The Women
(1939)
Crystal Allen
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
And the Oscar Goes To...
(2014)
Self (archive footage)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(1982)
(in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
Sudden Fear
(1952)
Myra Hudson Blaine
Possessed
(1947)
Louise Howell
Queen Bee
(1955)
Eva Phillips
Berserk!
(1967)
Monica Rivers
The Unknown
(1927)
Nanon
Strait-Jacket
(1964)
Lucy Harbin
Full Filmography
Acting
Pretty Ladies
(1925)
Bobby
The Circle
(1925)
Young Lady Catherine
1925 Studio Tour
(1925)
Self
Lady of the Night
(1925)
Body Double for Norma Shearer
Proud Flesh
(1925)
Party Guest (uncredited)
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
(1925)
Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
The Only Thing
(1925)
Party Guest (uncredited)
A Slave of Fashion
(1925)
Mannequin (uncredited)
Old Clothes
(1925)
Mary Riley
Sally, Irene and Mary
(1925)
Irene O'Dare
The Midshipman
(1925)
Extra - Driver of Police Car (uncredited)
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
(1926)
Betty Burton
The Boob
(1926)
Jane
The Merry Widow
(1926)
Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
Paris
(1926)
The Girl
The Unknown
(1927)
Nanon
Spring Fever
(1927)
Allie Monte
Winners Of The Wilderness
(1927)
René Contrecoeur
Twelve Miles Out
(1927)
Jane
The Taxi Dancer
(1927)
Joselyn Poe
The Understanding Heart
(1927)
Monica Dale
Our Dancing Daughters
(1928)
Diana 'Di' Medford
West Point
(1928)
Betty Channing
Across to Singapore
(1928)
Priscilla Crowninshield
Dream of Love
(1928)
Adrienne Lecouvreur
The Law of the Range
(1928)
Betty Dallas
Rose-Marie
(1928)
Rose-Marie
Fashion News
(1928)
Self (1929)
Four Walls
(1928)
Frieda
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
(1929)
Self
Our Modern Maidens
(1929)
Billie Brown
The Duke Steps Out
(1929)
Susie
Untamed
(1929)
Alice "Bingo" Dowling
Montana Moon
(1930)
Joan
Our Blushing Brides
(1930)
Geraldine 'Gerry' March
Paid
(1930)
Mary Turner
Possessed
(1931)
Marian Martin aka 'Mrs. Moreland'
Laughing Sinners
(1931)
Ivy 'Bunny' Stevens
Dance, Fools, Dance
(1931)
Bonnie Jordan
This Modern Age
(1931)
Valentine 'Val' Winters
The Stolen Jools
(1931)
Joan Crawford
We're switching to Hollywood
(1931)
Self
Grand Hotel
(1932)
Flämmchen
Rain
(1932)
Sadie Thompson
Letty Lynton
(1932)
Letty Lynton
Dancing Lady
(1933)
Janie Barlow
Fast Workers
(1933)
Ivy Stevens (Archive Footage) (Uncredited)
Today We Live
(1933)
Diana 'Ann' Boyce-Smith
Sadie McKee
(1934)
Sadie McKee
Chained
(1934)
Diane Lovering
Forsaking All Others
(1934)
Mary Clay
No More Ladies
(1935)
Marcia Townsend Warren
I Live My Life
(1935)
Kay Bentley
Love on the Run
(1936)
Sally Parker
The Gorgeous Hussy
(1936)
Margaret "Peggy" O'Neal
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
(1937)
Mrs. Fay Cheyney
The Bride Wore Red
(1937)
Anni Pavlovitch
The Romance of Celluloid
(1937)
Self (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12
(1937)
Self (uncredited)
Mannequin
(1938)
Jessie Cassidy
The Shining Hour
(1938)
Olivia Riley Linden
The Women
(1939)
Crystal Allen
The Ice Follies of 1939
(1939)
Mary McKay
From the Ends of the Earth
(1939)
Self
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
(1939)
Joan Crawford
Susan and God
(1940)
Susan Trexel
Strange Cargo
(1940)
Julie
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
(1940)
Self
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
(1940)
Self
A Woman's Face
(1941)
Anna Holm
When Ladies Meet
(1941)
Mary 'Minnie' Howard
Reunion in France
(1942)
Michele de la Becque
They All Kissed the Bride
(1942)
Margaret Johanna 'M.J.' Drew
Joan Crawford's Home Movies
(1942)
Self
Above Suspicion
(1943)
Frances Myles
Hollywood Canteen
(1944)
Self
Mildred Pierce
(1945)
Mildred Pierce
Blow-Ups of 1946
(1946)
Self
Daisy Kenyon
(1947)
Daisy Kenyon
Possessed
(1947)
Louise Howell
Humoresque
(1947)
Helen Wright
It's a Great Feeling
(1949)
Joan Crawford (uncredited)
Flamingo Road
(1949)
Lane Bellamy
The Damned Don't Cry
(1950)
Ethel Whitehead
Harriet Craig
(1950)
Harriet Craig
Goodbye, My Fancy
(1951)
Agatha Reed
Sudden Fear
(1952)
Myra Hudson Blaine
This Woman Is Dangerous
(1952)
Elizabeth Austin
Torch Song
(1953)
Jenny Stewart
At Home with Joan Crawford
(1953)
Self
Johnny Guitar
(1954)
Vienna
A Star Is Born World Premiere
(1954)
Self
Queen Bee
(1955)
Eva Phillips
Female on the Beach
(1955)
Lynn Markham
Autumn Leaves
(1956)
Millicent Wetherby
The Story of Esther Costello
(1957)
Margaret Landi
The Best of Everything
(1959)
Amanda Farrow
Woman on the Run
(1959)
Susan Conrad
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
(1961)
Janie Barlow (archive footage) (uncredited)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
(1962)
Blanche Hudson
The Caretakers
(1963)
Lucretia Terry
Strait-Jacket
(1964)
Lucy Harbin
Della
(1964)
Della Chappell
How to Plan a Movie Murder
(1964)
Self
The Big Parade of Comedy
(1964)
Bobby (archive footage)
I Saw What You Did
(1965)
Amy Nelson
The Love Goddesses
(1965)
(archive footage)
The Oscar
(1966)
Joan Crawford
The Karate Killers
(1967)
Amanda True
Berserk!
(1967)
Monica Rivers
Night Gallery
(1969)
Miss Menlo
Garbo
(1969)
Narrator
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
(1969)
Self
Journey to the Unknown
(1969)
Self - Host
Trog
(1970)
Dr. Brockton
LA 2017
(1971)
Committee Member (uncredited)
Journey to Murder
(1971)
Host
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
(1972)
Self (archive footage)
Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
(1972)
Joan Fairchild
That's Entertainment!
(1974)
(archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
(1975)
Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
(1976)
(archive footage)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
(1982)
(in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
(1982)
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
(1983)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Terror in the Aisles
(1984)
Blanche Hudson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(1984)
(archive footage)
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
(1989)
Self
That's Entertainment! III
(1994)
(archive footage)
The Casting Couch
(1995)
(archive footage)
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
(1996)
Self (archive footage)
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
(2000)
Self (archive footage / uncredited)
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
(2002)
Self (archive footage)
Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'
(2002)
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
(2003)
Self (archive footage)
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
(2004)
Self / Flaemmchen (archive footage)
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
(2006)
Self (archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
(2007)
Self (archive footage)
Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
(2007)
Self
Girl 27
(2007)
Self (archive footage)
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
(2008)
Various Roles (archive footage)
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
(2009)
Self (archive footage)
Possessed
(2011)
(archive footage)
And the Oscar Goes To...
(2014)
Self (archive footage)
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
(2016)
Self (archive footage)
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
(2016)
Self (archive footage)
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
(2016)
Self (archive footage)
Bette and Joan
(2017)
Self (archive footage)
Directing
Crew
Production