Joan Crawford
For other people named Joan Crawford, see Joan Crawford (disambiguation). Joan Crawford in 1936 photo by George Hurrell Born Lucille Fay LeSueur San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Died May 10, 1977(1977-05-10) (aged 72) New York City, New York, U.S. Cause of death Heart attack; cancer Resting place Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York, U.S. Occupation Actress Years active 1925–1972 Spouse(s) Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (m. 1929; div. 1933) Franchot Tone (m. 1935; div. 1939) Phillip Terry (m. 1942; div. 1946) Alfred Steele (m. 1955; died 1959) Children Christina (born 1939) Christopher (1943–2006) Cynthia (1947–2007) Cathy (born 1947) Parents Thomas E. LeSueur Anna Bell Johnson Relatives Hal LeSueur (brother) Signature Joan Crawford (March 23, 1904 - some sources list 1905, 1906 or 1908 – May 10, 1977), born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was a noted, Oscar-winning American film and television actress who started as a dancer and stage chorine. Beginning her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting as a chorine (a chorus girl) on Broadway, Crawford signed a motion picture contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled, and later outlasted, MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and success. These 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 and by the end of the 1930s she was labeled "Box Office Poison". But her career gradually improved in the early 1940s, and she made a major comeback in 1945 by starring in Mildred Pierce, 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 Chairman 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 British 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 and became increasingly reclusive until her death in 1977. Crawford married four times. Her first three marriages ended in divorce; the last ended with the death of husband Alfred Steele. She adopted five children, one of whom was reclaimed by his birth mother. Crawford's relationships with her two older children, Christina and Christopher, were acrimonious. Crawford disinherited the two and, after Crawford's death, Christina wrote a "tell-all" memoir, Mommie Dearest, in which she alleged a lifelong pattern of physical and emotional abuse perpetrated by Crawford and stated that Joan only cared for her career and manipulated her four children for publicity reasons. Crawford was voted the tenth greatest female star in the history of American cinema by the American Film Institute.