Today is the birth date of the actress Joan Crawford. 10 things you might not know about her:
Her real name was Lucille LeSueur, although she was known for a while as Billie Cassin, thanks to a step-father who was briefly around. She ended up with the name Joan Crawford because her bosses at MGM didn’t like either of her other names. LeSueur, for example, sounded too much like “sewer”. So they held a competition in which the general public were invited to choose a name for the new star. The judges chose “Joan Arden”, but it turned out they couldn’t use that as another actress was already using it. So they reverted to the runner up suggestion of Joan Crawford, which had been submitted by Mrs. Marie M. Tisdale from Albany, New York, who won $500. Joan disliked the name. The surname sounded like “Crawfish” to her, and she asked at first that people called her Joanne rather than Joan. She was lucky not to be saddled with Boaty McBoatface if you ask me!
No birth certificate exists for her, so although 23 March is agreed by everyone to be her birthday, the year she was born varies according to source. Crawford always claimed 1908, but 1905, 1906 and 1904 are all often quoted. 1904 is unlikely to be correct, though, as she had a brother who was born in September 1903.
She always wanted to be a dancer, but nearly lost that dream when she trod on a piece of Glass as a child. Doctors said she’d never walk without a limp, but she was determined and practised walking and dancing every day until she could do it without pain. She went on to win Charleston contests and after that, in stage shows. She was spotted in the chorus of The Passing Show in 1924 by MGM producer Harry Rapf.
She was 5’ 3" with red hair and freckles. The freckles would be covered with make up and her hair colour varied depending o n the role she was playing.
She married four times: Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Franchot Tone, and Phillip Terry and Pepsi-Cola president Alfred Steele. She also had many lovers. Rumour has it that Clark Gable, Vincent Sherman, and Spencer Tracy had affairs with her, and also that she was bisexual and had affairs with women, too. It has been rumoured that Joan had affairs with Barbara Stanwyck, Claudette Colbert, Greta Garbo, and possibly even Marilyn Monroe.
After several miscarriages, she was told she would never have a baby, so she adopted five children. However, the birth mother of one boy, called Christopher, showed up at Crawford’s home and demanded she give the baby back. The mother then went and sold the baby to another family. Crawford was single when she adopted her three daughters, Christina and fraternal twins Cathy and Cindy. In California at the time it was illegal for a single woman to adopt so she used illegal baby brokers. She adopted another boy while married to Phillip Terry and named him Philip, but when she divorced Terry, she renamed the boy Christopher.
It was Christina who published the damning memoir, Mommie Dearest, in 1978. Christina claimed that Joan was abusive, alcoholic and always put her career before her children. The book was a best seller and was made into a film, although Cathy and Cindy and even Christina’s husband claimed that most of Christina’s claims weren’t true.
Joan Crawford was probably OCD and a germ phobe. Whenever she stayed in a hotel, no matter how reputable it was, she always scrubbed the bathroom herself before using it. 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.
She would always reply to letters sent by fans and spent a lot of time writing personal replies and signing them. She was also more than happy to give her autograph to anyone who asked. She was also a supporter of a number of charities, and it was discovered after she died that she’d secretly paid for the medical treatment of hundreds of people who couldn’t afford it. Even the patients themselves had no idea who was footing their bills.
In later life, she became a Christian Scientist and due to her beliefs, refused treatment for the cancer which killed her in 1977.
No comments:
Post a Comment