“Hollywood is like life, you face it with the sum total of your equipment.”
From silent screen star to goddess of the silver screen, Joan Crawford’s 45-year film career is the embodiment of old Hollywood. A story of survival and reinvention characterize the girl born in San Antonio, Texas in or around 1906. Her life story, filled with glory and fame but mixed with tragedy and hardship, tells the story of a real America, where dreams come true if one is steadfast and ambitious. Often cited as one of the four most famous female movie stars of the 20th century (along with Katharine Hepburn, Greta Garbo and Bette Davis), Joan Crawford personifies the “Golden Days” of old Hollywood. But how much is myth, how much is legend, and how much is true?
“I was born running. I never walked.”
Lucille Fay Le Sueur’s life began as an abandoned infant. Thomas Le Sueur, a laborer of French descent, left the family before Lucille was born. Her Irish mother, Anna Bell, moved the family to Lawton Oklahoma, where she married the operator of the local “opera house”, Henry Cassin. The theater often employed traveling vaudevillian acts. During her early years, Joan was known as Billie Cassin. Her stepfather encouraged an interest in dancing and the stage. By the age of ten, Billie was making her own costumes and organizing performances for neighborhood children.
After moving to Kansas City, Missouri, Billie entered a boarding school while her mother worked in a laundry. The family was poor (Anna and Henry had separated), so to afford tuition, an agreement was made for Billie to work while attending. She was often taunted by classmates and teachers because of her status. Moving on to Rockingham Academy, Billie cleaned and cooked to assist in her tuition. Though bullied by others, she was rarely intimidated. By the fall of 1922, Billie entered Stephens College, again as a working student. When an academic life didn’t work for her, she spent time at odd jobs, finally auditioning for a dancing job in Katherine Emerine’s traveling show.
“I wanted to be famous, just to make the kids who’d laughed at me feel foolish. I wanted to be rich, so I’d never have to do the awful work my mother did and live at the bottom of the barrel- ever. And I wanted to be a dancer because I loved to dance. Maybe the illusions, the daydreams, made life more tolerable, but I always knew, whether I was in school or working in some dime store, that I’d make it. (Funny, but I never had any ambition whatsoever to become an actress).”
Billie, who by now had claimed her showier birth name of Lucille LeSueur, spent most of 1924 in New York until an agent from Hollywood noticed her in a show. A screen test was not impressive, but she managed to secure a second one. In 1925 she was on her way west. She landed a six-month contract at MGM, but was not noticed until she honed her skills by gathering acting and make up tips from those on the sets. She also entered dancing contests at the Coconut Grove, where she won dozens of trophies (and write-ups in the local show-biz press).
Executives at MGM began to find spots for her in their films, all silent at the time. In “Pretty Ladies” she appeared as a dancer and was a noticeable presence. The studio began to foster the ingenue’s career, beginning with a magazine contest to ‘rename’ her. The name ‘Joan Arden’ was chosen, but already taken by another starlet; ‘Joan Crawford’ was the second choice (Joan never cared for the last name, saying that it sounded like “crawfish”). Her big breakthrough came in 1928 when she had a starring role in “Dancing Daughters.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, famous author during the 1920s’ Jazz Age once said, “Joan Crawford is doubtless the best example of the flapper, the girl you see in smart night clubs, gowned to the apex of sophistication, toying iced glasses with a remote, faintly bitter expression, dancing deliciously, laughing a great deal, with wide, hurt eyes. Young things with a talent for living.”
Other silent movies followed, especially ones featuring her as a spunky wild-but-moral flapper. Audiences were drawn to her. Unlike many silent stars, Joan made the transition to talking movies with smooth assurance. Her sultry demeanor and voice were perfect for the new talking medium. Fan mail poured in. Joan was a bona fide star.
“Love is fire, but whether it is going to warm your heart or burn down your house you can never tell.”
Her professional successes coincided with some personal ones. Her new romance with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. eventually led to marriage in 1929. Although their union lasted only a few years, Joan was able to procure roles that would cement her as a “serious” actress. Some of the best roles went to other actresses, but Joan’s movies were moneymakers. Dramatic roles in “Possessed” (with rising star Clark Gable) and “Grand Hotel” (where she starred with Greta Garbo and the Barrymore brothers) propelled her into the top tier of Hollywood actresses. She was often paired with Clark Gable, her favorite leading man, as well as Franchot Tone, who would become her second husband. She married three more times.
“I think the most important thing a woman can have, next to talent, of course, is—her hairdresser”
Her reputation as a fashion clotheshorse on and off screen enchanted her fans. Trademark wide shouldered looks, full lips and defined eyebrows intrigued audiences. In 1937, Joan was named “Queen of the Movies” by Life magazine. “What is a star?,” she was once asked, to which she replied, “a human being who can contribute, give warmth and keep an image”.
“People want to see a Hollywood star. If you want the girl next door, go next door.”
Three pivotal films for Joan were “The Women”, 1939, “Mildred Pierce” 1945 and “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane” 1962. In “The Women”, in a part which did not provide top billing, but which Joan lobbied for, she played a hard-edged shop girl, Crystal Allen, who steals a husband. The all-female cast included Norma Shearer and Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard and Joan Fontaine. “Mildred Pierce”, a film noir classic, featured Crawford played a long-suffering mother accused of murder while an ungrateful daughter, Ann Blyth, demands a better life. Joan’s performance earned her an Academy Award. Years later, Joan played the tortured half of an aging sister relationship in 1962’s “Whatever happened to Baby Jane”. Her co-star was another Hollywood legend of the time, Bette Davis.
“They gave me this wonderful life, and for that I owe them everything. The least I can do is take a moment to say thank you.”
Joan Crawford was known as a letter writer all her life, especially as she grew older. It is said that she wrote back to every fan who sent a letter to her, except for those who had been schoolmates of many years ago. Until her death in 1977, Joan Crawford continued to portray the Hollywood icon that she had invented in over 70 films. Hard working, professional, and talented, she was a woman committed to her craft and her persona.
“They don’t write for ladies anymore, but I’ll tell you what, we’re here to stay.”
“Hollywood is like life, you face it with the sum total of your equipment.”
