Mildred Pierce and The Damned Don’t Cry” are two of her best-known films from Hollywood’s silent and golden periods. It’s estimated that Joan Crawford, an American actress and stage performer who died in 1977, had an estimated net worth of $8.5 million. Her estate was officially estimated to be worth $2 million.
As a youngster:
Lucille Fay LeSueur, better known as Joan Crawford, was born in San Antonio, Texas, on March 23, 1904. Her mother was from a mixed ethnicity background of Irish and Swedish ancestry. She was the daughter of a launderer of French and Dutch origin, while her mother was of English descent. There were first cousins among her paternal great-grandparents. Her parents divorced shortly after she was born, and her older sister died before she was born.
Hal Hays LeSueur, her older brother and an Oscar-winning actor is her cousin. Her mother remarried, and the family moved to Lawton, Oklahoma, where her stepfather was the manager of the Ramsey Opera House, which he owned and operated. As a result of attending the opera, Joan Crawford developed a greater appreciation for the performing arts. Her desire to be a dancer was shattered when she tried to skip class as a youngster. She once jumped out of a classroom window to get out of piano lessons while she was in elementary school.
After falling on top of a shattered milk bottle, she needed three operations to fix the damage. Don Blanding, a poet from Hawaii and a former US Army medic, was present when she was wounded. Afterward, he wrote a poem about the incident.
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Due to his inability to find a job in Lawton, Oklahoma, Crawford’s stepfather was accused of theft in 1917 and ultimately acquitted. Her stepfather chose a private Catholic school, and she continued there as a working student following her parents’ divorce. With her working student status, Crawford was unable to complete her education, and she was unable to finish college because the coursework was too tricky.
Favorite Work Experience
In 1924, she was offered a $75-a-week contract with MGM, but only minor and frequently uncredited roles were given. Pete Smith, MGM’s chief of public relations, didn’t like her last name, LeSueur, and thought it sounded like “sewer,” so he decided to change it. A poll of names was provided to the readers of “Movie Weekly” magazine in the guise of a game to address this problem. However, after learning that another actress named “Joan Arden” had already been born, they opted for the second-most popular name, “Crawford.” She had some minor issues with the surname and the pronunciation of her first name, but these were minor complaints.
Joan Crawford was fed up with getting cast in roles too minor and too low-quality. Crawford’s drive and desire helped her earn more significant roles, and she demonstrated these traits throughout her career. She worked hard at honing her dance abilities and began to compete in local competitions to get notoriety. Crawford soon found herself regularly cast as the romantic interest in MGM pictures. In the 1925 silent picture “Sally, Irene, and Mary,” she starred. While other performers could not adapt to the new medium, Crawford could do it effortlessly in the 1929 picture, “Untamed,” which had a soundtrack.
Scott Fitzgerald saw her as the most outstanding example of a flapper throughout the 1920s. Joan Crawford had an air of austere refinement and classic glitz. Those of the 1920s aspired to be like her because she embodied the ideal, free-spirited, elegant lady. At this point, MGM was beginning to cast her in more sophisticated parts that showcased her gorgeous characteristics. In 1932, she played alongside Greta Garbo in the Oscar-winning film “Grand Hotel.” Between 1934 and 1936, she starred in three romantic comedies with Clark Gable.
Joan Crawford was one of MGM’s best-known stars of the ’20s and ’30s. By the end of the decade, her star had dwindled, and she was being cast in supporting roles on a more irregular basis. Critics claimed in 1938 that performers like Greta Garbo, Mae West, and Crawford should be released from their contracts with major studios since their films weren’t making money. “Box Office Poison” lists were born due to their widespread circulation in the film industry.
As part of a three-picture pact with Warner Bros. in 1943, Joan Crawford garnered three Oscar nominations for her debut film, “Hollywood Canteen.” Her 1945 picture “Mildred Pierce,” a box office and critical success, helped her recover from her slump. She received an Academy Award for Best Actress despite the director’s protests and criticisms during the film. However, Warner Bros. continued to provide her mediocre pictures throughout the decade, so she begged to be released in 1952.
After she departed, she starred in the critically acclaimed “Sudden Fear,” which received an Academy Award nomination in 1953. Since then, she has had a steady but mediocre career. For the 1962 picture “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” she received a BAFTA nomination, but it would be her final big break.
Personal life:
Each of Joan Crawford’s four marriages lasted four years. During her marriage to Phillip Terry in 1943, Joan Crawford gave birth to a boy and a pair of twins. In 1960, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Joan Crawford died of a heart attack on May 10, 1977. With “reasons which are well-known to them,” she notably excluded her two children, Christina and Christopher, from the will. They filed a lawsuit against the estate and were awarded $55,000 in damages.
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