Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, 1906 – 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.
170 movies · 16 shows
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
2025·7.5
The Green Fog
2018·6.1
Bette and Joan
2017·0.0
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
2016·0.0
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
2016·0.0
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
2016·0.0
The Shirley Eder Tapes
2012·0.0
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012·7.2
Possessed
2011·0.0
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
2010·0.0
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009·0.0
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009·7.5
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
2008·6.1
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
2007·7.8
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007·4.3
Tim Conway: Timeless Comedy
2007·0.0
Bette and Joan: Blind Ambition
2006·6.7
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
2006·6.6
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
2006·6.0
The Damned Don't Cry: The Crawford Formula - Real and Reel
2005·0.0
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004·7.0
Complicated Women
2003·6.9
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
2002·6.9
Battle-Axe: the Making of 'Strait-Jacket'
2002·8.0
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
2000·6.8
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
1996·7.5
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995·8.0
Legends in Light: The Photography of George Hurrell
1995·2.0
The Casting Couch
1995·8.3
Biography: Bette Davis — If Looks Could Kill
1994·0.0
That's Entertainment! III
1994·7.0
Gay! Gay! Hollywood
1994·3.3
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
1989·0.0
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984·9.0
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983·7.0
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982·6.7
Showbiz Ballyhoo
1982·0.0
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982·6.0
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976·0.0
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976·7.0
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975·6.3
That's Entertainment!
1974·7.4
Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
1972·7.0
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972·7.3
Journey to Murder
1971·7.0
Trog
1970·4.5
Night Gallery
1969·6.5
Garbo, by Joan Crawford
1969·6.0
Journey to the Unknown
1969·0.0
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
1969·0.0
This was the MARY
1968·0.0
Berserk!
1967·5.7
The Karate Killers
1967·5.1
The Oscar
1966·5.0
I Saw What You Did
1965·6.2
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964·7.3
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964·7.2
Della
1964·7.2
Strait-Jacket
1964·6.5
How to Plan a Movie Murder
1964·6.5
The Caretakers
1963·6.4
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962·7.9
Lykke og krone
1962·9.0
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
1961·4.4
One Must Die
1961·0.0
The Best of Everything
1959·6.3
Woman on the Run
1959·6.0
Zwischen Glück und Krone
1959·10.0
Strange Witness
1958·0.0
The Story of Esther Costello
1957·7.0
Autumn Leaves
1956·7.0
Queen Bee
1955·6.3
Female on the Beach
1955·5.7
The Road to Edinburgh
1954·0.0
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954·8.0
Johnny Guitar
1954·7.4
Torch Song
1953·5.9
At Home with Joan Crawford
1953·5.8
Sudden Fear
1952·7.3
This Woman Is Dangerous
1952·5.9
Goodbye, My Fancy
1951·6.4
Harriet Craig
1950·7.5
The Damned Don't Cry
1950·7.0
It's a Great Feeling
1949·6.0
Flamingo Road
1949·7.0
Daisy Kenyon
1947·6.6
Through Many Windows
1947·0.0
Possessed
1947·6.9
Humoresque
1947·7.0
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946·6.0
Mildred Pierce
1945·7.6
Hollywood Canteen
1944·7.3
Above Suspicion
1943·6.2
Reunion in France
1942·6.4
They All Kissed the Bride
1942·5.9
Joan Crawford's Home Movies
1942·0.0
When Ladies Meet
1941·6.9
A Woman's Face
1941·6.8
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940·6.8
Susan and God
1940·6.5
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940·5.8
Strange Cargo
1940·7.0
The Women
1939·7.2
From the Ends of the Earth
1939·5.0
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
1939·4.0
The Ice Follies of 1939
1939·5.7
The Shining Hour
1938·6.7
Screen Snapshots Series 17, No. 6
1938·0.0
Mannequin
1938·6.0
The Bride Wore Red
1937·6.8
The Romance of Celluloid
1937·7.0
Screen Snapshots: Series 16, No. 12
1937·5.0
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937·5.9
Love on the Run
1936·6.5
The Gorgeous Hussy
1936·5.5
I Live My Life
1935·6.7
No More Ladies
1935·5.0
Forsaking All Others
1934·6.0
Chained
1934·7.0
Sadie McKee
1934·7.0
Dancing Lady
1933·6.9
Fast Workers
1933·5.0
Today We Live
1933·6.3
Rain
1932·6.6
Grand Hotel
1932·7.0
Letty Lynton
1932·7.0
Possessed
1931·7.0
This Modern Age
1931·5.9
We’re Switching to Hollywood
1931·5.2
Laughing Sinners
1931·5.3
The Stolen Jools
1931·5.6
Dance, Fools, Dance
1931·6.4
Paid
1930·6.7
Screen Snapshots Series 10, No. 1
1930·0.0
Our Blushing Brides
1930·5.6
Montana Moon
1930·4.7
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
1929·5.9
Untamed
1929·6.2
Our Modern Maidens
1929·5.6
The Duke Steps Out
1929·6.5
Dream of Love
1928·7.3
Our Dancing Daughters
1928·6.3
Four Walls
1928·7.3
Across to Singapore
1928·7.0
Rose-Marie
1928·7.0
The Law of the Range
1928·4.7
West Point
1928·7.5
Spring Fever
1927·6.9
Twelve Miles Out
1927·6.5
The Unknown
1927·7.5
The Understanding Heart
1927·8.0
The Taxi Dancer
1927·7.7
Winners Of The Wilderness
1927·7.7
Bardelys the Magnificent
1926·7.4
The Merry Widow
1926·6.7
Paris
1926·7.0
The Boob
1926·6.0
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
1926·5.9
Sally, Irene and Mary
1925·5.7
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925·7.3
The Only Thing
1925·5.0
Old Clothes
1925·5.0
Time, the Comedian
1925·3.0
The Midshipman
1925·7.0
The Circle
1925·5.4
Pretty Ladies
1925·5.8
A Slave of Fashion
1925·6.0
Proud Flesh
1925·7.2
1925 Studio Tour
1925·6.3
Lady of the Night
1925·5.8