Greetings Celebrators of Vintage Sensuality;
WELCOME TO THE JOAN CRAWFORD ISSUE!
Let’s be honest — Joan Crawford wasn’t just a movie star — she was a force of nature.
From silent-film flapper to tough, glamorous leading lady of the 1930s and 40s, she ruled Hollywood for decades with an unforgettable mix of steel and style.
Oscar winner for Mildred Pierce, co-star of Grand Hotel, and unforgettable as the tormented sister of Baby Jane played by Bette Davis — Crawford defined the idea of a self-made star who refused to fade away.
This issue of the Old Hollywood Newsletter highlights 3 of Joan Crawford’s top movies and offers a few insights into her significant relationships, adoptions and four marriages.
Have a look below and thank you for supporting vintage entertainment and visiting the Old Hollywood Newsletter.
09/2026
Stay Sensual,
Dyann Bridges, writer, publisher and voice actor
In The Beginning
Joan Crawford arrived in the world sometime between 1904 and 1908 in San Antonio, Texas as Lucille Le Sueur.
After dancing in traveling theatrical productions and on Broadway, she arrived in Hollywood in 1924.
By January of 1925 MGM had signed Joan and put her in Lady of The Night (1925) the same year.
Then, MGM held a contest to replace her name Lucille LeSueur and chose the name Joan Crawford as the winner.
Hence, began a journey that would take this bold lady to the pinnacle of Hollywood.
Top Movies
MILDRED PIERCE (1945)
Mildred Pierce (1945) follows a determined mother (Joan Crawford) who divorces her unfaithful husband and builds a successful restaurant business.
She wants desperately to give her spoiled, ambitious eldest daughter everything she wants—only to face betrayal, heartbreak, and even murder in return.
Joan Crawford is the centerpiece of this entire film and her character takes an incredible arc throughout. If you haven’t seen this one, it’s well worth it. It gave Joan her Best Actress Oscar.
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WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE (1962)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) is a psychological thriller directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in their only film together.
Aging former child star “Baby” Jane Hudson (Davis), now a delusional alcoholic, lives in a decaying Hollywood mansion with her sister Blanche (Crawford), a once-glamorous movie actress left paraplegic after a mysterious car accident years earlier.
Jane, still bitter over Blanche’s greater success, isolates and sadistically torments her sister while desperately trying to revive her own long-dead career.
The film is a classic of psychological horror and “psycho-biddy” cinema, famous for its intense performances, gothic atmosphere, and the legendary off-screen rivalry between its two stars.
GRAND HOTEL (1932)
Grand Hotel (1932) is a classic MGM all-star drama (Best Picture Oscar winner) set over a couple of days in a luxurious Berlin hotel.
The lives of several very different guests intersect. There is the fading Russian ballerina (Greta Garbo) who contemplates ending her career and life, a charming, but broke aristocrat-turned-thief (John Barrymore) who falls in love with the ballerina, an ambitious young stenographer (Joan Crawford) seeking a better life, her ruthless industrialist boss (Wallace Beery) and lowly accountant (Lionel Barrymore) determined to enjoy his remaining days in luxury.
It’s a pioneering ensemble film that helped establish the multi-star, interwoven-story film format.
THE COLLECTORS NOTEBOOK
This is an interactive digital notebook which connects context to the film chronology. of your favorite Old Hollywood movie star.
Whether you’re a new fan or old, this notebook gives you a place to record your thoughts and learn about the personal and professional lives of the stars through a carefully chosen list of ten movies.
Joan’s Romances
Joan Crawford was married four times in her life. She also had numerous affairs, one of the best known was an on/off again romance with leading man Clark Gable. Crawford also adopted four children after having several miscarriages.
1st Marriage: Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (m. 1929–1933)
Joan’s first marriage came at a time when she her star status soared to become MGM royalty inside of a few years.
She married actor and son of silent-film legend Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
They were a glamorous young Hollywood couple, but divorced after about four years amid career pressures and mutual infidelities.
Joan and Fairbanks Jr. below.
2nd Marriage: Franchot Tone (m. 1935–1939)
In 1935, Joan married French stage and film actor, Franchot Tone.
They had co-starred in several movies. The marriage was stormy, marked by his drinking and affairs, and ended in divorce just four years later.
Joan and Tone below.
3rd Marriage: Phillip Terry (m. 1942–1946)
Joan’s third marriage was to actor Phillip (sometimes Philip) Terry.
This marriage coincided with Crawford’s early adoptions. She later cited cruelty as grounds for divorce.
Joan and Phillip Terry below.
4th Marriage: Alfred Steele (m. 1955–1959)
Joan Crawford’s fourth marriage to President and board chairman of Pepsi-Cola, Alfred Steele is, by all accounts, her happiest.
Steele was her final husband and the only one who was not an actor.
Sadly, their marriage ended with his sudden death from a heart attack.
Soon afterward, Pepsi elected Crawford to their board and she remained closely involved with Pepsi forever afterward.
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Long Time On/Off Affair: Clark Gable (1930–1952)
Gable and Crawford were paired together a total of 8 times on screen. When they first met, Joan was already a superstar with MGM and Gable was an up-an-comer.
Apparently, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.
It began in the early 1930s. At the time, Crawford was married to Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and Gable was newly married to Ria Langham.
Their strong on-screen chemistry spilled over into real life, and the affair quickly became an open secret on the studio lot.
Studio boss Louis B. Mayer reportedly intervened and tried to shut it down because of the moral clauses in their contracts and the risk of scandal.
Later, Joan herself said they had a wonderful affair that “lasted far longer than people realize.”
OF NOTE…
Joan Crawford adopted four children:
- Christina (adopted 1940) — the oldest. She later wrote the highly critical memoir Mommie Dearest.
- Christopher (adopted 1943) He was originally named Phillip Terry Jr. after her third husband. There was also the adoption of an earlier boy – as named Christopher – but it had been reversed by the birth mother.
- Cathy and Cynthia (Cindy) — twin girls adopted in 1947.
Christina and Christopher had difficult relationships with Joan and were largely disinherited.
Cathy and Cynthia remained closer and disputed many of Christina’s claims.
MOMMIE DEAREST
Many of you, like I do, remember Mommie Dearest (1978) more so than the powerhouse career Joan Crawford actually had.
Her eldest adopted child – Christina Crawford – wrote the memoir about her mother Joan Crawford and released it just 18 months after Joan’s death.
The book had a major and lasting cultural impact on Joan Crawford’s legacy.
The book painted Crawford as a controlling, abusive, alcoholic mother and ended up becoming a bestseller.
For many people, the glamorous, hardworking actress of Mildred Pierce and Grand Hotel was overshadowed by the image of a tyrannical parent.
Friends, co-stars (including Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Myrna Loy, and even rival Bette Davis), and Crawford’s twin daughters Cathy and Cynthia strongly disputed the account, calling it exaggerated or false.
Still, the damage to her posthumous reputation stuck. Although, the book is often credited with helping open public conversation about child abuse at a time when the topic was still heavily taboo.
It also helped launch the modern wave of “tell-all” celebrity memoirs by children of famous parents, shifting the genre toward more critical, sensational accounts.
The 1981 film adaptation starring Faye Dunaway, amplified everything.
Intended as a serious drama, it was widely seen as over-the-top and became an unintentional camp classic. It was especially beloved in gay and drag culture for its excess.
Christina Crawford herself criticized the film as grotesque and inaccurate in tone, saying it turned a serious story of abuse into caricature.
The movie earned multiple Razzie awards, but has endured as a cult favorite.
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