Joan Crawford
Known for Acting · 183 credits
- Born
- 1906-03-23
- Died
- 1977-05-10
- Place of birth
- San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Also known as
- Lucille Fay LeSueur · Lucille Le Sueur · Billie Cassin · Lucille Fay Le Sueur
Biography
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.
Known For
TV Shows (16)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
as Self
Great Performances
1971
as Self
What's My Line?
1950
as Self
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
The Virginian
1962
as Stephanie White
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Stella Faring / Sarah / Melanie Davidson Hobbs
The Lucy Show
1962
as Joan Crawford
Route 66
1960
as Morgan Harper
The Name of the Game
1968
as Committee Member (uncredited)
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1964
as Amanda True
The Secret Storm
1954
as Joan Borman Kane
Startime
1959
as Self
The Sixth Sense
1972
as Joan Fairchild
General Electric Theater
1953
as Ann Howard / Ruth Marshall / Mary Andrews
Movies (167)
Johnny Guitar
1954
as Vienna
Grand Hotel
1932
as Flämmchen
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
as (in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
Mildred Pierce
1945
as Mildred Pierce
Night Gallery
1969
as Miss Menlo
The Women
1939
as Crystal Allen
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962
as Blanche Hudson
The Unknown
1927
as Nanon Zanzi
Strait-Jacket
1964
as Lucy Harbin
Complicated Women
2003
as Self (archive footage)
Possessed
1947
as Louise Howell
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964
as Miriam Deering in Car (uncredited)
Pretty Ladies
1925
as Bobby
Berserk!
1967
as Monica Rivers
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
1989
as Self
That's Entertainment! III
1994
as (archive footage)
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
2025
as Self (archive footage)
Torch Song
1953
as Jenny Stewart
Sudden Fear
1952
as Myra Hudson Blaine
Rain
1932
as Sadie Thompson
That's Entertainment!
1974
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
A Woman's Face
1941
as Anna Holm
Queen Bee
1955
as Eva Phillips
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
as Self (archive footage)
Proud Flesh
1925
as Party Guest (uncredited)
The Oscar
1966
as Joan Crawford
Della
1964
as Della Chappell
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925
as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Possessed
1931
as Marian Martin aka 'Mrs. Moreland'
Mannequin
1938
as Jessie Cassidy
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
1926
as Betty Burton
Harriet Craig
1950
as Harriet Craig
Dancing Lady
1933
as Janie Barlow
Above Suspicion
1943
as Frances Myles
Hollywood Canteen
1944
as Self
I Saw What You Did
1965
as Amy Nelson
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982
as Self (archive footage)
Autumn Leaves
1956
as Millicent Wetherby
Woman on the Run
1959
as Susan Conrad
A Star Is Born World Premiere
1954
as Self
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
as (archive footage)
Old Clothes
1925
as Mary Riley
The Merry Widow
1926
as Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
The Karate Killers
1967
as Amanda True
They All Kissed the Bride
1942
as Margaret Johanna 'M.J.' Drew
Chained
1934
as Diane Lovering
Reunion in France
1942
as Michele de la Becque
Untamed
1929
as Alice "Bingo" Dowling
Journey to Murder
1971
as Host
A New Romance of Celluloid: The Miracle of Sound
1940
as Self
Our Blushing Brides
1930
as Geraldine 'Gerry' March
From the Ends of the Earth
1939
as Self
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
1929
as Self
Strange Cargo
1940
as Julie
West Point
1928
as Betty Channing
Humoresque
1947
as Helen Wright
Flamingo Road
1949
as Lane Bellamy
Daisy Kenyon
1947
as Daisy Kenyon
The Best of Everything
1959
as Amanda Farrow
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972
as Self (archive footage)
Why Be Good?: Sexuality & Censorship in Early Cinema
2007
as Self (archive footage)
Paid
1930
as Mary Turner
The Shining Hour
1938
as Olivia Riley Linden
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
as Bobby (archive footage)
Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8
1939
as Joan Crawford
Trog
1970
as Dr. Brockton
I Live My Life
1935
as Kay Bentley
It's a Great Feeling
1949
as Joan Crawford (uncredited)
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
2007
as Self (archive)
Sally, Irene and Mary
1925
as Irene O'Dare
Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star
2002
as Self (archive footage)
The Romance of Celluloid
1937
as Self (archive footage)
The Story of Esther Costello
1957
as Margaret Landi
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009
as Self (archive footage)
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
2000
as Self (archive footage / uncredited)
Sadie McKee
1934
as Sadie
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937
as Mrs. Fay Cheyney
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
as (archive footage)
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
2006
as Self (archive footage)
Female on the Beach
1955
as Lynn Markham
Joan Crawford: Always the Star
1996
as Self (archive footage)
The Understanding Heart
1927
as Monica Dale
Blow-Ups of 1946
1946
as Self
Dance, Fools, Dance
1931
as Bonnie Jordan
Spring Fever
1927
as Allie Monte
Letty Lynton
1932
as Letty Lynton
The Stolen Jools
1931
as Joan Crawford
Today We Live
1933
as Diana 'Ann' Boyce-Smith
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
2008
as Various Roles (archive footage)
The Gorgeous Hussy
1936
as Margaret "Peggy" O'Neal
Zwischen Glück und Krone
1959
The Damned Don't Cry
1950
as Ethel Whitehead
Lady of the Night
1925
as Body Double for Norma Shearer
Bardelys the Magnificent
1926
as Court Gossip (uncredited)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012
as Self (archive footage)
1925 Studio Tour
1925
as Self
Dear Joan: We're Going to Scare You to Death
1972
as Joan Fairchild
The Caretakers
1963
as Lucretia Terry
Love on the Run
1936
as Sally Parker
Our Modern Maidens
1929
as Billie Brown
Strange Witness
1958
as Ruth Marshall
The Circle
1925
as Young Lady Catherine
Fast Workers
1933
as Ivy Stevens (Archive Footage) (Uncredited)
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
as Self
Joan Crawford's Home Movies
1942
as Self
Journey to the Unknown
1969
as Self - Host
Laughing Sinners
1931
as Ivy 'Bunny' Stevens
Forsaking All Others
1934
as Mary Clay
Our Dancing Daughters
1928
as Diana 'Di' Medford
Twelve Miles Out
1927
as Jane
The Casting Couch
1995
Susan and God
1940
as Susan Trexel
Gay! Gay! Hollywood
1994
This Modern Age
1931
as Valentine 'Val' Winters
Montana Moon
1930
as Joan
The Midshipman
1925
as Extra - Driver of Police Car (uncredited)
This Woman Is Dangerous
1952
as Elizabeth Austin
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
2016
as Self (archive footage)
About Joan Crawford
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 pl… With 183 credits spanning from 1925 to 2025, Joan Crawford has appeared in 167 films and 16 TV shows.
Fans searching for Joan Crawford movies, Joan Crawford filmography, or the latest projects starring Joan Crawford can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Joan Crawford Movies
- Johnny Guitar (1954) — as Vienna
- Grand Hotel (1932) — as Flämmchen
- Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) — as (in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
- Mildred Pierce (1945) — as Mildred Pierce
- Night Gallery (1969) — as Miss Menlo
Where to Watch Joan Crawford Films
Most Joan Crawford movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Joan Crawford, check our movies catalogue and browse page.