Joan Crawford
Known for Acting · 188 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
The Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
What's My Line?
1950
as Self
The Lucy Show
1962
as Joan Crawford
The Secret Storm
1954
as Joan Borman Kane
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
as Self
The Virginian
1962
as Stephanie White
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
as Stella Faring / Sarah / Melanie Davidson Hobbs
Route 66
1960
as Morgan Harper
The Oscars
1953
as Self
The Name of the Game
1968
as Committee Member (uncredited)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1964
as Amanda True
Startime
1959
as Self
The Sixth Sense
1972
as Joan Fairchild
General Electric Theater
1953
as Ann Howard / Ruth Marshall / Mary Andrews
Movies (172)
Tramp, Tramp, Tramp
1926
as Betty Burton
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
1962
as Blanche Hudson
Mildred Pierce
1945
as Mildred Pierce
That's Entertainment!
1974
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story
2025
as Self (archive footage)
Possessed
1931
as Marian Martin aka 'Mrs. Moreland'
Grand Hotel
1932
as Flämmchen
Johnny Guitar
1954
as Vienna
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
1982
as (in "Humoresque") (archive footage)
The Women
1939
as Crystal Allen
A Woman's Face
1941
as Anna Holm
The Oscar
1966
as Joan Crawford
Female on the Beach
1955
as Lynn Markham
That's Entertainment! III
1994
as (archive footage)
Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte
1964
as Miriam Deering in Car (uncredited)
The Unknown
1927
as Nanon Zanzi
The Road to Edinburgh
1954
as Mary Andrews
The Gorgeous Hussy
1936
as Margaret "Peggy" O'Neal
Flappers, Speakeasies, and the Birth of Modern Culture
2010
Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
1925
as Chariot Race Spectator (uncredited)
Sudden Fear
1952
as Myra Hudson Blaine
They All Kissed the Bride
1942
as Margaret Johanna 'M.J.' Drew
Strange Cargo
1940
as Julie
The Karate Killers
1967
as Amanda True
Zwischen Glück und Krone
1959
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976
as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
as (archive footage)
Our Modern Maidens
1929
as Billie Brown
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Midshipman
1925
as Extra - Driver of Police Car (uncredited)
Johnny Guitar: A Western Like No Other
2016
as Self (archive footage)
Night Gallery
1969
as Miss Menlo
Lykke og krone
1962
Reunion in France
1942
as Michele de la Becque
The Damned Don't Cry
1950
as Ethel Whitehead
The Boob
1926
as Jane
The Best of Everything
1959
as Amanda Farrow
Flamingo Road
1949
as Lane Bellamy
Possessed
2011
as (archive footage)
The Casting Couch
1995
Hollywood Canteen
1944
as Self
Bardelys the Magnificent
1926
as Court Gossip (uncredited)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
as Self (archive footage)
Daisy Kenyon
1947
as Daisy Kenyon
The Merry Widow
1926
as Ballroom Dancer (uncredited)
Chained
1934
as Diane Lovering
This Woman Is Dangerous
1952
as Elizabeth Austin
I Saw What You Did
1965
as Amy Nelson
When Ladies Meet
1941
as Mary 'Minnie' Howard
Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces
2000
as Self (archive footage / uncredited)
Trog
1970
as Dr. Brockton
Dancing Lady
1933
as Janie Barlow
Forsaking All Others
1934
as Mary Clay
Possessed
1947
as Louise Howell
At Home with Joan Crawford
1953
as Self
Queen Bee
1955
as Eva Phillips
Berserk!
1967
as Monica Rivers
The Stolen Jools
1931
as Joan Crawford
Bette and Joan
2017
as Self (archive footage)
Above Suspicion
1943
as Frances Myles
Lady of the Night
1925
as Body Double for Norma Shearer
Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story
2007
as Self (archive)
Goodbye, My Fancy
1951
as Agatha Reed
Joan Crawford's Home Movies
1942
as Self
The Shining Hour
1938
as Olivia Riley Linden
Sally, Irene and Mary
1925
as Irene O'Dare
Tell Us She Was One of You: The Hollywood Blacklist and 'Johnny Guitar'
2016
as Self (archive footage)
The Hollywood Revue of 1929
1929
as Self
Across to Singapore
1928
as Priscilla Crowninshield
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
2006
as Self (archive footage) (voice)
Humoresque
1947
as Helen Wright
It's a Great Feeling
1949
as Joan Crawford (uncredited)
This was the MARY
1968
as Self/Narrator
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
2012
as Self (archive footage)
Gay! Gay! Hollywood
1994
The Bride Wore Red
1937
as Anni Pavlovitch
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
as Bobby (archive footage)
Torch Song
1953
as Jenny Stewart
Rain
1932
as Sadie Thompson
Susan and God
1940
as Susan Trexel
No More Ladies
1935
as Marcia Townsend Warren
Today We Live
1933
as Diana 'Ann' Boyce-Smith
1939: Hollywood's Greatest Year
2009
as Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
2003
as Self (archive footage)
Our Dancing Daughters
1928
as Diana 'Di' Medford
Woman on the Run
1959
as Susan Conrad
The Green Fog
2018
Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood
2008
as Various Roles (archive footage)
Autumn Leaves
1956
as Millicent Wetherby
Harriet Craig
1950
as Harriet Craig
Laughing Sinners
1931
as Ivy 'Bunny' Stevens
Our Blushing Brides
1930
as Geraldine 'Gerry' March
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009
Time, the Comedian
1925
as Art Student (as Lucille LeSueur)
Fast Workers
1933
as Ivy Stevens (Archive Footage) (Uncredited)
The First 100 Years: A Celebration of American Movies
1995
as Self (archive footage)
The Romance of Celluloid
1937
as Self (archive footage)
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
1937
as Mrs. Fay Cheyney
Untamed
1929
as Alice "Bingo" Dowling
The Caretakers
1963
as Lucretia Terry
Journey to the Unknown
1969
as Self - Host
Love on the Run
1936
as Sally Parker
The Law of the Range
1928
as Betty Dallas
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
as (archive footage)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
as Self
The Circle
1925
as Young Lady Catherine
Journey to Murder
1971
as Host
A Slave of Fashion
1925
as Mannequin (uncredited)
Dance, Fools, Dance
1931
as Bonnie Jordan
I Live My Life
1935
as Kay Bentley
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
1961
as Self - Janie Barlow (archive footage) (uncredited)
Twelve Miles Out
1927
as Jane
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
2006
as Self (archive footage)
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
2004
as Self / Flaemmchen (archive footage)
From the Ends of the Earth
1939
as Self
Sadie McKee
1934
as Sadie
Strait-Jacket
1964
as Lucy Harbin
Johnny Guitar: A Feminist Western?
2016
as Self (archive footage)
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
1969
as Self
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 188 credits spanning from 1925 to 2025, Joan Crawford has appeared in 172 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
- Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926) — as Betty Burton
- What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) — as Blanche Hudson
- Mildred Pierce (1945) — as Mildred Pierce
- That's Entertainment! (1974) — as (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story (2025) — as Self (archive footage)
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.