Joan Crawford born Lucille Fay LeSueur was an American film writer and a Television actress. She was also a dancer and a business executive. She was born on March 23rd. Her birth year is uncertain and various sources claim different years. However, it’s confirmed that she was born somewhere between 1904 to 1908.
She was active from 1924 to 1972. Crawford was married four times and had 4 children including Christina.
Career
Her career was quite interesting. She first began as a dancer. When she was a dancer, she used the original name in her career. So, at that time, she was popularly known as Lucille LeSueur, Crawford. She used to dance at many places and theatres.
While she was dancing in Detroit, she was spotted by Jacob J. Shubert. She put her in the line for Innocent Eyes which was to take place at Winter Garden Theatre. That was the place from which her career began.
She then worked for many small places such as Lowes Theater, etc. When she was a dancer, she noticed that she was offered a contract of $75 a week at MGM. This was the beginning of her new career, she accepted that.
She then did her first-ever film. The name of the film was Lady of the Night. It was a credit role and she was credited as Lucille LeSueur. She then became MGM’s most popular female star and came in various movies. Some of her notable films right after the popular Lady of the Night include The Circle and Pretty Ladies.
She then moved to Warner Bros when she signed a contract with them. The contract was worth $500k for 3 movies. Her first movie under Warner Bros was Hollywood Canteen.
Crawford won many awards during her career for not just one but many films.
The Name Change
Later on, Pete Smith from MGM recognized her ability. He suggested the MGM’s head to change her name as the name looked a bit fake He told the studio head that the last name needs to be changed as it sounds like Sever. That was the time when the new last name came into the game.
Her last name was then changed to Crawford. She wanted to change her first name and wanted it to be Jo-Anne. She even said that she hated the last name as it sounds much more similar to Crawfish. However, she also added that she liked the security that comes along and decides to keep the same name.
That is how the first name Joan and the last name Crawford became the main screen name her. She gained a lot of popularity by the same name. All these things happened when she was in the MGM.
Last Days
One day on May 10th, 1977, she was in her Manhattan apartment all alone. At that time, she had a heart attack and the film industry lost one of the most iconic actresses of Hollywood. Her resting place is in Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York, U.S.
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