Book: Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford
Website: The Joan Crawford Page
By now, everyone is familiar with the 1980s classic camp film Mommie Dearest. I know I am -- in college my friends and I would sit in the cafeteria for hours quoting our favorite overacted lines from the movie. For my friends and I, it was Faye Dunaway's finest hour when she croaked out the line "Christina got expelled from school today." I mean, we loved this movie so much that even at my wedding I was asked to reenact a scene with a college chum.
Now don't get me wrong -- Christina's tale of repeated abuse and neglect by her adopted mother is horrific, and I'm glad that she has overcome that to become an international spokesperson against such tragic behavior. But Faye Dunaway was just marvelous as she chewed her way through the melodramatic script.
The book on which the movie is based, Mommie Dearest, has a different tone altogether -- it's a sad account of a woman with demons only she could see who took her troubles out on her children until her dying day.
Joan Crawford was born in 1908 as Lucille Fay LeSueur in San Antonio, TX to a single mother. As a child, Joan was fond of dancing and entered several dance contests as she grew up. She always knew she wanted a career in show business -- she got one step closer when she won a dance contest and was signed on to dance in a chorus line. The bug bit, and after two more years of dancing in various cities, Joan took her chance and packed her bags and moved to Hollywood.
Desperately wanting to be famous, she knew instinctively that movies would give her that success. In 1925, she made her first appearance on film -- as a showgirl in Pretty Ladies. She became the "hardest working woman in show business"--and her filmography easily reflects that. But finally, she became a star with her role in Our Dancing Daughters.
But just as she became a hit, "talkies" came to town. Luckily, Crawford had a strong voice, and her career continued as others around her slid into oblivion. As she entered the 1930's, Joan became one of MGM's top stars. Films such as 1932's Grand Hotel and No More Ladies in 1935 were both critical and commercial hits -- Joan was on top of her acting game.
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