Net Worth of Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford was an American actor and theater performer with an estimated net worth of $8.5 million at the moment of her demise in 1977.
Her estate was appraised at around $2 million. Her most well-known work is her role in films from the Hollywood silent and golden eras, including “Mildred Pierce” and “The Damned Don’t Cry.”
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Joan Crawford Early Life
Joan Crawford was born Lucille Fay LeSueur, on the 23rd of March 1904, in San Antonio, Texas. The mother of Joan Crawford was of Irish and Swedish origin. Her father was a launderer and was French and Dutch origins.
The paternal grandparents of her grandfather were first cousins. Her childhood was turbulent when her parents split just after she was born, and her sister passed away just before her. Joans younger brother, Hal Hays LeSueur, won an Oscar for acting.
Her mother married, and her family moved to Lawton, Oklahoma, where her stepfather operated the Ramsey Opera House. Watching the shows and seeing the theater in a much more intimate manner in the opera house was a great way to spark her interest in performing arts.
When she was a child, she was aware of her desire to become a dancer, but the decision to skip class slowed her progress. In primary school, she experienced an incident where she could escape from piano classes by leaping out of the classroom window.
She fell on a damaged milk bottle and had to undergo three surgeries to fix the injury. Hawaiian poet and US Army veteran Don Blanding was in the room when she fell and tended to her injuries. He then made the event the focus of one of his poems.
The stepfather of Crawford was accused of embezzlement in the year 1917. after he was cleared of the charge, the family relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, because there was no employment in Lawton.
Her stepfather decided to place her in an exclusive Catholic school, and she attended there as a student working after the divorce of her parents.
Due to her working-student position, Crawford didn’t receive an adequate education. This led to her dropping out of school due to the curriculum not being sufficiently advanced.
Joan Crawford Career
The contract was signed worth 75 dollars per week at MGM in 1924. However, she initially received only tiny and not-billed roles. This was partly due to the head of publicity at MGM, Pete Smith, not liking her last name, LeSueur, and believing it was like “sewer.”
To fix the issue, Smith presented readers of the “Movie Weekly” magazine with a survey of names in an exercise format.
The most popular choice in the national popularity poll is “Joan Arden,” but when they realized that an actress had the same name, they decided to go with the second most-loved “Crawford.”
She wasn’t a fan of the surname and wanted her first name to be called “Jo Ann,” although these weren’t major complaints.
She was constantly dissatisfied with the small size and the low quality of the roles she was cast. Her determination and ambition earned her more roles, and Crawford demonstrated these traits throughout her professional career.
She worked to improve her dancing abilities and began to compete in contests around the town to gain not only in the community but also to gain recognition. This strategy was successful, and she was featured in the silent film 1925 “Sally, Irene, and Mary.”
The film was soon followed by Crawford and was often tapped by MGM to portray the love interest of their films. As sound films became more popular, certain actors had difficulty transitioning or decided not to film sound; however, Crawford transitioned to the improved medium effortlessly in 1929’s “Untamed.”
In her 20s, she worked on defining her image, which was the perfect model of the flapper in the words of F. Scott Fitzgerald. She represented a certain elegant elegance and timeless style. She was the ideal feminine, playful, stylish kind of woman.
It was a woman in the 1920s who aspired to imitate. In the 1930s, MGM began casting her in more sophisticated roles emphasizing her glamorous side.
The year 1932 was when she was a star in the Oscar-award-winning movie “Grand Hotel” with Greta Garbo. She directed three romantic dramas together with Clark Gable from 1934 to 1936.
She was among the most well-known actresses at MGM during the decade. The 1930s were when her popularity declined, and she was granted minor roles less frequently.
A controversial newspaper article entitled “Box Office Poison” suggested that actors like Greta Garbo, Mae West, and Crawford should be released from their contracts with major film studios because their films weren’t bringing in ticket sales. It was circulated among the film circles and began an era of “Box Office Poison” lists.
Crawford signed a three-film contract for three films with Warner Bros in 1943, and her debut film “Hollywood Canteen” was nominated for three Oscar nominations.
Crawford continued to climb from her slump by releasing the 1945 movie “Mildred Pierce,” which became a big hit at the box offices and with critics. While the director resisted her casting and was harsh about her throughout the film, she did win her an Academy Award for Best Actress.
She continued to create a film that was successful with Warner Bros. throughout the decade but requested that they release them in 1952 as she was concerned that they were releasing poor films.
When she left, she directed the critically acclaimed film success “Sudden Fear,” which resulted in her receiving the Academy Award nomination in 1953.
Her career was stable, but in the remaining years, she was not a star throughout the decade. She received a BAFTA nomination for her 1962 film “Whatever happened to Baby Jane?” however, it was to be her final film.
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Joan Crawford Personal Life
Crawford was married four times, with each marriage lasting four years long. She adopted one daughter in 1940. She also adopted a son at her wedding with Phillip Terry in 1943 and a twin set in 1947. Joan is a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame presented in 1960.
On the 10th of May 10, 1977, Joan Crawford died of a heart attack. The famous actress disinherited her daughters Christina and Christopher from her will, using “reasons that are well-known to them.” The estate was sued and was eventually awarded a total of $55,000.
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