Crawford’s marriage to Tone would span the back half of the decade, as Crawford’s stardom peaked, and then began its first decline. ListenĬLARK GABLE, FRANCHOT TONE AND BARBARA PAYTON: By the mid-1930s, Joan Crawford was very, very famous, and negotiating both an affair to Clark Gable (her most frequent co-star and the only male star of her stature) and a new marriage to Franchot Tone, who, like Joan’s first husband, was an actor who was not quite on her level of stardom. But the gum-snapping dame with the bad reputation would soon rise far above her well-born husband, cranking out a string of indelible performances in pre-code talkies before hitting an early career peak in the Best Picture-winning Grand Hotel. Her romance with Douglas Fairbanks Jr - the scion of the actor/producer who had been considered the King of Hollywood since the early days of the feature film - began almost simultaneous to Crawford’s breakout hit, Our Dancing Daughters. THE FLAPPER AND DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS JR: Joan Crawford’s early years in Hollywood were like - well, like a pre-code Joan Crawford movie: a highly ambitious beauty of low birth does what she has to do ( whatever she has to do) to transform herself into a well-respected glamour gal at the top of the food chain. To accomplish the latter, we’ll focus on Douglas Fairbanks: top action star of the silent era, the definition of Hollywood royalty, and the father of Crawford’s first husband. LUCILLE LESUEUR GOES TO HOLLYWOOD AND DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS : In order to understand Joan Crawford’s rise to fame, we have to talk about what Joan - born Lucille LeSueur, and called “Billie Cassin” for much of her childhood - was like before she got to Hollywood, and what Hollywood was like before she got there. Tracing her silent-era embodiment of the flapper her marriages (and affair with Clark Gable) her mid-career resurgence with Mildred Pierce Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and finally Mommie Dearest, these six stories explain why Crawford was quintessential female star of the 20th century. Joan Crawford's career spanned the entirety of the classical Hollywood era, and her star image was completely tied into the ebbs and flows of the studio system.

Mummy dearest joan crawford