One more reason to love Joan Crawford

[LukenDC]

According to an article published this week in Mouseplanet, Joan Crawford---Oscar winning actress, champion of children's causes, and Pepsi Cola Board member---was instrumental in getting Pepsi to sponsor and approve the it's a small world attraction at the New York World's Fair. Joan was the first to suggest a collaboration with Disney and she insisted that Pepsi approve the design of the project despite the reservations of some Board members.

http://www.mouseplanet.com/articles.php?art=ww080507ws

If it were not for Joan Crawford, it's a small world may never have come into being. I just love that woman!!!!

WWJD---What Would Joan Do?

PS---Joan fans should be sure to check out this amazing encyclopedic website on her life and career---www.joancrawfordbest.com

 

[EMom]

Well, I'm glad you found something to admire about her. She was a head case. Although I do love her, "Don't &%#$ with me, fellas!" line to the Board of Directors when they basically told her not to worry her pretty little head about business matters after her husband died. They never saw that one coming.

 

[Deb in IA]

I think Christina Crawford might not agree.

 

[NY Disney fan]

"Don't &%#$ with me, fellas!" line

....this ain't my first time at the rodeo. The sword cuts -- both ways.

 

[LukenDC]

I think Christina Crawford might not agree.

Yeah, well there are two other girls who called Joan "Mommie Dearest" who do not agree with Christina. Joan adopted four kids, two of whom say that Christina is just trying to make a buck off of Joan's memory. As with most controversies, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

 

[EMom]

She scared the crap out of Clark Gable and I don't think he scared easily. From all accounts, she scared the bejesus out of a lot of folks.

 

[LukenDC]

Well, I'm glad you found something to admire about her. She was a head case. Although I do love her, "Don't &%#$ with me, fellas!" line to the Board of Directors when they basically told her not to worry her pretty little head about business matters after her husband died. They never saw that one coming.

The film Mommie Dearest plays fast and loose with the facts and differs in some significant ways from the book. The showdown between Joan and the Pepsi Board never happened. Pepsi was quite pleased to have Joan on the Board because she was willing to work hard for them. Joan became a pioneer of product placements in films and many of her later films---including Strait Jacket, Berserk, and Trog---feature Pepsi products in the background. Joan was even able to secure a role in Strait Jacket for a Pepsi vice president.

Still, the Pepsi boardroom showdown is a great scene in the film.

 

[hiwaygal]

I don't know much about her...but every time I see/hear her name, all I can think is:

NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!!!!!!

 

[EMom]

Clearly, you are a fan. More power to you. I'll stick with my opinion that she was a talented actress, but a disturbed individual. If her daughter's account was the only one that detailed Joan's troubling behavior, I'd say it was just sour grapes. But there are too many others. And that stint where she filled in for her 20-something y.o. daughter's role on the soap opera, even though she was in her 60s! How delusional to you have to be to do that? People watched her sub because it was such a train wreck. (The fact that she ws boozing it up part of the time didn't help matters.) I was very young, but I can remember my mother and her friends howling about it. Yep, head case.

 

[LukenDC]

Clearly, you are a fan. More power to you. I'll stick with my opinion that she was a talented actress, but a disturbed individual. If her daughter's account was the only one that detailed Joan's troubling behavior, I'd say it was just sour grapes. But there are too many others. And that stint where she filled in for her 20-something y.o. daughter's role on the soap opera, even though she was in her 60s! How delusional to you have to be to do that? People watched her sub because it was such a train wreck. (The fact that she ws boozing it up part of the time didn't help matters.) I was very young, but I can remember my mother and her friends howling about it. Yep, head case.

I'm not one of the fans who regard Joan as a saint. She was human like the rest of us and certainly had her issues. I'm amazed that some of her recent biographers downplay her alcoholism when she herself publicly admitted that she had a drinking problem.

Joan made a lot of enemies in Hollywood, but she also made a lot of friends. She was one of the few stars who spent time socializing and getting to know the "little people" on the set---light techs, gaffers, etc. She also did a lot of special favors for them. It's the people without money and power who speak most fondly of her.

I admire Joan because she was a self-made woman. Only in America can a kid from a troubled, impoverished family rise to global stardom through their own grit and determination. She certainly had her faults, but those faults should not overshadow a long and varied career and dedication to philanthropic causes.

 

[wdw4us2]

Well, I'm glad you found something to admire about her. She was a head case. Although I do love her, "Don't &%#$ with me, fellas!" line to the Board of Directors when they basically told her not to worry her pretty little head about business matters after her husband died. They never saw that one coming.

I used to have a shirt with Faye Dunaway as Joan holding a Pepsi bottle and that quote (back in my younger days).

It's too bad that now she's only known as "Mommie Dearest". She did a lot of charity work in her lifetime and was well thought of by many. People shouldn't judge her solely on the her daughter's memoir. Her other daughters have refuted much of what was in Christina's book. It appears as though that behavior was limited to Christina and Christopher.

 

[themilesfamily]

LukenDC, I have a book recommendation for you, if you're into old Hollywood. It's called "The Whole Truth and Nothing But" written by Hedda Hopper in 1962.

She includes a segment about Joan Crawford. I don't remember all of the details, but she talks about staying in a hotel suite with Joan for a weekend. She was sitting in the living area and Joan disappeared -- she went to find her and Joan was in the bathroom, on the floor on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor. She said to Hedda, "It wasn't very clean." Hedda said that Joan was an absolute clean freak -- would often clean her hotel rooms from top to bottom. Hedda didn't portray that incident (or Joan for that matter) in a bad light. She basically said that Joan was an incredibly hard worker, fastiduous, etc.

In hindsight, she sounds like she probably had an obsessive-compulsive disorder. And perhaps she never should have been a parent. But she was an amazing actress and really rose from nothing to be an incredible star.

 

[LukenDC]

In hindsight, she sounds like she probably had an obsessive-compulsive disorder. And perhaps she never should have been a parent. But she was an amazing actress and really rose from nothing to be an incredible star.

I agree that Joan likely had OCD when it came to cleaning. Several people witnessed her cleaning hotel rooms, office spaces, and even an airline lavatory! In her last apartment, she kept plastic slip covers on her furniture.

As for not being a parent, that's a tough one. Christina and Christopher said that she was abusive, but Cindy and Cathy say that she was a wonderful mother.