Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford had a long career as an actress, from silents up to episodes of a few TV series in the early 70s. She was a one of a kind star, able to reveal a woman's deepest vulnerabilities in some performances while in others she became a raging torrent of anger and revenge. Her beauty was obvious: the big blue eyes, the perfect cheekbones, the freckled face, the trim, dancer's figure, the elegant voice that hid any trace of her Texas childhood, but she was also intelligent, sophisticated, and caring towards those she loved. 

I know the stories, I've heard about that book and the Faye Dunaway film based on it, but I believe that none of us can know the truth of these matters, and sometimes the children of famous people who failed to find their own success use their parents towards that end, in some very crass ways. 

I choose to accept Joan Crawford as I see her, and I see her as a brilliantly shining film star and also as a very underrated actress. Sure, in her later years she made some missteps but who hasn't? Her best roles were in Mildred Pierce, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, Sudden Fear, Possessed, and Humoresque but I am very partial to Johnny Guitar, a great Western with Joan and Mercedes McCambridge caught in a battle of wills among a throng of tough cowboys, and beating them all! Lol