Saturday, April 7, 2018

THE LAST DAYS OF JOAN CRAWFORD

When screen legend Joan Crawford died in 1977, the obits of Joan Crawford chronicled her tough, traumatic youth, her 81 movies and her driving second career as a director of the Pepsi-Cola Company. But there was no accounting for the eerie last 18 months of her 70-odd years. One of the few who knew was showbiz correspondent Doris Lilly, a close confidante and neighbor in the Manhattan apartment building where Crawford lived since 1967.

Did Joan Crawford take her own life? As an experienced reporter and Joan’s friend, Lilly said that she can only conclude that she did. She was cremated, according to her wishes, and no autopsy was performed to see if she might have taken an overdose of sleeping pills. Yet there is much evidence that she was preparing to die.

Among the many “coincidences”: Her death occurred on May 10, the 22nd anniversary of her marriage to her fourth and last husband, the late Pepsi chairman Alfred Steele—the only man, she said, she really loved. (Years after his death in 1959, she still set a place for him at the dinner table.) Starting in February, she began “cleaning out,” sending Dorsi and a few other friends household items that she said she would no longer need. Just two days prior to her death, on Mother’s Day, she told Doris she spent the day alone; none of her four adopted children came to call. The next day Joan sent her beloved pet Shih Tzu, Princess, away to be taken care of by friends in the country. In fact, Princess had not been outside the building for over a year, much less separated from her adoring mistress.


The coroner’s office said this great star died of heart failure, and in a way they were right. Her heart had been broken, and she died from a lethal dose of loneliness—and fear. Unbeknownst to even some of her closest friends, Joan had received an anonymous phone call in the winter of 1975. “I will kill you,” the caller said. “You won’t know where or when, but I will get you.” Terrified, she called in the police and the FBI. For months her 22nd-floor five-room apartment was under guard. A variety of exotic locks, latches and alarms were installed. For the last 18 months she had refused to set foot outside her apartment. To reach her, friends were given a number to call, leave a message and wait for her to call back. When she slept, it was behind bolts in her bedroom, with a pale pink night-light burning.

During those months of self-imposed exile, Doris saw a great deal of Joan Crawford. Along with her psychiatrist and perhaps a half dozen others, she was one of the few. Joan had her meals delivered in and busied herself writing thousands of notes, for which she had become famous over the years.


But what she loved most was cleaning. “There’s a little bit of Harriet Craig in all of us,” she once told friends, referring to the meticulous housecleaner she portrayed in one of her films. A visit to Joan’s apartment was like a visit to a hospital operating room. A house-boy waxed the parquet floors every other day. “I gave up carpets years ago,” she explained, “when I realized I couldn’t keep them clean all the time.” The draperies were cleaned once a month; plastic liners were installed on the window sills. Some live by the sword, but Joan Crawford lived by the mop. The maid, Frieda, was always scouring in the kitchen, and Joan would often join in. Just three weeks before her death she had strained her back scrubbing the floor.

Each and every piece of furniture—and the walls—had been treated with a vinylizing process that could not be penetrated by dirt. There were no fresh flowers or plants. In the film Harriet Craig, Harriet finally loses her crackerjack maid by demanding that the tree outside the back window be washed and waxed. Joan, too, filled her apartment with yellow wax flowers and plastic plants—ones that could be swabbed with soap and water.

Although there have been stories that this once great beauty had gone to ruin, nothing could have been further from the truth. There was a time when she carried a flask of 100-proof vodka to parties, but that was long ago. She stopped drinking completely six months before she died and quit chain-smoking cold turkey. Her figure was slim and taut, and she let her hair go salt-and-pepper gray. She didn’t wear or need makeup. Thanks to expert plastic surgery and a superb bone structure, she could have passed for 55.



Still, Joan was desperately unhappy. After the death of Alfred Steele, she played a major role as Pepsi’s spokeswoman for more than a decade. But PepsiCo’s current chairman, Donald Kendall, had frozen her out completely over the past two years. She still wanted to act, but now the scripts weren’t coming in. Last March 21 the American Film Institute honored her archrival Bette Davis with a nationally televised tribute. No one approached Joan, and it hurt. Nonetheless, Joan, an avid TV watcher, told Doris that she thought the event was a glorious tribute to a great star. For this performance alone, Joan Crawford could have earned another Oscar.

There has been a lot of renewed interest in Joan Crawford, since the docudrama of her life on FX in 2017. While Bette Davis was the bigger star, and probably was the better actress, Crawford has the sadder life. Joan knew that her daughter Christina was writing a sordid biography of her, and like many of her friends said, Joan was disguarded by the Hollywood that she built. Whether or not Joan committed suicide or not, the fact was her last years were very sad and lonely for her...



40 comments:

  1. Having read "Mommie Dearest" I can understand why so many people in Hollywood "discarded" (correct spelling) her. They were probably repulsed by the way she treated Christina and Christopher - although her twins Cathy and Cynthia say they were treated well. If nothing else, we must give Joan credit for making a great career after starting from poverty. Many people from better backgrounds have done far less.

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    1. Thank you for giving her her just due, as Joan did rising from absolutely nothing and a horrible beginning- we don't know if all that allegation in Mommie Dearest is true or not? Just as Bette Davis's daughter wrote a nasty tell all about her... we weren't there. I only know these children we're incredibly privileged in most ways, raised and supported by two very hard-working dedicated women,that should be admired for their work ethics, as well as their incredible careers.

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    2. Christina and Christopher did not live her long as they were in boarding. school. They did have different experiences

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    3. It's very easy and sometimes petty to cast judgement on famous people and even more so if it's a woman and mother. Tim's comments above are completely valid.

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  2. Actors should NOT have children! They are very childlike themselves always looking for attention. It's not a good thing.

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    1. There are a few that made a success out of it, Helen Hayes had a wonderful relationship with son James. Actress Barbara Rush a devoted mother to children Claudia and Christopher and a doting grandmother. Joanne Woodward and Paul did well with their children, as did Eli Wallach and Anne Jackson. It's just the movie stars with rotten relationships with their children that we seem to hear about.

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    2. Well I'm thinking of Meryl Streep who raised for children and did an incredible job in spite of an incredible Stellar career and by all evidence was a great mom

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    3. Nature knew something about Joanie, thus she was infertile.. Those kids should have been adopted by others.

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    4. And we all KNOW how she BUILT that!
      They don't call them "casting couch" out of nothing.
      Bette Davis pegged her from the beginning.

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    5. This woman was truly evil.
      Today she would have been in jail for such horrible child abuse. And I blame the POS adults that knew about this but did NOTHING to rescue these children! I hope she's rotting in hell.

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    6. And that whole "anonymous call" to tell her "I will kill you" was another one of her feeble attempts to try and become relevant again. Pathetic. God I hate that woman.

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    7. I'm curious, Edie, how many actors do you personally know, and do you know enough about them to make this generalized statement. Hmmmmmm......

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  3. Joan crawford hid abuse of her 2 elder children behind the glamour and money of her status, regardless of how she earned this.
    There is evidence and a number of credible witnesses to the abuse she gave to her older children.
    No one stood up for those children.
    It's a shame the book couldn't have been done whilst she was alive to give her say but that's what dear does.

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  4. I believe she was Bipolar. I believe she was also paranoid. She had manic episodes & she abused those children & nobody helped them. Back then society believed in keeping dirty laundry private. Even blatant child abuse. As for the supposed stalker it was probably a crazy fan. She was delusional & her life in the end was miserable.

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    1. I agree with you about the her possibly being bipolar. Also, just so you know, paranoia is part of being bipolar. Too bad the studio heads and her friends didn't help her get the proper medical treatment for her condition.

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  5. If u must throw stones at CC then throw them at Lana Turner and a few other stars who witnessed the abuse. her son Christopher who she abandoned was even more lethal against her. Joanie may have been a glamorous star,, she may have even started out a good mom. She seems to have done well with the twins. But she was rotten to the first two. U want to call Lana Turner a liar?

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    1. How do we know Lana Turner was such a paragon of the truth?

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    2. I want to call you delusional,...... but I wont. And quit calling her Joanie. Really?

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  6. Maria Riva, Marlene Dietrich's daughter, in her book, said Marlene referred to Davis as 'pop eyes' and Joan as 'pop eyes who beats her kids' People knew they just looked away.
    Marlene changed her tune after Joan's death and did disparage Christine, not really challenging the accusations just saying it was wrong that Christine was profitting from it.

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  7. Look at all of you, talking as if you knew what happened in Crawford's house. She never got to give her side of the story. Christina published the book after Joann passed away, not giving her a chance to speak out. Bette Davis was still very much alive when her daughter wrote her book, and we got a chance to hear her side of the story. Had she died before the book was completed, would the world view her the same way they view Crawford? I'm left to wonder, as the public so often forces me to...

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    1. I always thought Joan Crawford looked like a nasty woman never liked her doesn’t surprise me no one bothered with her.

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    2. I think you cannot be more right.

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    3. What does a "nasty woman" look like? Please enlighten me. Was it her acting you never liked, or the close up personal relationship you never had with her? You don't have to be a glamorous movie star, or the child of a glamorous movie star, to you have a bad relationship with your mother. I think a few people "bothered" with her or she wouldn't have reached the heights of fame that she did. If you're talking about her kids, none of your damn business. Sorry for sounding so caustic, but the older I get the less tolerance I have for stupid. My blanket apology if I've offended anyone. Just sending out a wake up call people.

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    4. Right on, Betty. Not caustic; you stole my words! Joan had it all-causes human reactions, including jealousy. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen" generally means the decline of a person or group who was very successful, powerful, or important. The phrase can be applied with humor or sarcasm to common situations. Schadenfreude-similar-"taking delight in someone's misery". Always amazing to me that people get so energized by negativity. Joan Crawford was an icon.

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  8. The legendary glamorous Joan Crawford was a saint. Her friends never saw any of the hateful behavior Cristina wrote. Cristina just wanted to make some coins. Anonymous sources said she had a suite of rooms in a hospital where she would pay their bills if the could not afford them. Oh how I miss that beautiful woman!

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    1. But she always paint one side that bad? Why can't we be understanding and compassionate of both sides? Now that's a conundrum.

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    2. Yes, she donated millions to medical causes, and most of it anonymously. She also was extremely bright-earned a scholarship for college, attended, instructors reported on her intelligence, but left school when Hollywood discovered her. Who wouldn't?

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  9. When your goal is to be viewed beautiful snd perfect you leave no room for people to accept the real you. The book left many wandering who was the real Joan.

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  10. The discipline that Christina implicated was not considered child abuse during that time period, Both Christina and Christopher were terrible children and adults, they could not hold down jobs as adults because of their attitudes; no one could work with them, furthermore Joan could have given those rotten kids back to the state of California, nevertheless she kept them and paid for Christina's college education.

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  11. why don't we all just worry about our own families and stop being nasty. It's like watching Mommie Dearest...with different actors!

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    1. I agreed with your advice. Nobody can assert a judgment unless having considered all evidences from both parts, besides having views from different perspectives.
      Thank you.

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  12. Hi.
    I thought this was a very interesting read. Yet, there are so many questions that seemed answered regarding her actual death. I hear from sources that she was buried next to Alfred Steele, her fourth husband, and now I'm reading she's been cremated.
    I have researched this topic after reading this article, and I have found more information and tidbits to the times near her death.
    May I ask, where did you get your resources to state this claim? I saw Sources on the bottom of the page, but I know you obtained this information somewhere. I wanted to know was this from your research? Or was this from a source connected with Crawford or Doris Lilly?

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  13. Opinion is divided on the truthfulness of Christina's book. Many people in a position to know the facts say that Joan was an abusive parent but an equal number claim that not to be true, so we will never know for sure. But...judging by how expertly and convincingly she play the parts of rotten females during her last years--as in Harriet Craig, Queen Bee, Female on the Beach, Torch song and probably others--those portrayals came too easily to her than to have need much acting. And the fact that she spent her last years in loneliness proves that she was a terrible person with few, if any, friends.

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  14. I was NOT a twinkle in my dad's eye when Joan Crawford was famous, I do remember my Great grandmother watching " Whatever Happened To Baby Jane" and trying to figure out the make up they used back then. My Great Grandmother would then watch Mildred Pierce, I just didn't understand any of it. In the 2000s I watched Mommie Dearest for the first time
    And I figured , well her daughter had a story to tell. My guess would be to VENT.
    NO ONE KNOWS WHAT GOES ON BEHIND CLOSE DOORS. I hope healing happened before Joan Crawford died and I hope healing has happened for Christina Crawford. I am an Abused Neglected child and it is DEFINITELY NO PICNIC.

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  15. Movie stars are American royalty, and we love to find reasons to hate and degrade them. It's so strange, and yet, so American.

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  16. Mildred Pierce '45... great film

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  17. I am not sure what to believe about Christina or Joan's relationship to be honest. Anything can be left up to interpretation because like many other people said only God knows what really happened. Abusers often times do not know or understand what they are doing is abuse because of several factors and no its not an excuse but just a reason. I believe Christina experienced abuse as she stated. I also believe Joan Crawford was a broken woman with a lot of insecurities and personal demons that stemmed from her coming from a horrible mother and also being molested by her stepfather at a very young age. I personally do not think she should have adopted let alone given birth to children which she could not. I think the beast of Hollywood exacerbated her already deep rooted issues and then drinking did not help either. Joan was a great actress and a great talent but she might not have been the best person at times but she had her moments of kindness and moments of being giving and charitable. I think she had a lot more life to live had she not drank so much I really think that helped to shorten her life along with being lonely and depressed.

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  18. What a load of spurious, hyperbolic garbage.

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  19. Christina was a manipulative girl and narcissistic. Joan went out of her way to ask friends to hire Christina in the business and she always trashed her opportunities...read what Myrna Lloyd has to say about Christina....why didn't Christina do as asked by her mother and how many times did Joan have to ask her do please use the other hangers... Christina knew how to push her mother's buttons. Look up what Christina did when Joan and Al bought her a T-bird car....Joan and Al finally told her she needed to get her own place...her behavior wasn't welcome at their NY apt. Joan set boundaries.

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