Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford was not an actress; she was a movie star. The distinction is a crucial one -- she infrequently appeared in superior films, and her work was rarely distinguished regardless of the material, yet she enjoyed one of the most successful and longest-lived careers in cinema history. Glamorous and over-the-top, stardom was seemingly Crawford's birthright -- everything about her, from her rags-to-riches story to her constant struggles to remain in the spotlight, made her ideal fodder for the Hollywood myth factory; even in death she remained a high-profile figure, thanks to the publication of her daughter's infamous tell-all book, an outrageous film biography and numerous revelations of a sordid private life. Ultimately, Crawford was melodrama incarnate, a wide-eyed, delirious prima donna whose story endures as a definitive portrait of motion picture fame, determination and relentless ambition. Born Lucille Fay Le Sueur on March 23, 1908 in San Antonio, Texas, she first earned notice by winning a Charleston contest; she then worked as a professional dancer in Chicago, later graduating to a position in the chorus line of a Detroit-area club and finally to the Broadway revue Innocent Eyes. While in the chorus of The Passing Show of 1924, she was discovered by MGM executive Harry Rapf, and made her movie debut in 1925's Lady of the Night; a series of small roles followed before the studio sponsored a magazine contest to find a name better than Le Sueur, and after a winner was chosen, she was rechristened Joan Crawford. Her first major role, in 1925's Sally, Irene and Mary, swiftly followed, and over the next few years she co-starred opposite some of the silent era's most popular stars, including Harry Langdon (1926's Tramp Tramp Tramp), Lon Chaney (1927's The...