Her parents separated before she was born. By age sixteen Lucille
had known three fathers, one of whom (a vaudeville theatre manager
had given her the name Billie Cassin. By 1915 she and her mother
lived in Kansas City and Billie worked in a laundry and also as a
menial to pay school tuition. Winning an amateur dance contest in
1923 led to chorus work in Chicago, Detroit and New York. New
Year's Day of 1925 she left for Hollywood. Before her second
picture a "Photoplay" contest led to the name Joan Crawford. With
_Our Dancing Daughters (1928)_ (qv) she became a star. She had a
string of successes playing a socialite or rags-to-riches shopgirl,
most notably as Crystal Allen in _Women, The (1939)_ (qv). She
stayed with MGM's for eighteen years, signing with Warner's in
1943.. _Mildred Pierce (1945)_ (qv) was a defining role and won an
Oscar for Joan. After more than seventy films she married the
Chairman of the Board of Pepsi Cola Company with which she remained
after his fatal heart attack in 1959 (till 1972 when corporate
powers saw no further use for her and pushed her out; after that
she referred to the CEO as "Fang"). 1962's _What Ever Happened to
Baby Jane? (1962)_ (qv) brought new careers to both Joan Crawford
and 'Bette Davis' (qv), though the roles were neither numerous nor
flattering. Horrified by a photo taken of her in 1974, she retired
completely, devoting herself to Christian Science and increasing
use of vodka. Her four adopted children received little from her
two million dollar estate: $77,500 each for Cathy and Cindy,
nothing for Christopher or Christina "for reasons best known to
them".
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