eMoviePoster.com

What are the objects in the corners of some images? Learn More

Joan Crawford was born Lucille LeSueur in San Antonio, Texas in 1905 (later, she would claim she was born in 1908). Her father left her mother before she was born, and her mother re-married while she was a toddler, and for a while she grew up thinking that man was her father. Her mother divorced and re-married yet again before she was 16, moving to Kansas City. Lucille (now called Billie Cassin) started dancing as a chorus girl in Chicago, Detroit and New York City. In 1925, she went to Hollywood, and after her first movie, Pretty Ladies (where she was billed as Lucille Le Sueur), a movie magazine held a contest to pick her new name and the winning entry was Joan Crawford. Crawford had more determination to be a star than any other actress, before or since. One of her early major roles was as the love interest in Harry Langdon's Tramp, Tramp, Tramp in 1926, and by 1928 she had appeared in 24 movies, some small parts and some important ones. In 1928, she had the starring role in Our Dancing Daughters, and that made her a major star. In 1931, she made Laughing Sinners with up and coming star Clark Gable, which led to a series of movies they co-starred in (they also had a years long affair!). Throughout the 1930s, Crawford was one of MGM's top stars, in films like Grand Hotel, Rain, and The Women, plus a slew of romantic melodramas. She had a quickie marriage in 1923, and in 1929 she married Douglas Fairbanks Jr., which lasted until 1933, and in 1935 she married Franchot Tone, which lasted until 1939. In 1940, while unmarried, she adopted a daughter, Christina. In 1942, she married Phillip Terry, and together they adopted a boy, but their marriage only lasted until 1946. In 1943, after 18 years, MGM and Joan parted ways, by mutual consent. But Joan was not willing to fade from the limelight, and she made several very memorable movies with Warner Bros, including Mildred Pierce (winner of the Best Actress Academy Award for this film), Humoresque, Possessed (nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for this film), Sudden Fear (nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for this film), and Flamingo Road. My very favorite movie of hers is the bizarre 1954 Nicholas Ray western, Johnny Guitar (if you have not seen it, I highly recommend it!). By 1956, however, her career was finally winding down, and she married Alfred Steele, President and CEO of the Pepsi-Cola Company. This might have worked out well for her, but he passed away in 1959, and Joan stayed on the Board of Directors of Pepsi until her forced retirement in 1973. In the 1960s, Joan, still not willing to "fade away" appeared in a series of increasingly low budget horror movies, the best of which was What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? with Bette Davis, with whom Joan had had a bitter feud for years in the 1930s and 1940s. Joan passed away in 1977 at the age of 71. It is easy to remember the crazy lady she clearly was (see Mommie Dearest, based on the bitter tell-all book by her adoptive daughter, Christina), but it is also important to recognize that she had an amazing talent, and that her own remarkable perseverance kept her a major star for over three decades AND Laurence Olivier was born in Surrey, England in 1907. He was the son of a very strict priest of the Church of England, and he spent much time with his mother, but she passed away when Laurence was only 12. He discovered acting as a child, and played Shakespearean roles as a teen. In 1926, he joined The Birmingham Repertory Company, and the following year played the leads in Hamlet and Macbeth. In 1930 he married an actress, Jill Esmond, and while they were married 10 years and had a son, they were never happily married (Olivier wrote in his autobiography that he was impotent on their wedding night, which he attributed to his strict religious upbringing). He starred in Private Lives on the stage in 1930, and that made him a star. He appeared in five movies in 1930 and 1931 alone, but none were very notable, and he focused more on the stage, having success in 1935 where he alternated the roles of Romeo and Mercutio with John Gielgud (but he was jealous that Gielgud received better reviews than he did, and he did not act with him again!). In 1937 he starred in Fire Over England with Vivien Leigh, and after the film was finished, they started having an affair, even though both were married. In 1939 she starred in Gone With the Wind and he in Wuthering Heights, and after those two great triumphs, they both divorced their spouses and were married. Wuthering Heights (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film) was Olivier's greatest film role. Prior to this movie, he had one major failing as a movie actor, which was that he acted as if he was on the stage, which detracted from his appearances because he appears to be over-acting when delivering his lines. He approached the role of Heathcliff in the same way, and producer Sam Goldwyn threatened to fire him after filming began, but legendary director William Wyler was able to convince him to tone down his performance, and it surely ranks as one of the finest ever captured on film (there is a moment when he returns a rich man, and he says to Catherine that he has forgotten to congratulate her on her marriage, and he adds, "I have often thought of it", and I have never heard a line better delivered!). He and Leigh appeared in several movies together, but over time it became apparent she suffered from bi-polar disorder, which put a great strain on their relationship. Olivier spent some time as a pilot in the Reserves during WWII, and in 1944, he and Ralph Richardson formed a new Old Vic Theatre Company, where he had many triumphs on the stage, in both Shakespeare and more modern plays. In 1945 Olivier directed and starred in a film version of Henry V (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film, and he won an honorary Oscar for outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director for the film), and in 1948 he directed and starred in a film version of Hamlet, and he won the Best Actor Oscar, and the movie was nominated for Best Picture. That same year he and Leigh went on a 6 month trip performing in Australia and New Zealand, and it was at that time their marriage began to completely break down, although they remained together (both personally and professionally) for quite some time. Leigh suffered from severe bouts of depression, as well as recurring tuberculosis, which undoubtedly affected the marriage. They divorced in 1961, and Olivier married actress Joan Plowright, with whom he soon had three children. In 1955, Olivier filmed the last of his three great Shakespearean films, Richard III (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), and over the rest of his life he alternated between the stage and many memorable appearances in movies, including The Prince and the Showgirl (opposite Marilyn Monroe), Spartacus, Othello, and many more. As he aged he successfully transitioned to older character roles, and one of his very finest was as the Nazi dentist Szell in Marathon Man (nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for this film). There is a funny story about that movie (although it may well be apocryphal). Olivier had always detested "method" acting, and before the scene where he appears with Dustin Hoffman where Hoffman's character had been up for a very long time, Hoffman showed up for filming, and looked dreadful. Olivier asked him if he had been in an accident, and Hoffman (a "method" actor) replied that he had stayed up for two days so he could be authentic, and Olivier is supposed to have responded, "Have you ever tried acting, dear boy?"! Was Laurence Olivier the best movie actor of all time? I don't think so, primarily because of his "over-acting" tendencies in his early years (caused by his extensive stage experience). But he surely was one of the handful of finest film actors ever, and his body of work is truly remarkable! Some of his other movies include: Rebecca (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), The Entertainer (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), The Boys from Brazil (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), Othello (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film), and Sleuth (nominated for the Best Actor Academy Award for this film). He passed away in 1989 at the age of 82.

Important Added Info: Note that this still is from when Laurence Olivier visited Joan Crawford while she was making Dancing Lady, likely when he was briefly signed to MGM to co-star in Queen Christina in 1933 (but was replaced by John Gilbert). It has a stamp on the back that reads "DORE FREEMAN PHOTO". Freeman was a publicist who had a massive collection of hundreds of thousands of images of Joan Crawford!

Our address for UPS or FedEx only is:
Bruce Hershenson,
306 Washington Avenue, West Plains, MO 65775